Back in March, I moved into a new apartment, due to lack of space. Lack of space means no room for a desk, which is a crucial item if you are a freelance graphic designer. And this was exactly what I told a friend of mine over a phone conversation, in which she replied, “I have a leftover Singer sewing machine base in my garage.” I saw this as an opportunity for a DIY project, rather than driving all the way to to nearest IKEA. So, I trekked to her house to pick up this awesome, vintage base. However, she failed to mention most of it looked like this:

Cobwebs, spiders, cocoons, rust, dirt…you name it, this thing was covered in it. Reluctantly, I loaded it into my trunk and took it home. This thing needed some serious TLC. And I guess I was feeling up to the challenge.

My first step was to take a ride to Home Depot. There, I purchased steel-wire brushes, rubber gloves, a black metallic spray paint can and a bottle of Loctite Naval Jelly Rust Dissolver. I would describe this stuff as pink Ghostbusters slime. Before applying to the Singer base, I hosed the whole thing down. Afterwards, I applied the slime, very carefully, as to avoid skin contact, and scrubbed the s**t out of it until I cleaned out all crevasses. Hosed it down again and left to dry.

Once dried, I applied about 3-4 layers of spray paint. About two hours later I brought the base inside and placed it into the perfect corner for a lovely mini-office. I am so pleased with how shiny and new it looks. Now it was time to find a desk top that sits on top of the base; glass or wood.

While out for a run in the neighborhood, I came across an old kitchen table set out on the curb. The detachable leaf of the table seems to be the perfect size for my workstation nook. And voilà! My new, hip, vintage desk is complete; and it only cost me about $25.