Technically, I can no longer call this my January Jumpstart project, because it's now officially February...yet there's still so much to do! But I am very pleased with what I've accomplished from the start of this project till now. The 1950's Westinghouse stereo cabinet began as a weather beaten, worn and ramshackle curbside find, and now is a fairly good looking piece of furniture in our home thanks to a lot of stain, pain, and wood grain (may I add, despite the rain). All the details below the jump.
Gregory's Project: The Stereo Cabinet #7 - Moving On
As mentioned in the last post, some serious water stain damage had affected how the stain penetrated and discoloured the wood, resulting in an inconsistent finish on the front panel. My first plan was to just revive and refinish the exterior to its original state, but the damaged section was too noticeable to ignore. I wasn't too pleased with the idea of going through another round of sanding, re-staining and resealing the front panel with hardly a guarantee it would come out any better than the first time around.
Of course any project should have a backup contingency plan, and I indeed had one to cover up the mess. I always remembered liking Inhabit's Shangri La wall flats, and they seemed like a perfect fit, almost literally. A box of 10 wall flats arrived today, and after some grueling, don't-cut-off-your-fingers-nitwit moments with an X-acto blade, straight edge and a cutting mat, I was able to trim the molded bamboo paper pulp pieces into nearly perfectly sized tiles for the front. I wish I could have had these machine cut for the straightest of finishes, but with a little sanding with a fine grit sandpaper, the lines came out pretty darn straight, if I do say so myself.
So what's left to do? Plenty. I'm still trying to figure out how to fit and incorporate the 23" LCD inside the cabinet or whether I even need it, since I'm connecting the Apple TV to an HDMI switcher that connects to the LCD TV (but I love the idea of a stand alone digital media jukebox). The next step is installing a couple sets of wire/cable guides I purchased from the 99 Cents Only Store, since in no time, the cabinet will be packed with plenty of electronic components and will need some wire management.
If you remember at the beginning of this project, I dismantled all the original audio hardware inside, but I left the top wood panel where the knobs and dials once sat. That gave me the idea of copying the ContactBoxen peripheral charging station, since the dial holes are perfect to snake USB, Firewire and power cables through. I'm also using the leftover Inhabit wall flats to line the interior side and rear walls, and installing a surge protector inside for all the hardware that will one day call the cabinet home (Apple TV, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Apple Airport Extreme Base Station and an NAS drive). A couple quiet PC fans installed in the back should keep air flow steady and temperatures within a safe range.
The project can be tagged as unofficially done, both because of budget and planning constraints. Any future updates will continue over at our Unplggd site, since from this point on, the project will take a much more tech-oriented nature.
My girlfriend didn't get the additional bookshelves she wanted, nor did our cats end up with the cat condo they seemed to meow about. But all in all, it has been a lot of fun working on bringing something back to life that would have likely ended up in landfill. It was a great way to start off 2008.
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Jan Jumpstart 2008 - newsRelated Links
- The Judges Choices: Gregory Han - ATLA Editor
- January Jumpstart: Jon's Ikea ROGER chair transformation #1
- January Jumpstart Contest: Submission Form and Prizes!
- January Jumpstart: Deadline Moved to Tuesday, 1.22.08
- Gregory's Project: The Stereo Cabinet #4 - No Guts, No Glory
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I'm impressed. I was very skeptical when you first rolled out that piece of furniture, but you've made it really nice.
view SFGail's profile
good show man!
Looks expensive!
view art's profile
LOVE IT!
view speedmike's profile
If I saw this in a furniture store, I'd buy it.
view spinsLPs's profile
Wow!
