Friday, May 20, 2011

My first blog "Before and After"!







I'm so excited to share my first Before and After project for the blog! Today's project is a Craigslist dresser turned TV stand. We had sold our old TV stand when we moved in with Michael's parents because they had a huge entertainment system in the apartment for us to use.

We knew we really wanted to wall mount our TV (we got a flat screen as a moving present to each other) just to keep it out of reach from our son. I also really wanted closed off storage. I really do not like open shelving. It never looks tidy enough for me and I'm always rearranging it. I love it in other people's houses, but not mine. So, I thought a dresser would be the perfect thing - lots of storage while not being seen!




We found this beauty on Craigslist for $60. It has ball-bearing tracks for the drawers so they slide super easy. Also, while it is laminate, this things is VERY solid. My mother-in-law tried to help me move it down on the wall a little bit because it wasn't centered. Nothing was on it or in it yet and we couldn't budge it. It is HEAVY. I liked the simplicity of it and although I didn't like the color I did like the style of the drawer pulls.

It also came with a mirror which wasn't my style. And the TV was going to be hanging above it so we didn't need it anyway. We were going to sale it on Craigslist, but my mother-in-law bought it from us for $10. So really it's like we paid $50 for the dresser.




Here are the supplies I used (sorry the paint cans are so messy):
- Minwax Polycrylic in clear
- Zinsser Cover Stain oil based primer (it says no need for sanding and for me it was true)
- Gloves for working with oil based paint - trust me, it's horrible to clean up!
- A cheap foam brush for the oil based paint - so you can just toss it when your done
- A putty knife, wood filler, and sand paper if you have any places to touch up
- Paint - Sherwin Williams Ellie Gray (leftover from our office)
- Spray paint (not pictured) for the pulls- I used Krylon metalic silver



How I did it:

Day 1: Take the drawers out, remove pulls, wipe everything down. Slather wood filler on any gouges, holes, etc. Wait as determined on the bottle. Sand all the spots you filled. Wipe down again. Apply a thin coat of primer. I waited about 15 minutes then started with the second coat- it had taken a while to do the first coat so where I originally started was already dry.

My husband spray painted the pulls while I was doing this. They got 2 coats on the front and 1 coat on the back.

Day 2: Apply 2 thin coats of paint.

Day 3: Apply 1 thin coat of Poly.

Then comes the hard part - wait 48 hours....

Then put the pulls back on, bring everything inside, and assemble it!



What do you think? My husband was very skeptical of the whole thing. He didn't think a dresser would work as a TV stand. Now, he's told me several times that he thinks it looks awesome. See, maybe I do know what I'm doing! Haha!

And I will say this: while I was working on this I was having my doubts too. When it was in the garage I was seeing every little flaw, but now that it's in the house I love it.

Make sure you check back next week. I will have a new house tour post where you can see all the rooms with the wallpaper gone and paint on the walls! Also this weekend we are working on some curb appeal type things, so I will have another before and after for the front of our house. Here's a peek at our paint colors:



All colors are by Sherwin Williams: Mountain Stream (our bedroom), Ellie Gray (office), Bungalow Beige (kitchen/dining room), Swanky Gray (bathroom), and Shagreen (living room/hallway). Harrison's room color isn't pictured because 1. we picked it out late and 2. we let him pick his room color and it isn't included in the whole house color scheme concept.

2 comments:

  1. Great idea Holly, you are really a creative person. I did this once with an old dresser and used it as a changing table for my little girl.

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  2. Thank you! That's a great idea for a changing table too. The paint job has held up really well. We've been using it for over 2 years now and I just did a few touch ups the other day.

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