Do you remember the days when televisions came in these giant wood consoles? Now that we hang our flat screens on the wall, it may be hard to imagine that televisions were furniture. Nowadays these old console sets end up getting set out for the garbage man. Here's a clever re-use of one of these anachronisms:
Beckie, from the site Infarrantly Creative, picked up an old console television the night before trash day and turned it into a cute new table!
It's absolutely amazing to me that televisions were built with a giant wooden cabinet surrounding them — and I'm even old enough to remember watching reruns of The Brady Bunch in front of one of them! It's not uncommon to see them sitting out on the curb so I think this re-use is brilliant.
After removing the picture tube and wires from the inside of the cabinet, Beckie (with the assistance of a helpful friend) cut the cabinet in half. Now the piece looked more like a table and less like a cabinet. To stabilize the new table, Beckie cut the feet off the half she removed and attached them to the back of the table.
To clean up the inside of the cabinet, Beckie used luan wood to line it and then added a shelf as well. After filling in holes and cracks, Beckie sprayed the table with primer and then painted it with Dutch Boy's Lake Champlain, followed by a glaze.
I could see this as a nifty little bookcase, too!
Check out the full posts on this cool console television re-use on Beckie's blog, Infarrantly Creative:
• Roadkill Rescue: Vintage TV
• Roadkill Rescue: Console Table Out of Vintage Television
Images: Infarrantly Creative
Before & After: Emily Henderson Transforms a Senior's Studio Space
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Four-P...
On Saying No to Paleo: Why Eating Isn't One Size Fits All
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
Looks great!
I was dubious when I saw the before photo, but great job! You obviously have a better eye than I do.
nicely done!!!
Looks great, but just wanted to point out that tube TVs are SUPER DUPER Dangerous. The capacitors in them can kill you. Just FYI.
Beyond that, it does look great.
ah, so adorable! How crafty, I wonder how difficult it was to remove the tv and it's components.
Love, love, love. My mom has one of these old console tv sets and will soon be getting rid of her house of stuff to move in with me. I'm definitely going to try this.
It looks great! Love the color too!
Cute! Love your paint job and color choices.
What Jose A? The capacitor in it can kill me? Nevermind.
Too cute! A vintage store near me in Knoxville (a super cool place called Nostalgia) has turned an old console TV into a nifty aquarium.
Awesome. I love it. Now you need to get a slightly more modern bookshelf that is a little smaller and set it on top of the one you made.
Yeah in modern tvs, the capacitors will dischard fairly quickly. But in old tvs like this one, it can take several months or even years for them to discharge.
Now you need to get a slightly more modern bookshelf that is a little smaller and set it on top of the one you made.
Ahahaha - awesome
So sweet! I like the colour too!
My hat is off to you. Best DIY ever.
I was going to mention the same thing Jose A did. I'm always amazed when dangerous ideas are posted on AT with no warnings whatsoever. All in the name of good design, I guess - but don't let your last words be "Oh, Darwin was right...!"
It was a TV, not a nuclear warhead. Sheesh, people.
There's something very zen about a TV designed to look like a piece of furniture being converted into the piece of furniture it was built to resemble. It's a great idea and nicely done.
WOW!
beautiful, I LOVE It!!!!
That was exactly the TV set I grew up with, wow! Well done.
Here here to the safety nerds! Electronics have all kinds of nasty components in them. It's not advisable to take them apart unless you have a plan to dispose of the heavy metals inside them.
For some reason, I can't see anyone's profile name in the posts. Anyway, the unit looks great, I absolutely did not expect the finished product!
But I agree with the safety posts- no point risking your health (or your kids') just to make some pretty furniture. I see on the blog, someone asked how she disposed of the TV components. I was wondering the same actually. I guess that varies by locale?
Hats off to your creativity but I am all freaked out about the safety hazards now.
genius idea!
love(x8) used to love before+afters... then it got REALLLLY bad, and now im liking em transformation again!! this is SO WELL DONE!
I'm with the safety nerds and find the posts dismissive of the genuine danger alarming. Nothing in the name of design, no matter how cute and clever it may be deemed to be, would induce me to mess with an old vacuum tube TV. High voltage capacitors can hold a charge for years. And I think it's possible for the CRT itself to hold a charge indefinitely. To encourage people to do this without an understanding of what they're dealing with is irresponsible.
Just dispose of the old TV properly and legally. There's a million other things out there you can repurpose.
GREAT JOB!
Could somebody please explain the comments about capacitors and danger? Just so we can pay attention when we attempt thisourselves... great re-use of furniture!
Cutting the console to reduce the depth was an excellent idea. Nice end result!
To the person who said: "It was a TV, not a nuclear warhead. Sheesh, people."
You're right. A nuclear warhead will kill everyone in the city; the charge in the capacitors in a TV will only kill you. If you're cool with taking one apart without understanding how to avoid that, well....
That said, this TV probably hasn't been plugged in for a decade. If you know that's the case, the capacitors are probably OK. (Not that I'd poke around at them all the same.)
There is enough of an electrical charge in an old TV capacitor to stop your heart. Stopped heart = dead.
If you don't know how to deal with old electronics safely, I suggest you skip this DIY. If you do know how, then, by all means, continue.
But don't be stupid, please, I would hate to have someone die just to get a new bookshelf.
LOL at the capacitor comments! Great bookshelf. Who KNEW one could re-use such an ancient tv in such a creative, beautiful way.
By the way...you can go to your local electronic repair shop and ask that they remove and dispose of the contents properly for you. Just like your old computers, laptops, etc...
It's not rocket science...
Those consoles also can be made into terrarium stands. They may even be strong enough to hold an aquarium's water. I've seen pretty ones made that way.
too cute! my folks still have their t.v. just like this....sending this post to my dad :)
Just FYI this is insanely dangerous to attempt without some prior knowledge of CRT electronics and how they work. The capacitors on these machines are capable of holding a dangerous level of charge for a very long time (months and months) after they have been last used. Please let people know that attempting this without the appropriate equipment and knowledge can be very very very dangerous.
Rad!
I want!
oh my... LauraGiffin just made it made-sense for me... cos at the beginning i was wondering "why would an electical unplugged still be able to conduct elec" being not-plugged to the socket.. i mean.. SURELY the person doing the before-after would have at least a single brain cell to know such DIYs should be done WITHOUT any elec (being) switched-on... but now it make sense. so even being SWITCHED OFF these C-things (sorry... im not v clever with elec. Im a Psyc grad tho - ask me any DSM-IV and i'll rant!) ..ca-pa-ci-tors.. conducts elec.. even being switched off!! wow... Need to brush up on my general knowledge. in this case... yah.. I am officially scared of attempting this DIY.. but just for conversation's sake, i did convert my bulky tv console in 1996 to a bookshelf. so lucky i didnt die right. sigh. =/ the close shaves we have. *Ju walks off puzzled, still wondering how can anything hold elec after being switched off, for a long time..
@JulianneMay, That's exactly why it's dangerous, because it's not obvious.
I suppose you have used rechargeable batteries before? Those hold a charge for a long time, too. Of course, a rechargeable battery and a capacitor are not the same things and are used for very different purposes.
My mom has a TV like that and it's still going strong.
Please make sure when you are dismantling old TVs that you properly dispose of the CRT. Older sets like this one can have up to four pounds of lead inside of them that can leach into the ground and ultimately contaminate ground water. Recycling a set is clever but ultimately harmful if not done properly.