YOU GUYS.
(Sorry, there may be a lot of caps in this post. I’m not yelling at you, I promise. It’s just that the level of excitement about this piece of furniture is OFF THE CHARTS. I mean. This is just crazytown. You’ll understand…;)
So you know we’re in the middle of the whole family room makeover. We knocked down a wall, moved things around…and now we have our tv where our sofa used to be. Which meant Liz went on a quest for The Perfect Piece to sit the tv on, and house the cable box, etc. And it couldn’t just be ANY piece. I didn’t want it to look like a typical TV stand. I reealllly wanted a cool character piece. Something that perhaps WASN’T made to hold a tv. Maybe a sideboard? A dresser? Something unique.
And everything I found that could’ve worked was in the $800 range. Well, if you know me, even if that IS a normal price, I’m not gonna spend it when I could find something old and fix it up for a fraction of that cost. It’s just not in me. But it stinks, because you know what ELSE isn’t in me?
PATIENCE.
But sometimes you just get lucky.
I was on our local Facebook yard sale page, and in the search engine, I typed ‘dressers’ just in the hopes that maybe – just maybe – there would be something I could use.
My jaw dropped when I found this piece that looked like it might be just the thing! I messaged the seller asking the dimensions and OH. EM. GEE. It was PERFECTION. The depth, the height, the length. I mean LIKE YOU COULDN’T CUSTOMIZE IT ANY BETTER.
Again, not yelling at you – just excited.
But you haven’t even heard the best part. Well, I guess if you read the title you have;) She was selling this guy for TEN. DOLLARS.
I KNOW!
I sent my husband and friend out to pick it up (it is beyond heavy – pure solid, heavy heavy wood here), God bless them. They brought it in and instantly I knew it was going to be great.
My husband had his doubts – he thought it’d be hard to make this not look like a bedroom dresser, but I knew in my heart this $10 find was going to be a rock star.
I could hardly wait to get my hands on it!
First, I cleaned the heck out of it. I removed all the hardware, took them outside and sprayed them with some Oil Rubbed Bronze that I had on hand. I had to sand a couple spots on the dresser where it looked like candle wax had dripped or something…no biggie. I picked up a sample of Sherwin Williams Pure White. I added a little bit of Plaster of Paris into it because somewhere years ago on the interwebs, I read that if you do that, the paint will go on ANYTHING and it really does work like a charm.
After a couple coats, and it was nice and dry, I started sanding. At first I did it with my hand and a piece of sandpaper, but then I decided to get out the big guns. My Ryobi orbital sander. I wanted it to look really distressed, and I know this would do the trick.
Once the hardware was dry, I screwed everything back into place.
Are you ready to see?!!!
I LOVE THIS GUY!!!!
The chippiness, the character, the everything…it’s JUST what I pictured!
Funny, I didn’t even notice all the detail in it’s original state, but now, WHOA.
Swoon…{insert heart emoji heart emoji heart emoji}
And yes, I’m aware that I have yet to even take down the gallery wall – I told you, I’m JUST SO EXCITED.
And yes, you might notice there’s a paint sample on the wall (Could I REALLY be switching up the Sea Salt?!!).
And we have to still put up the board and batten, baseboards, crown molding.
And there may or may not be curtains in the works (SO MANY CHANGES!)
So it’ll look even more amazeballs when all that’s done. It’s so darn pretty in my head.
Oh! Let’s talk about those basket things.
I instantly knew that I would be removing the three middle drawers to make it look less bedroom dressery. So I did that, and removed the strip of wood that was in place to track the drawers. Then, I measure the space I was working with and headed to Michaels to see if they had some baskets for the bottom two areas (I knew the top would house the cable box).
And since I always carry measuring tape in my purse (doesn’t everyone?!), I found a couple options that would fit, including these cool black metal/wood ones:
I thought they might be perfect, since the cable box is also black – it would keep it all uniform. I loved the basket look, but this was a little different and I liked that. So we went that route. (And bonus – they were 40% off!)
So that’s the tale of The Perfect Piece of Furniture for $10, aka Biggest Yard Sale Score in ND history (I say that a lot, don’t I?! This time, I mean it;)
You know, when I first showed my husband, I said, even if we find something we like better 6 months from now, it was ten dollars, no biggie. But you know what? I think this beauty will be with us for a loooooong time.
Hi, I’m about to redo an old buffet piece to use as my tv stand/storage. What kind of SW paint did you use, and did you poly or wax over it? Yours turned out very lovely and makes me want to go buy my paint RIGHT NOW!!
Thank you! I just use a sample of SW paint – I believe all their samples are satin finish. And no, no poly or wax. Would be a good idea, but since I don’t care if it gets even chippier, I left it alone;)
That is just amazing! I’m afraid I was with your husband when I first saw it (“Yuck” came to mind, actually!) but the transformation is incredible. Congratulations.
Question: Do you paint furniture pieces with a brush or a roller? Thanks.
Thank you! I just use a brush.
You did an awesome job on it and it looks great as a tv media centre. I like to add plaster of Paris to regular latex paint as well. Score on the price!
Looks like it would cost a couple thousand.
It looks awesome! and I didn’t notice all the detail on it before until you painted and sanded either. Great find!
This would look great with some four or five inch turned wooden feet added to the base
I just love this! I am scouring craigslist for a dresser similar for the hubbys 65′ tv. 😳😳 I too always carry a tape measure, I thought it was just me!! Any tips on sanding such an intrigue piece? Gorgeous job doll!! ❤️❤️
Thanks, Yolanda! I just took out my hand sander and went to town;) Good luck on your hunt!
Wow. Love it. Looks great!
Did you put a wax coat on top? Do you like the wherein Williams furniture paint I have used Annie Sloan and restoration from Amazon. What furniture paint is your favorite?
This is AMAZING!! I just love it!! How much plaster of Paris did you add to the sample? I’m guessing that’s cheaper than the chalk paint I keep hearing about?? I’ve always wanted to attempt this kind of thing but afraid of messing up. Like you said though, it’s $10 (plus paint). I won’t be breaking the bank 👍 Thanks for the inspiration!!
Thank you! I never really measure, maybe a spoonful per cup? Good luck! I’m sure if you google it, you’d find a blog with exact measurements somewhere;)