DIY Dresser to TV Stand

DIY Dresser to TV Stand

....and some other projects :)

Over the past few weekends I've been searching for new projects, not only for my blog but for....well our home. I wanted a new entertainment stand, one that would be almost "custom made" to our taste and needs. This is the perfect way to do so! Not only did we get a great tv stand, but I also managed to find a sofa table, coffee table, and side table to re-do as well. 

If you have ever seen DIY projects on Pinterest or YouTube and thought to yourself, "man that's a great idea, I should do something like that".... You're right, and you should! I'm telling you, all 4 of the projects you're about to see I finished in ONE weekend. That's right... ONE weekend. It's possible to add a new feature to your home that you created by yourself (or with help). So what are you waiting for? Hit up your local craigslist, or better yet GARAGE SALES! I even head over to the local thrift stores as well. If you can imagine it, you can do it. 

Now, lets see here. I purchased all the items posted below in one day. The dresser I found at a local "antique mall" for $120, steep price? Yes, but it's real maple wood and sturdy as all get out. I'll pay the $120 before I ever buy something out of a box again. The sofa table, coffee table, and side table I bought all together for $70 off of an app called Varage Sales. It's linked up with Facebook I believe, pretty cool website. 

Dresser :

 Sofa Table and Side Table

Coffee Table

Side Table

My sister-in-law also moved back from college (so proud of her), and she wanted to re-do a FREE dresser she snagged from one of our close friends. So we helped her learn the ropes on how to DIY things and get crafty... :)

So first we had to do our most favorite part (not!), sanding all the furniture down until the top shiny coat was gone. We used palm sanders and a 80 grit sandpaper for all surfaces. Messy... messy... messy! Thankfully I have a garage now to do all these projects. I highly suggest you do this in an open area, even outside on a sunny day would be best!

Husband, getting it started on Shae's dresser. :)

And Miss Shae herself. Isn't she cute? lol. 

Next was priming. We did about two-three coats on all surfaces that were going to be painted. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of this since there was soo much to do already. But this is the Primer we used (Valspar Bare Wood Primer) bought at Lowes for around $8 I believe. 

While the primer was drying I previously took off all the hardware and wanted to vamp it up. You can't find stuff like this anymore and I wanted to keep it with the design of the dresser. So I snagged some Rust-Oleum Metallic Spray Paint, and Rust-Oleum Universal Metallic Spray Paint. 2 Coats of the Metallic Universal Spray, and one coat of the regular shiny Metallic Spray. I also had help from one of my best friends, Cassidy who sprayed these bad boys down while I painted :). She was a big help since this was a big project. I love the way the handles came out!

After priming, it was time for paint. I had chosen the brightest WHITE you could find at Lowes. The associate there told me that I should pick the brightest one or else it would've looked off white against my tan walls. Didn't want that, I wanted them to pop by themselves. We did about 3-4 coats of this paint.... Valspar's Ultra Paint & Primer in "Ultra White" with a Satin Finish. This was about $14

After everything was dry I put the hardware back in, and with this "sample" size jar of Valspar paint I added a pop of color to the top inside of the dresser. I'm a huge fan of aqua, teal, turquoise, tiffany blue blah blah you get the drift. It's my favorite, and I wanted to incorporate it into this project. 

You can barely see it, but in the trim of the sofa table, coffee table, and side table, I added that aqua color into it to give it a little something and help it match the TV Stand/dresser.

Now for the most time consuming part of this whole project.... the stencil, and PAINTING the stencil lol. Oh wow, it was work I tell ya. I made this stencil off of adobe photoshop, printed it out and cut it out onto a blank stencil sheet I bought at hobby lobby ($1.99). This was a pain, then traced in pencil onto the top of the sofa table. And then Cassidy and I hand painted and filled in between the lines. Took us about 3 hours I'd say. Worth it? YES. It came out great. Cassidy almost killed me, but lol yes it was worth it. 

My husband and I are gamers. We like to play video games, and such. We're not those people that stay up weeks on end and play games, but we do like to sit down and get our game on. So with that said, my husband has every game consoles which takes up a lot of room. Not to mention all the wires you normally see. With that in mind, I made holes in the back of the dresser for the wires and holes in the dresser drawers so things could be "hidden". Our Direct TV box doesn't need to be out in order for us to get a connection with our remotes, so I made a home specifically for them.... you're welcome Direct TV (pricey bastards). Anyways.... so yes. It's very convenient to have homes for everything, including the charging docks for the game controllers. 

And here's the finished project........

As always, thank you for stopping by and checking out my blog. I hope you enjoyed these weekend projects. Not only that, but I hope I inspired some of you to get out there and create something of your own! I LOVE diy's and specially making something beautiful again with my own twist. Please don't hesitate to ask questions or leave a comment below! I check my emails, and blog every day and I'm always here to help.

