Easy Desk Solutions for Kids

I have a daughter who loved to draw and color when she was little. To organize her supplies and coloring books, we restored an old school desk found at junk yard.

Students school desks are extremely easy to find. Many school districts will auction off old student and teachers desks on a fairly regular basis, as they upgrade to more modern equipment. The classified ads in your local paper are the best resources for finding out about these auctions. These days, surplus student desks tend to be made of molded plastic. For an older style desk from the 1950s and 1960s, your best bet is attending school auctions in more rural communities.

Buying directly from the school district is the best and often least expensive way to find one of these student desks or a wooden teachers desk. The benefit of buying directly is that you have a wider selection to choose from, in terms of both size and condition. To give you an idea of cost, I paid $5 for the student desk shown in the photograph, and purchased a solid oak teachers desk for $15.

If you've missed out on a school auction, salvage or junk dealers usually will purchase these items by the truckload for resale. Our desk was found at a local junk yard, where it had been stored outside for the past 5 years.

What to look for when buying a desk

Some desks are harder than others to restore and replacement pieces are often costly.

Look for a student desk unit that is intact. Is everything working properly? Does it have the brackets that hold the lids open? Is the veneer seat in good condition or is it splitting from age? Has the lid been carved on? If the unit is all in one piece without any sort of permanent damage, then you've found a desk that will be easy to refinish.

How to refinish your student desk

1. The first step is to give the desk a good scrubbing. I use Softscrub on the entire desk, except for the seat. Softscrub is a gentle, liquid abrasive that is excellent at removing most stains. Once the desk is clean, you can begin restoring it.