Look What Came Home With Us

Late Tuesday night and I use the word ' LATE ' very loosely because anything past 9pm qualifies for late when you have a newborn in the house. Anyways, Hasani and I where talking about keeping the living room tidy and needing an office spot. Basically we need our living room to work harder for us and due double duty, since we don't want a desk in our bedroom. I mentioned to him I wanted to find a secretary desk or small dresser for the living room { a few weeks back } and he asked if I came across anything. Truth be told I hadn't looked in weeks.

So I hoped on Craigslist and did a quick search for 'Secretary' and in a few seconds found the perfect secretary desk for our living room. I've been wanting a secretary desk for quite sometime, I was actually looking for one last year for the then third bedroom which is now the nursery. I found a mid century modern secretary desk for a steal . It was listed for $90.00 and asked if they would consider $80.00. Its such a great solid piece, all wood and has dove tail drawers. So here it is in all its before glory.

We plan on using the dresser drawers to hold bills, DVDs ,toys & board games etc. The secretary portion is also the new blogging area as opposed to the bed, sofa and the dining room table. Don't get me wrong, I love wireless Internet; but having a designated blogging spot will make me feel like a legit blogger.

We are leaning more towards re-finishing the dresser with paint rather than stain. If we do end up staining the dresser, I'd like to go with a dark walnut color. This is my ultimate secretary desk inspiration, even though the one we bought is a different style I adore it.

I've been looking at colors { if we decide to paint } and would love to paint the secretary desk a cream grey / beige color. Martha Stewart has some amazing greige colors. Here's a few samples I like.

Sharkey Grey

Whetstone Grey

Fossil

The hardware for the dresser is still up in the air. Hasani votes for new pulls and knobs. I love the tiny knobs on the top drawer, but agree new pulls could be fun. For sure I want to replace the knob for the secretary door, I like this one from Anthropologie.

I gathered a few pics of painted mid century modern furniture for inspiration. These images really convey how amazing mid century can look when painted right.

{ via Apartment Therapy }

{ via here }

{ via Little Green Notebook }

I'm excited to get started on this new project, hopefully the we can decide which direction to go with your help! :)

What are your thoughts, should be refinish the dresser in Stain or Paint it or Leave it? And why?