My Mom had discovered an old fashioned sewing machine in our shed. It was old but not worth much as an antique especially since it was so beat up. It seemed like it would make a great desk for my room up at school. So I had Dad remove the sewing machine, patch up a large hole, and put a shelf in. He left the making it pretty part to Mom and me.
As you can see to make that pretty was ambitions, possible leaning toward insane. Truthfully the sanding, priming, and first few coats of paint went without so much as a hiccup and quicker then I could have imagined.