Lately my favorite day is the 50% off Sunday at my local estate sale warehouse. It’s amazing what 50% off does. An object that holds no interest is a “must-have” at 50% off. Which is how I ended up squeezing a massive secretaire in the back of my car a few weeks ago. I had noted the piece on a few different visits, but it wasn’t until the price hit $100 that it seemed worth lugging home. Maybe it was growing up in a family of six that sparked my love of locking furniture.

I write about the history of desks in Elements of Home. The type of desk that I picked up from the estate sale was extremely popular in the 18th century. It’s called.a secretaire (from secretarius, the Latin word for writer). It’s a sort of mishmash half desk/half drawers. Historically, the fold-down desk service with a lock provided critical protection against any would-be snoopers. (At a time, when all your secrets would be hand-written)

And it was a must-have item for a surprising group of women: 18th century courtesans. Most of them started out in performing arts where they weren’t paid enough in their work in the performers, actresses, singers or dancers weren’t paid enough to make ends meet. So most depended on the generosity of wealthy male admirers. Any change in lovers, was a cause for redecoration. The writing desk was a key component to the well-appointed courtesan apartment. t was critical to projecting an image of a “learned woman.” As an added plus, the secretaire’s locked drawers, cubbyholes and sometimes even a secret compartment - perfect for the woman with some secrets to keep.

My plan was to strip the piece and leave the raw wood exposed ( similar to what I did with this little side table). So the process was to first strip the finish, sand the entire piece and finally bleach it.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way. First, this was a much larger piece than anything I had worked in the past. It was a lot of work to strip. I was working outside and while our December days have been just beautiful in California, the temperature drops at night. So after the first night of stripping, I found the piece the next morning just dripping in condensation. The veneer was much thinner than I had anticipated and just peeled off. I put layers and layer of bleach on it, but the result was just really yellow.

I tried to get it lighter, but the red yellow of the wood underneath kept coming through. (This piece was a beast. I dragged it outside everyday and then back inside at night).

So, I sanded it all over again and applied a liming wax with as light a touch as I could manage.

And here we go. It wasn’t quite what I had envisioned, but it was definitely a learning experience (like don’t leave furniture outside when the temperature dips below 40 degrees). It might be a while before I pick out another giant piece of furniture. But in the meantime, I’ll enjoy having a spot to conceal all my many secrets.

The Secretaire: Before & After (+ a little history)