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!