Shame on you Linda - cut that out! I do NOT need anyone enabling me - I can manage that all by myself, thank you very much! My decorative paints, brushes, craft things etc are stored in a basement studio in tall, old metal cabinets - the kind with the rounded corners. One is a glass door hutch with enamel work surface, probably an old kitchen piece. This whole Craigslist dance right now is for clearing out stuff, not acquiring more since I have an attic full that I'm trying to pare down. But I am in the market for a tall, narrow piece for my dining room. This one isn't narrow enough unfortunately. It was worth a try but looks crammed in where I need it to sit.

WHHHHAaaaa......"ME".....pulling a prank like THAT....?!?!? I'm "sincerely" offended...;-) Yes....I hate to make you all go "all the way out" to the Paint-Forum, click into it and.....oh my....it IS a lot of work....;-) BUT... gotta show all the PITA prep-work/details for a flawless job! That's the REAL secret! Faron

After hearing all the history of this piece, I am even move excited to get it :-) You guys have described the desk perfectly. It sounds like it is made of a good solid wood, too. The owner told me last night she had her sewing machine sitting on it and really had a hard time deciding whether to sell it or not. I've arranged to go look at it Friday evening. It is about a 2 hour drive each way, and it will be a nice drive if my kids don't fight in the car too much, LOL!. If the ochre color doesn't work out, I'm warming up to the idea of a red. I had a lot of brown's and wood tones already going on in that area. In the kitchen (which is right next to this area) my back splash is a terracotta color, so a blue red won't work, but something more on the orange side, might. I won't be in a big hurry to change the color, but I'll be back to let you guys tell me what you think. I do want to thank newhomebuilder for all her great CL finds. It is her area CL that I found this piece. The owner of the desk lives in a very historic part of the state and I wish I had time to spend in her town. She described a lot of fun things to see and plenty of antique stores to visit, too. Nothing is ever good on my area CL listings.

I was also thinking about this thread after hearing the the News Quiz on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. One of the items on the News Quiz asked something to the effect of "This influential individual died 50 years ago this week", of course Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the correct answer, but my objection was to the usage of "died". Yes, he died, but more importantly, he was murdered, nay, assassinated, and their use of "died" sounded beyond non-optimal, it sounded WRONG. This thread remains very thought provoking, and I appreciate everyone's musings.