...because home doesn't happen overnight.
11.24.09 / An IKEA Makeover

When Steve and I first got married 7 years ago, we ‘splurged’ on an IKEA entertainment console for our (then) basement.  (Yes, IKEA was a splurge for us.)  It suited our needs well for 6 years supporting our ginormous box of a TV and all the equipment that comes with that sort of thing.  When we moved into a bigger home (the one we live in now), I gave Steve the okay to purchase a flatscreen TV… something neither of us regret.  We were able to mount the new TV on the wall in our family room.  Our faithful IKEA console was no longer needed, or was it?! 

It sat in the middle of our living room (okay, so trying to split up a long room with a console right in the middle wasn’t such a great idea) for over a year trying to find it’s place in our lives again. 

BEFORE

It was fulfilling a very important purpose.  See those baskets?  They held all our mail… one basket for each member of our family.  With the console being in the room closest to the front door, it was functioning quite well as a mail sorter/disguiser.  That orange birch color had to go though.  So, it did…

AFTER

Since it’s constructed of icky (yet inexpensive!) veneer instead of solid wood, sanding and staining wasn’t an option.  Instead, I tackled the 3 P’s: priming, painting and polyurethaning.  We already had the primer and paint (same as the wall color) on hand, so the only thing I purchased was the polyurethane for about $15-$20.  I repositioned it along the wall (i.e., got it out of the middle of the room…what was I thinking?!), kept it’s mail sorting use and then organized all the computer components in and on it.  Gotta love hidden wires and electrical equipment!  It’s now a functional AND great looking way to peruse through the mail and pay bills online, on time.  I would like to get a glass top cut to fit as even with the polyurethane, a few chips have surfaced on the worktop.
So, that’s how I saved our IKEA console. 
6 COMMENTS
budget decor, DIY, organization

6 Comments

[…] I didn’t want a monitor on it.  (I ended up making a desk out of an old IKEA console seen here.)  So, it’s now our card table/extra dining table/eating-Cookie […]

[…] My blogging desk was a little blah.  In fact, it was never meant to be a desk to begin with.  It’s an IKEA console that I transformed into a desk out of necessity.  (Take a look at how I painted it here.) […]

Hazel
28.January.2011

i just love your blog and your style!!! i need to do the exact same thing to some ikea shelves that we have (three Ps). can you tell me what brand primer and brand polyurethane you used? and any extra tips would be great!!! keep blogging!!!

housetweaking
28.January.2011

Hazel – We usually use KILZ primer and Minwax polyurethane. It’s just what we bought originally and keep reusing bc that’s what we have on hand! An oil-based primer along with an enamel latex paint will give the most professional, durable results {that’s what we did on our kitchen cabinets} but they can be pricey.

Hazel
29.January.2011

Thanks so much, Dana! Fingers crossed!

Jan Elizabeth
21.December.2013

That’s a great way to deal with mail, and it would work for school papers to sign and such as well.