Expert: Kirk Ryan - 1/28/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi.  I just bought an old stanford heavy duty solid wood desk.  It is 45" wide by 85" in length.  Would love to be able to change the color on it to white.  I feel that covering it with formica laminate may be better to use for it, rather than painting it white.  Is this possible?  Thank You so much for your help with this!!!

ANSWER: It is possible to do. You would have to find someone who knows how to do it. I must also warn you, that if you do this, you will seriously de-value the desk. Solid wood isn't easy to come by these days, and solid wood holds much more value. For instance, you can sell a solid wood desk for anywhere between 1000 and 3000 dollars. You could just as easily buy a pre-made laminated desk for less than a few hundred. I suppose just painting it white would be ok, because it could always be re-finished. What type of wood is this desk made of?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi and thanks for getting back to me.  The desk is made of Oak, but it's like a 70's era desk.  It is not to appealing to the eye.  I'm up in the air now if I should even get the desk.  I have only put $100 down on it so far.  I was buying it because I need a large workspace for rubber stamping & scrapbooking.  I wanted the desk or tabletop to be at least 6 1/2 feet long.  The only reason that I was going to get this one is because it's solid & I won't have to worry about it breaking on me, ya know?  But I guess I can just as easily buy a 36" wide door that is 80" long and then have someone make me some bookcases for each end that are 28 1/2" high by 36" wide and 16" deep.  Do you make custom bookcases?  Thanks for your time and let me know.  Nicole : )

Answer
Is it Nicole or Nicholas? :-) Just noticed the 2 names. Yea I just don't see the point of buying something of value and then painting it to de-value it. But you can understand where I'm coming from, seeing that I sell furniture. :-)

Solid wood is expensive because it is rare now a days more than it ever was before. With tree farms getting smaller, more companies have resorted to using less and less wood. I have actually had more problems with solid wood because when it dries out after a few years it tends to crack and shift. It isn't easy to repair at that point. Many people forget to oil it and keep it moisturized.  

Have you heard of this new print wood they have now? Its like thick paper, printed to look like wood, and its really cheap. Its a thick layer put on top of composition board. Then they put a lacquer seal on most of them and its pretty durable. If you spilled something on it, you wouldn't have to worry. I have some of these desks here and they can be as cheap as $100 and they are environment friendly. And I heard they can come in white.   :-)   Check out this company you may find them in your area.   "Tvilum-Scanbirk"

I (personally) do make custom bookcases, but I'm not sure where you live, so I don't know if I can help you. But I do like your custom door-desk idea. Why not? right?

Kirk Ryan   :-)