Look what we found at the Salvos!

Although we were looking for a crafting table (for me), and this really isn't it, it was such a charmer. It's an old primary school desk, with inkwells and grooves to hold your pens. I think we were taken in by the bygone era that it evokes. Such desks were used around the 1950s, some holding through to the early 1980s. As with any secondhand (thirdhand and so on) furniture, it also sparks the imagination: what are the stories of the young people who sat at this desk over the years? Where are they now? What happened to "KE was here 1980"?

On a practical level, we had been thinking of getting Bubs a desk of his own in the study because he tends to want to climb onto our laps whenever we sit at ours. It's a lovely opportunity for cuddles, but also rather annoying when something needs to get done (like paying bills). This was a desk he could have a relationship with, one that actually has a lot of character, compared to a DIY-assembly, laminated desk that we would have likely gotten. So we bought it from the Salvos, and it now sits in our study. It needs some sanding and a lick of varnish, but not much more labour than that. And in a way, any restoration just adds to its history.

Of course, there's a twist in the tale, and a good lesson to have, when buying old furniture: do some research on e-bay! As it turns out, we might have gotten the exact same desk for less than we paid... but then again, we didn't have to travel far to pick it up and the Salvos got some fundage for their excellent work.