I’ve been keeping a little secret from you guys.
A secret that actually all started with a totally-random-but-brilliant idea cooked up by Robert… you know that handiman around here who graciously puts up with his hair-brained boss lady (a.k.a. me)?
I’m so excited to show y’all a few surprises in our living room that are happening, all brought about by Robert saying to me one night mid-Netflixathon, “Let’s move some things around in here.” As if this man of mine didn’t sweep me off my feet already, he goes and says that.
So now, meet Phase 1 of the Living Room Remix:
I found this buffet table on Craigslist the other week that I knew could be a real showstopper as a faux Pottery Barn inspired vintage printer’s cabinet. Except we’re putting it to use as a media cabinet.
We cranked this one out just in time for Trash to Treasure Tuesday with a few of my blogger friends (their makeovers are at the end of this post).
Supplies used: (Affiliate links are provided below. For more information, see my full disclosure here.)
- 1x10x8 whitewood board
- 1x12x8 whitewood board
- 1/8″ thick plywood board
- Circular saw or table saw
- 3 – 1″x1″ square dowels
- Square tool
- Level
- Tape measure
- Liquid nails
- 1.5″ finishing nails
- Hammer or pneumatic nail gun
- Cup pulls
- Power drill/driver
- General Finishes Gel Stain in Antique Walnut
- Foam brush
- Clean lint-free rags
The first thing I wanted to do was square up the waterfall top of the buffet and beef it up with some rustic looking wood.
We laid the 1×10 and 1×12 boards side by side on top of the buffet and cut them with the circular saw to have a 2″ overhang on each side.
With a pencil, we marked the edge of the buffet to line up the square dowels to fit for the wood top.
Then, using finishing nails and a line of Liquid Nails for extra stability, we attached the square dowels on the line we marked around the whitewood boards. (Which you can see demonstrated by that ham in the picture below.)
After all the dowels were attached around the three edges of the boards, we applied Liquid Nails all over. This is the new top of the buffet upside-down.
We flipped the new top over and fit it to the top of the buffet, then secured it in place using more finishing nails.
For the fronts of the buffet drawers and doors, we used the measurements to make a faux drawer front template.
And we marked the plywood using the template.
If you have a table saw, that would actually be easier, but Robert used the circular saw to carefully cut the plywood for the faux drawer fronts. I think this guy is due for a table saw for Father’s Day.
It was pretty tedious, but we ended up cutting 24 plywood pieces.
Then, we dry fit the plywood pieces on the drawers and doors to make sure they would fit. We laid the buffet on its back at this point so we could work on a flat surface for the front.
To attach them, we used more Liquid Nails and pressed them in place. It only takes about a minute for the adhesive to set.
We spaced all of the plywood pieces by about the thickness of a nickel.
When the plywood pieces were all placed and set, we used a tape measure and level to mark holes for the cup pulls.
Once the hardware holes were marked and drilled, I gave the entire buffet two coats of the antique walnut gel stain and attached the cup pulls.
Now our little white cabinet has been replaced by this guy…
Bam! And now we have even more DVD storage space because we’re sort of movie hoarders.
All of the project supplies we had to buy plus the price of the original buffet ended up being about $150, which is loads cheaper than anything I’d be able to find at Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware.
Soon, we’ll be moving our TV from over our fireplace to on top of this big daddy.
What do you think? Does it pass for the more pricey kind? I’m so excited that I’ll finally be able to decorate the top of the mantel without a big honkin’ TV taking over now.
(P.S. We’ve officially kicked off kitchen makeover progress that I can’t wait to show y’all next week. Ahhh!)
You can pop over to my T2T blogger gal pals to see their thrifty makeovers too:
(Clockwise from top left):
Prodigal Pieces | Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer | Girl in the Garage | Artsy Chicks Rule
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