This project might have been my most sophisticated yet. I had the chance to restore a desk which was built more than 100 years ago and was used as a captain’s desk on a cruise ship on the danube. The state-owned shipping company „Donau-Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft“ is history, the desk was saved by my dad some 30 years ago. It’s original tabletop had already been replaced at this time and my dad again had a newer one made to suit the table’s style.
The desk was never in a good condition and the flood of 2013 destroyed what was left of it’s former glory. It wasn’t until late 2015 that I took it and got to work.
After the initial sanding and cleaning of the frame and the drawers I had to fix the general structure of the frame. This was done by applying the necessary amount of force and some drops of glue, some invisible screws here and there.
The drawers were full of natural and man-made holes which I sealed and then were coated twice with ivory-coloured laquer on the inside (the pic shows only one layer). The frame was coated with clear matte laquer and the tabletop itself got the colour of the danube, as it was covered in unremovable stains.
After cleaning and clear-coating all the fittings I had to find a stylish way to operate the drawers. The knobswere pretty tricky to find and I actually bought two different sets and combined some pieces to get my desired result in porcelain and brass.
The finished product shines in new glory and fits perfectly into my vintage-style apartment with a modern touch.
