Upcycled Mid-Century TV Stand Tutorial

Eclectic décor has become trendy and it is easier to achieve than it may seem. My favorite addition to my living space is a mid-century TV stand, which was a great item to play off of my neutral space. I immediately saw it as the one piece of furniture I definitely wanted to be a bold and bright color. Because my walls are neutral and my rug is neutral, I needed an item to pop to create my eclectic space.

Upcycling furniture is fun, and a fantastic way to make something true to your family’s taste. To help you with your next furniture upcycling project, here’s the tutorial for my mid-century TV stand.

What you will need:

• Wooden furniture piece you would like to update.
• Electric sander and sandpaper.
• Primer.
• Paint.
• Painter’s tape.
• Metallic spray paint (Can be any other color you like, I chose gold because I wanted to add some metallic accents to my space.)

What to do:

1. If your piece of furniture has drawers, knobs, and/or hinges, be sure to remove them all to make the painting process more accurate. Add painter’s tape to any holes for hinges, knobs, etc. Because my piece was mid-century with a wicker door, I lined the edges of the wicker part so that I wouldn’t get any paint on the wicker. I wanted to keep this part original.
2. Using an electric sander (a much faster and easier option than just sandpaper), sand down your piece of furniture. I had my TV stand sanded lightly to remove the glossy finish. Because I was going to use white primer, I wasn’t too worried about the darker wood color.
   
   
3. Once you have sanded down your furniture, dust it off thoroughly prior to adding primer. Although my paint had primer in it, I still used white primer prior to painting because of the darker wood. I added 3 coats of white primer, letting it dry completely between each coat. Before my third coat of primer I lightly sanded the piece down to make sure the paint was smooth enough for the next coat.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Once all the pieces of your furniture have dried after your last coat of primer, it’s time to paint. I chose a golden yellow color for my furniture. My space is a bit darker; therefore I wanted to add some sunshine with this piece. Similar to the primer, I did 3 coats of yellow paint, letting it dry thoroughly in-between each coat.
   
   
5. Remove the painter’s tape carefully so that you don’t pull up any paint by accident.
6. I wanted the legs to look like they have metallic bottoms. Almost like a dipped-in-paint look. To achieve this, I put painter’s tape approximately 4 inches from the bottom. Be sure to measure the accurate amount for each leg. Once you have the tape on there, you simply spray paint it the bottom lightly. I did 2 coats to make sure the color was even.
   
   
7. Now you just let your piece dry and then add the hinges, doors, drawers, and knobs.

The project turned out exactly as I envisioned. It’s easy to achieve, although it can be time-consuming due to the paint drying, but other than that, it’s a project you can complete over a weekend. Do you have a piece of furniture that you are thinking about upcycling? Tell us about it in the comments below!