My old desk.
When I first joined the company in 1987, Mr Johnson had a traditional style “back office” in which sales, accounts and any other staff were hidden away.
We used to listen for the door and jump up like a Jack in the box when a customer arrived.
It seems odd now, we’re mostly out on the shop floor, the ladies in the interior design shop face you when you walk in their shop and the lads and ladies in the paint shops in both Buckhurst Hill and Harlow likewise!
I am now mostly stationed at our Harlow branch, it’s where I can pretend to work and get away with it the most.
And I’m lucky to have an office!
When we changed the shop around a couple of years ago, we moved our accounts office into that back office.
And the old desks that we still had since Mr Johnson’s days were moved into storage in our Harlow warehouse.
Well, this week we’ve established Jason (just before his 20th anniversary with the company) in the upstairs office in Harlow.
And his new desk is my old desk.
I know, I’m just too kind…
He discovered that the desk was made by Cookes of Finsbury, a Victorian furniture maker who were established in 1885, 102 years before I first sat at that old desk!
And with that discovery, it got me thinking about the things that would have been used to finish and protect such a piece of furniture so that it might last 139 years…
The obvious choice would be French polish…but what else might it have been?
Polyurethane varnish? Maybe, but that wasn’t invented until 1914.
Wax? Possible, but it wears out quickly when used on surfaces such as desk tops.
Traditional varnish? In my opinion, the most likely answer.
So, I started to think about what we have now that would be the go to for such a job?
Well, we still have varnishes, lacquers, polishes, waxes and all manner of wood finishing products on the shelves, but if I were to renovate that desk (yes, I probably will!) I think I’d turn to Osmo Polyx oil.
It’s the ultimate blend of old and new, it’s eco friendly, it can be applied clear or tinted on our new Osmo tinting machine to one of loads of colours (the only company that offers this), it’s properly hardwearing, (it’s suitable for floors and worktops) so the old desk is a walk in the park!
It’s microporous so it’ll allow the old desk to breathe and if we need to recoat it, just wipe it down and re-apply! Doddle.
But…the main reason I would choose it for Jason’s new (old) desk is in the product description:
“Highly resistant to common liquid spillages…including TEA.”
Well, it is Jason’s desk..there will be a lot of opportunities for that.
Be well.