Yesterday, Kelley's apartment was all about reconfiguring the space and taking stock in what she already had before hitting up Ikea and Home Depot (get the back story here). Today, it's about taking one project (in this case, Kelley's credenza, a Craigslist find) and just hit the ground running. If you've ever been faced with a project that motivates you enough to buy it, but not enough to actually do it--well, hopefully, this post will inspire you to get started...
Redecorating on a Budget
Part II: The Credenza DIY Project
Before there was the credenza, the TV was sitting on top of a vintage tin top table that jutted out from the wall and offered no storage (hence the wicker basket underneath), like so:
However, when Kelley saw this listing on Craigslist six months ago, she knew it had potential: A little elbow grease could get this piece back to its former glory.
Here's what the credenza looked like when she brought it home:
Enlisting the help of her friend Nathan (who luckily happens to be a motorcycle mechanic in Daly City), the pair of them went straight to work sanding the surfaces down by hand. (An electric sander would have been nice, but out of budget and no one she knew had one to borrow). After the sanding was done ("I can't even tell you how happy I am that I never have to sand that thing again!"), Kelley and Nathan re-stained the wood a deeper shade with underlying red tones.
And here's what the credenza looked like after staining and a few coats of varnish:
After some indecision, she finally decided on painting the inside cabinet white, and the inside of the cabinet and drawer pulls a shiny black enamel leftover from one of Nathan's previous mechanic jobs:
A view of the inside of the credenza:
...and a close-up of the drawer pull design:
"I never thought about black enamel, but then when we spot-tested it on an old Michael McDonnell record that was lying around, I was sold..."
Once the major hurdle of refinishing the wood was done, the second major challenge was finding the right cabinet pulls. Since the left side of the credenza slides open, the pulls on the right side had to be shallow enough so the left door could slide easily. Kelley and I hit up to Home Depot first, guesstimated the size, bought a set of pulls...only to realize that they were too big. After an emergency trip to Cliff's Variety Hardware store in the Castro (seriously, one of the best hardware stores in SF--I wish there was a hardware store like this in LA!), we found smaller pulls and picked up shorter screws. Also, we opted to go with a shiny silver look instead of the antique brass that the credenza originally came with.
The finished product:
The inside of Kelley's credenza holds books that she's finished from the Expedit bookcase, her audio equipment for her DJ set up, and the DVD player for her TV.
Sometimes, all it takes is one project to inspire us to get other projects done. In Kelley's case, this credenza is one of the first major projects that she has undertaken--and the process and end result gave her the motivation to rework her studio.
Check back tomorrow when we finally figure out what to do with the radiator, nicknamed The Beast...
Missed what happened so far? Catch up on yesterday's post on Kelley's studio makeover.
Comments (24)
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Nice redo - and yes, Cliffs Variety is a great local resource!
view bepsf's profile
Beautiful!
FYI -- We have an small, inexpensive Black and Decker sander called the Mouse that works well for projects like this: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-MS500K-Polisher-Accessories/dp/B0000302UY
view heather77's profile
Kelley Rocks!
view modernguy's profile
She pretty much killed it. *Did a great job*...I love the darker stain and the *pop of surprise* white on the side. What a great Craigslist find.
http://www.gettogethablog.com
view GetTogetha's profile
Whoa. I love the black enamel behind the pulls. It really adds a nice detail.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
Ditto on the black enamel, stoke of genius!
Was this piece solid wood? If not what grade sandpaper were you using?
Fantastic outcome.
view DahliaCactus's profile
That is a beautiful piece of furniture and she did a fantastic job with it. What I want to know is how come I never find great furniture like that on Craigslist? Even when I do find something I like, the price is ridiculously high!
view suzy8track's profile
Really nice!
On any piece like that, the case itself is always veneeered; it's the only way to get that neat, sequence-matched look. That said, it's just really important to sand carefully - granted, veneer many years ago was much thicker than it is today (only about 1/32"), but still. Sometimes it is best to use a stripper first - something citrus and non-toxic from HD - then clean it up really good with mineral spirits before using the sandpaper. Stripper is best for the hard-to-reach spots. Legs are usually solid, so you don't have to go as delicately.
Again, nice job. Love the touches with paint.
view john@handmade's profile
Marvelous update on this credenza.
view slowdown's profile
Oh lordy I do love that credenza. That is *exactly* what I'm looking for!!
view Modfan's profile
WOW.
view Miss*Lisa's profile
The credenza looks beautiful! I would have been afraid to try to do that; I'd probably have ruined the piece. Absolutely lovely job!
view Sydney's profile
this is so drool worthy. but don't worry i wont drool on the credenza...dont want to mess up the finish.
view bellaknollie's profile
Oh my god, I am obsessed with this post! Such a great re-do, and happy to see it didn't have to be painted. :) Beautiful. This gives me hope that I don't need to convince my mom to give me her credenza...maybe I can find one on my own! :)
view Appy's profile
Swooning! I have several mid-century pieces that I would love to do something like this to!
view leely16's profile
Beautiful. I love it.
view moptop's profile
I'm curious how much it cost on Craigslist? Love it! Great job!
view ARobin's profile
beautiful, but in the last photo, the white paint makes the credenza look like the rest of it is wood veneer... you know what i'm saying? it probably doesn't look like that irl, though.
view lemonpie's profile
I'm jealous! What a great makeover!
view SherryBinNH's profile
thats impressive.. and i love the dark new glossy look, it fits the style perfectly
view wampler's profile
Thanks so much for all the nice comments! To answer a few of the questions, I bought the credenza on CL for $150. It is solid wood which was the only reason I was okay paying that. When we sanded it down, we used 3 grades of sand paper. First a 60 grit to remove the very persistent varnish and previous stain. Then a 120 to smooth the surface and finally a 220 to ensure any particles and imperfections were gone.
Once the project was all said and done, with the cost of materials, I spent just around $200.
-- Kelley
view kelleymeansbusiness's profile
Wow, just beautiful!
view keliz's profile
hi..im still drooling.
view bellaknollie's profile
wow, that is amazing!!! I've been scouring LA's CL trying to find something just like that for the right price and keep coming up empty. Great work!
Cheers,
M
view Matt. M's profile