An Antique Addition for My Home Office
This is a fun and exciting post, my friends. If you love vintage and good stories, you’re going to enjoy this one! Peggi tipped me off that there was a beautiful barley twist desk for sale in her Facebook Marketplace area. Although I already have a desk for my home office, you know my preference is always antique or vintage. I was intrigued, checked out the listing, and discovered the desk would be the perfect size for my space. The only problem? It was five and a half hours away in Boise. I somehow convinced Emmett that the stars aligned and this desk was meant to live in our home (not an easy job). If you want to hear the story, see more of my latest FBMP find & my plans for it, click on through! PS: please excuse my phone images, and photos pulled from the Facebook listing throughout this post- they’re not the best, but you’ll get the point!
After I discovered the desk would be a good fit for my office (see a peek of the design plan here), I immediately messaged the seller- her listing images are pictured above & below. She responded right away and despite the terrible timing, while our family was here visiting, I went ahead and paid in full to secure the piece. The seller was kind enough to hang onto it for me (a week and a half), until my mom left town and we were able to arrange a 12 hour road trip (there and back).
I had grand plans to lunch with Peggi and finally meet her in person, but the pickup time changed and I had obligations I previously committed to here in Salt Lake. However, I didn’t want to give up on the desk, so Emmett volunteered to make the road trip on his own. He drove 5+ hours last Saturday, camped in the Boise National Forest, and then proceeded with the desk pickup Sunday morning before trekking back home. What. A. Guy! It’s moments like this I think, “I truly married a good one!!” To be fair, it sounds like he had fun solo camping, as he sent me some gorgeous landscape photos…
Honestly, that’s a long drive for a FBMP find, and I wouldn’t have jumped or asked Emmett to go to the effort of driving and picking it up, if it weren’t such a cool piece. It perfectly fits my vision for the room and I’m daydreaming of work days spent sitting at that gorgeous desk, getting lots of accomplished. The best part? It came with a matching console table!! Check it out below. The seller told Emmett she bought the two separately, but they look like a perfect pair. I bought the pair for $450, which seemed very fair. The seller also noted that these pieces have moved with her multiple times… across 6-7 states. She bought the antique desk in the early 90’s and it has been with her ever since. It was obvious that these pieces meant a lot to her, so I hope we do them proud.
Both pieces are in pretty good shape, and I want them both to live in my home office together. The wood on the desk is alright, but it definitely needs some repairs. I also envisioned a black desk in my design plan, so as beautiful as the wood is- I’m probably going to stain it the same color as our dining table (black), once we make the needed repairs. I think the high contrast will really emphasize the barley twist details and still allow the beautiful grain to shine through. A few drawers need fixed, the stretcher needs new dowels because it sags, and of course it will require a LOT of sanding, as there is surface damage. After seeing the result of our dining set, I’m pretty confident we can make it look as good as new. Isn’t the hardware lovely? That’s obviously staying as is.
It was a couple long days of driving for Emmett, but I think the end result is going to be well worth his pickup effort (bless his heart). Have you ever road tripped for antiques or Facebook Marketplace finds? If so, how far is your limit? I always set the search parameter to 100+ miles, but that can be dangerous. It has to be something really impressive or a piece that perfectly fits for me to make a purchase that requires a long drive or a lot of effort.
I need to work on an office renovation update for you! I’ll try to get that together for next week, so you can see where we’re at. Spoiler alert- we’re painting! I hope you all have a happy Tuesday and your week is going well so far. I just wanted to share these awesome finds in real time! Sometimes short & sweet posts are the best, right? Have a good one, and check out more barley twist eye candy below!
