Restoring a Steelcase Desk?

By AutumnHeart

After seeing the beautiful retro furniture available on RetroOffice.com, I convinced my husband that we should update our office desk with an old Steelcase model (he's a big Superman fan, and the office is Superman themed, so we're going for a mix of retro-comic style.)

We lucked out, and found an old Steelcase desk for FREE off Craigslist. Picked the monster up, got it home, and have been staring at it ever since.

It came from an old art studio, so right now it's covered in a layer of white spray-paint and decoupaged artwork, which I'm going to use a combination of paint remover and sandpaper to gradually strip / sand down to the underlying steel.

Eventually we want the entire desk to have a polished "chrome" finish to it, but we're not sure of the best way to get it there. Once we get it down to the underlying steel, should we basecoat, "chrome" paint and clear topcoat? (If so -- any brand suggestions?) Or will a chrome paintjob look streaky and uneven.

Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

(As a longshot aside -- anyone know how to find out the year of manufacture? I can't find the original sticker that should be on it, and I know there should be a "stamp" somewhere, but I don't know where.)

[ Edit: I fixed the URL above. Thanks! ]

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office-renovation desks steelcase restoration

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September 21, 2007

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Member since: 09/21/07
About: My husband and I are renovating our 1925 twin home in the suburbs of Philadelphia,...

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Swankymode

September 22, 2007

Cool! Have you seen the stuff at Twenty Gauge or Sonrisa? Gorgeous stuff. I have a tanker desk sitting in my garage waiting to be refinished -- a double pedestal, with really unique handles. I, too would like to get it down to bare metal. I tried painter stripper, but it didn't work too well on the original enamel finish. You could try an orbital sander, the swirl marks could be an interesting texture. But from what I've found in my research, the best method is sand blasting, then several stages of sanding, followed by a powder coating to protect the metal from rust and corrosion. Good luck with your desk, please post pictures!

Caya123

September 21, 2007

I think you mean this link: http://www.retrooffice.com/home.htm