I actually think those panels in the front are better than the old front would have been. They update it fabulously and make it really unique.
view Pixie's profile
Looks fantastic. Great job!
view Enrique's profile
I think the rain was a happy accident. The wall flats do a great job breaking up all the wood and add to the personality of the piece. I love this, because not only did you breath new life into what would have been trash, but you were creative with it past sanding and staining. Good luck with the rest!
view Gravity's Rainbow's profile
wonderful. just wonderful.
view superstovall's profile
I love the texture that the wall flats give the piece. I agree with Pixie that I think that it's a better look than the original wood front. Great job!
view ami's profile
the lights inside are a great idea! i think i'll do that in my cabinet. does anyone know if there's a light that would go on when i opened the door and go off when i close it, like a refrigerator? that would be cool...
view open_skies's profile
WOW great idea!
view vitamin design milk's profile
looks amazing! is that an ornage speaker on the left top corner? where is that from?
view catastrophecarlos's profile
oops, i meant to say orange.
view catastrophecarlos's profile
catastrophecarlos: It's a vintage 1968 purse shaped Minerva 45 'pop' record player, designed by Mario Bellini. I got it for my girlfriend as a birthday present, and it's one of favourite design items in our place.
view gregory's profile
I'm impressed. What a turnaround.
view gretchen's profile
Also, if you're not doing anything with the extra wall flats, I will absolutely buy them from you. Keep that in mind. :)
view gretchen's profile
That is just brilliant! And I was debating buying the wall flats...Now I think I will. Thank you. =)
view Aggie927's profile
i love those panels, what a great solution. This contest rocks, i love peeking into the minds of fellow diy'ers, seeing how we all view materials, tools, and problems so differently.
view southof290's profile
You're not actually running the 360 in there are you? Does it get enough ventilation there? Don't want to RRoD, you know.
Otherwise, it looks excellent. You did a great job on it.
view joetron2030's profile
Haha, joetreon2030, how did I know it would be you who'd notice the 360. No worries friend, it's just sitting there for now until I get an HDMI splitter; I'm well aware with the 360's hardware "limitations" (aka poorly engineered design). I'm going to move all the electronic components to the mostly open and ventilated middle interior (thus the idea of for a PC fan or two).
view gregory's profile
How many HDMI ports are you looking for? I think Engadget HD recently showed a 2-port from Belkin that includes an IR remote. I think they also showed a 4-port recently, too. Don't recall who made that one or if it had a remote or not, though.
view joetron2030's profile
WANT!!!
This looks fantastic, you should be really proud! The new front was a stroke of genius and daresay looks even better. I'd never heard of that project and it might enable me to utilize some of the not-quite-right consoles i keep seeing on craigslist.
Thank you!
view DahliaCactus's profile
it looks fantastic!
view Ana's profile
this looks amazing, i never would have had the patience to follow through with the renovation as you have. cheers to persistence!
view plann.b's profile
Ooh, clever! I've been wanting to use those panels for a long time, but I hadn't figured out what to do with them. Now I'm looking around the house for a similar project to do!
view pinklovesbrown's profile
that is truly amazing.
view dayataglance.blogspot.com's profile
I've been watching this one from the start, anxiously awaiting the finish... I hope I can find a cabinet with similar lines sometime to try this out. Unbelievable job!
But I'm even more impressed with the record player, now. So, that's two on the wishlist.
view bakerboy's profile
where can you find the record player?
view Ana's profile
Great project, very jealous of this find and the finished product. Hope you did in fact keep the vacuum tubed section. Don't junk it just because it doesn't work...I would love to see if I could get it going, or you could likely pay off your investment in this project selling it whole or in pieces on ebay. Vintage transformers are worth their weight in iron. Careful if you plug it in....
view ervington's profile
AWESOME! I love the front panels now! They are awesome. I am dreaming of a way to steal the idea. Re- staining those front panels would have been more of a pain in the ass than they were worth. Bravo. I think this has been the best January- Jumpstart Project fo sho.
view LittlechairDesign's profile
P.s. I have a really close matching piece I was thinking about putting on craigslist. If you're interested. It's also a TV stand, but it is a really cool vintage piece. Anybody?
view LittlechairDesign's profile
AMAZING! Great Job! Very crafty!
If I saw that in a shop I'd snap it up in a heartbeat!
That would be a "be late with bills and scrimp on lunch" purchase for sure!
view marcspice's profile
DROOL..............
view RJD's profile
I have serious cabinet envy. First that Bang & Olufsen cabinet and now this!! Totally gorgeous.
view jennifer in sf's profile
That is one seriously cool cabinet.
view Kevin Acker's profile
this is by far the best jump start project...i love it...
view Jess2nola's profile