Mid-Century Console Redo

You know that feeling they tell you when you see the perfect house?  A feeling of longing and contentment and potential all wrapped in to one is the best way to describe it.  Well, I don't have that feeling with houses, but more with furniture.  I saw this piece on a For Sale website on Facebook, and I HAD to have it.  I wasn't even looking for anything, it just popped up on my newsfeed almost screaming at me, "Buy me!!"

 Above is the beginning faze.  I loved the look of the piece. It is a large piece, measuring 19"x70".  It had a great amount of storage, which is something we needed.  I decided it would be perfect as a new TV console.  The price was $30, I offered $25 and she accepted! Greg and I picked it up in the rain, dropped it twice because that thing is HEAVY! Nothing was broken, which means it was made well and withstand time.

I hated the top, it was just a piece of particle board and was swollen over a large section.  I decided to take the piece all apart.  I was really worried about this step because my dad would have put 15 screws, 20 staples, and liquid nails on that top.  But thank heavens, it was attached with about 10 screws that easily came out after I found the right square bit.  Drawers came out, door came off and shelves came out.  Now to prep the surface for paint!  I lightly sanded down everything.

I ran in to a few problems sanding.  At some point, they put a thick layer of stain over the already stain and varnish.  It ended gunking up my sander, so I had to scrape off that extra layer with a chisel. It was tedious, especially since the last piece I did was the worst of them all.

Now to start the fun part!  The drawer and door pulls were absolutely huge!  They were matte black, but after closer inspection I noticed they had been painted as well.  I was going to buy something to match the gold capped mid-century legs, but after taking a sander to the handles, it was gold underneath!  I sanded some parts quite hard so it has a "brushed" look which is fine with me. This saved me $$!

After a base coat of Zinsser (which is great by the way), I got to finally pick out a paint color.  I wanted a light shade of gray.  Do you know how many shades of gray there are??  Millions!  All had a different undertone that you don't notice until comparing to other gray samples.  I struggled with this.  After I put the paint on, it has a hint of brown undertone, not what I was going for but ended up going great with the new wood top. 

Paint cost: $20

 The new top!  I bought this pre-cut piece at Lowe's.  I actually had to get it cut down, which left me with an extra piece about 20"x26" which will later be used as a sign...TBD.  I borrowed stain and varnish from my mom.  I only put one coat of stain, but two coats of varnish.  I didn't sand in between coats of varnish: One, because I'm lazy. Two, because it gave it a rough texture that I liked.

Stain and Varnish: FREE

Piece of wood: $40

Now to assemble!  Don't mind the garage mess, three kids will keep a garage a total wreck ;)

Finished product!  So much storage than before!  We have a ton of extra space, and put some games down from a high shelf so the kids have easier access to them.

Shortly after, Greg HAD to have a bigger TV to go with the bigger TV console. Boys.   

Love the pop of gold at the bottom of the legs!  One of the legs had ripped off and been badly repaired previously, but ended up being an easy fix and is sturdy as ever!

Gold handles!! 

Top of the TV Console.  

In the end, I spent a total of $80, not bad I think!  I love the look that it adds to our living room.  It also provides ample storage for the kid's play things.  The ONLY peeve I have is that since we run our modem from the stand, and the stand has taller legs; I can see cords all the way in the back.  All I need to do is get some sticky strips and adhere the power strip to the back of the console and problem solved!

If anyone spies a mid-century desk with storage, let me know!