Honestly, I have to thank all the wonderful DIY bloggers for doing what they do. They gave me their *fever* and taught me how to handle it. They are my new best friends and they don't even know it!
Almost a month ago I found this *ugly Betty* TV cabinet at a local consignment store for $10.00. Actually, it was priced at $50.00 (how crazy is that?) but I talked the man down to $10.00 after pointing out all the problems with the piece. Besides, being that it's my first piece of furniture to re-do, I wasn't about to spend any more, just in case I totally ruined it, right?
When I got the cabinet home, I thought my dear hubby was going to have a stroke. He told me it was a piece of junk and to get it out of the house. He claimed it was the ugliest piece of furniture he'd ever laid eyes on, which isn't true because his parents had the absolute worst furniture ever. His attitude toward my new soon-to-be-a-treasure cabinet just made me that much more determined to prove him wrong. You'd think after 34 years of marriage he would have learned by now.
At first, I was afraid that I might have bitten off more than I could chew, but I decided to just dive in and get her done. As daunting as it was to remove all the hardware, I did learn about using the right size screwdriver for the job. I stripped all the screw heads and hubby was not happy that he had to finish getting them all out for me and I wasn't happy that I had to run up to the hardware store to buy new screws. But, lesson learned.
Also, the cabinet had no back so I bought some plyboard and had it cut to my specifications, then came home and nailed it on. Once painted, no one would ever know my little secret.
I was impatient to get this finished but forced myself to do the primer first, which is probably the most important step, next to sanding.
Next, I learned that I will eventually need to buy a paint sprayer for future projects of this size. My forefinger is still numb from all the spraying. Duh.
And still, I ended up brush painting it for the second coat because it just looked better.
I spray painted all the hardware and once everything was pretty much dry, I went through learning yet another lesson. It's a good idea to label the hardware and where it goes. Otherwise you'll feel like you're trying to solve a Rubik's Cube when trying to put it all back on. Let me just say that it took me a few tries before I got them back where they belonged. Duh. Again.
Anyway, I knew it was going to be my *learning piece*, but I still think it turned out wonderful. Oh, and guess who absolutely loves this piece now? That's right. The hubby. By the way, my real life name is Liz......
2 comments:
Love love the black!! Great job!! I found you on a linky party!
http://thetaylorhouse-chrissy.blogspot.com/
i think that's a really interesting piece, i rather like it in it's before state. was it really as bad as your hubby thought?
good for you for talking the store owner down. i wouldn't spend 50 for my first piece either.
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