Until next project....

DIY Craft Table with Store Bought Items

YES, It's here and to me... SO exciting.

This lovely gem is something I've been wanting to make FOREEEVER. This is one of the first projects I wanted to do once we bought our home. I am extremely crafty (if you couldn't tell by now) and this was a must for one of our spare bedrooms! I kind of took over one of the rooms into my "craft room". Well, that is until little babies start running around, and no I don't know when that'll happen ;). It really wasn't that expensive to "build" and didn't take any time at all to put together. Unfortunately for Bryan (my husband) he got recruited to help put the side storage tables together. Surprisingly it was very easy and we put it together literally in 15 min, for both. Usually when you grab those in box furniture do-dads from Walmart or Target it takes an army of brains to figure out how to put together. Not these little babies! Now, if you're like me and want a great work space, or maybe use it as a custom desk or something this is perfect for you. Continue reading on if you want to see how I did it in a couple of days. :)

First things first... I bought two of these espresso square 4 Cube Organizer's from Walmart for $34. I thought about using the three shelf bookcases that they have there for $19 (which would work perfectly as well), but they didn't have the color I wanted and I'm very impatient when I have a vision in my head. Plus, Bryan was like "um, you should get these, they're sturdier." So taking my man's advice since I'm no genius when it comes to building stuff I got these guys. More expensive? Yes. Stronger? YES. = better work space. 

Door from Lowe's. #0010710 "LAUAN FLUSH" dementions 1-3/8" HC36" X 80"

For a table top I decided to go with a plain ol' door. We were at Lowe's and I just so happened to see this beaut for $10 on clearance in the door section. Success. As soon as I saw it, I knew this project was going down. I'm not the type of person to buy stuff full price. Most of the time I buy everything on clearance if I can. This door was what made the project go boom, in a good way. Basically because I knew that I had something great to work with.

Look familiar? Yup, it's left over awesomeness from my DIY Dresser Makeover . <-- be sure to check that out. Anyways, details are:

• Martha Stewart Living Metallic Paint in Thundercloud (Home Depot) $4
• Behr Stain Blocking Primer & Sealer (Home Depot) $7
• Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane Clear Coat (Walmart) $7

Bought the paint pans, roller, and roller pad at Walmart. I think the paint pan was $1.89 and the Roller was $3, and then the extra roller pads were $3. Also snagged some "L" brackets from Lowe's, pack of 4 (with screws) for $2. The roller pads I got are the "Ultra Smooth Surfaces". Pretty much perfect for this bare door. 

I primed the door (just the top and sides) about 3 coats. Waited 45 min in between coats to dry completely. Then with a new roller brush pad I painted the door with the Thundercloud paint.... now that took about 3-4 coats as well. I like things to be very pigmented and opaque so I like to make sure it's definitely on there.

Now, for the Polyurethane Clear Coat (which was a smell I didn't like), I did 3 coats of this as well. This took probably the most time out of everything. When it's drying it takes forever, like pull your hair out with boredom forever. So I did as many as I could one day, let it dry over night and did the last coat. I used one of the ultra smooth roller pads as well for this. It made the perfect glossy look, and will also help protect the paint and door from water && other liquids etc.

After completely drying comes the L brackets. I pre-drilled the holes first and then drilled the screws into the door, and insides of the storage table thingys. Make sure you do the inside of the tables so it's not so noticeable. AND before drilling everything make sure the table top is exactly where you want it placed on the storage bin thinga-mabobs. My husband was working for this part, and it was a pain to make sure they were staying in place so if you can get an extra sturdy hand to hold them suckers in their place that would be best. BUT, you can do it on your own... hence the D-I-Y (do it yourself) lol. :)

OMG. Most expensive part of this whole project was picking out a chair. I wanted to re-do a chair found on Craigslist or something but....I'm impatient with excitement. So, I bought this bad boy at TJ Maxx for $89 on clearance (ha, love my clearance). I had a $10 off coupon so the actual price was $99 before the coupon. Completely worth the price in my opinion. It's beautiful, extremely comfortable, stylish, and perfect for this space. Pretty sure it's made by Cynthia Rowley. This is optional obviously, but I thought I'd share my love for this expensive butt cushion. I'm kind of obsessed if you couldn't tell. . . 

LOL, please excuse the dirty printer that was sitting in it's box for a couple months in storage. Hey, at least it has a special place now. But that's it! It's super sturdy and perfect for all my DIY's, crafts, or whatever I want to use it for. Eating cake on? I don't know it's awesome. I also added little shelves, and I got those at Target on clearance for $4 for both. I put the one in the middle so I could put my tablet there if I wanted to watch a YouTube video or music etc. Sooo yup, thanks for stopping by and reading another DIY post from yours truly. Have any questions or comments? Post below! 

Until Next Project.....