Old Desk, New Life

I recently received this desk, which belonged to my husband's cousin Michael Shawn, who passed away in a car accident before we got married.  This project was truly a labor of love, as I wanted to refinish the desk for my own boys to use, and to carry on Michael Shawn's memory.  This is what it looked like before:

First, I removed the hardware and painted the dresser with two coats of Rustoleum Chalked in Aged Gray

Then, I sprayed the hardware with Rust-Oleum Metallic Spray in Black Night.  They are black with just a bit of sparkle.  After they dried, I put them back on and felt pretty good about my choice.  Then, I waited for a warm day, so I could apply the stinky wax with some ventilation.

 That day finally arrived!  I began by applying two coats of Minwax Water-based Polycrylic before waxing with my leftover clear and dark Renaissance wax from my dresser project.  This is the final product:

I got the chair from At Home $69.99 and was able to use my 15% off birthday coupon!  The two metal accessories were also from At Home, and the lamp is from Target, bought a couple of years ago.  Now, I have a desk for each kid to work on homework!  Better yet, this one has a lot of sentimental value to go along with it!  What do you think???