Monday, May 2, 2011

Refinished TV Stand

Several months back we started shopping around for a TV stand.  We had some money set aside as "fun money" to buy a new TV but we didn't have anything to put it on.  I don't know if you've shopped around lately for entertainment centers but most pieces that were reasonable in price were not even solid wood!  To get solid wood, you were looking at spending hundreds of dollars.  So we started checking craigslist.  We came across an old mid-century dresser for $100.  It had good bones and it was solid wood.  The finish was old but we had planned on refinishing whatever we found anyway. 

So we got to work. 
Here's what the old finish looked like (you can see I already started sanding the side).




This is after it was completely sanded.  Sanding is a lot of work, by the way (even with a power sander).


Here it is after the stain was applied.  Staining is a lot of work, too, ha ha!  There were some areas that the stain didn't want to "stick" to as well.  It just gives it a slightly distressed look which I love.


After the stain we applied three clear coats of polyurethane and then all the hardware!


And here it is in the living room with our new TV.





It holds all of our DVDs.  In fact, we have plenty of room to spare.  The drawers are deep enough to hold two rows of DVDs.


Scriptures go here...


Remotes go here...


Video games systems here...


And video games in here...


And lastly, we removed the drawer that goes here and converted it into an open shelf for our DISH receiver.  Our DVD player doesn't fit in there but it's so slim that we just set it on top by the TV. 



Overall, we're really happy with the way it turned out.  It was a lot of work but worth it.  We ended up spending about $150 total (that includes the price of the dresser, all new hardware, stain and supplies.)  We saved hundreds by doing it ourselves!  So next time you're thinking of buying new, consider buying old instead! It's a bit more work but very satisfying.  

Happy DIYing!

7 comments:

anelieze castrejon said...

uh-mazing! really, it looks so good, and if you hadn't told me you had refinished it, i never would have noticed! great job!!

Courtenay Beth said...

ooohh! I am so impressed! I know what you mean about finding quality furniture on the cheap, it's rough! Everything is pressboard these days! I LOOOVE the new stain color, very well done Kim! Love it!

Susan @ Second Chances by Susan said...

Awesome job! I love the new color and the fact that you have a place for everything. Very cool!!

Violet said...

I love it!!!!! I wish I was that brave and that crafty. We just bought one grrr. You are right they are really expensive. It took us about 10 stores to finally find one we liked. I'll be posting pictures some time next week.

Stephanie said...

looks sooo good!

Tasha said...

Very nice! All that work is exactly why I have a completely outdated oak entertainment center which doesn't match any of the other wood finishes in my room. Just hauling it out to the garage is more work than I want to deal with, not to mention what it would take to paint it.

Sweet Bee Cottage said...

Love what you did with the dresser! We are thinking of doing the same thing (okay, hubs isn't on board so I should say I'm thinking of doing the same thing) with a tall dresser or chest my mom has. The sticking point for hubs is how to make a cubby out of a drawer space. Can you share what you did? That would be great. Or maybe you have a great YouTube video tutorial you might know about? I just became your newest follower!