What I'm Making: Mid Century Mod Credenza Into TV Stand

Hi George!

This mid-century mod credenza* has been in my parent's house for quite a while-- my dad got it at a yard sale when I was in my late teens and it became my first real record player. I hadn't given it any thought in years (it was parked in a corner of my old room and used as a window seat for the cats) but I realized when I was home recently that with a little sprucing up it would make a lovely TV stand. I kept seeing this type of vintage piece pop up on Apartment Therapy and knew it would look perfect for what I had in mind. (Before anyone side-eyes me for ruining a perfectly good record player, this thing was in terrible shape, I promise.)

Sorry for the bad picture-- impromptu gutting at my parent's house!

We removed the back and Jeremy grabbed a pair of wire cutters and started gutting it. Obviously we would need a way to access everything we put inside, so I wasn't sure if we would have to cut a square out of the front or what. Jeremy started removing random screws to see what they were connected to, and the front panel popped out! Lucky!

After the turntable and speakers were removed it was much lighter and ready to go to the new house. First I had to readjust two of the legs because they had been mysteriously removed and readjusted into wonky positions, which looked terrible from the front. After a thorough cleaning, my dad's mouse sander (I love that thing!) and a few coats of stain, this is what it looked like:

Much better, but the top was driving me nuts! I suppose credenzas like this were used as an all-around party area; the lid opens to reveal six cup holders and the turntable, so I assume people also used the top of it as a bar. The top was completely ruined with black water stains that I couldn't remove with the sander, so I sanded out what I could and stained it anyway, just to see. But it looked terrible so I turned to Google for help, and everything told me to brush on a few coats of bleach until it was light enough, and then re-stain.

Hi Weetzie!

And it worked! Somewhat. It's still uneven, but not nearly as bad.

The inside holds the dvd player, Wii, Xbox and router.

The original plan was to add hinges to the front panel but I need a special kind that I haven't been able to find, so that's on hold for now. Right now we only have to remove the panel to use the dvd player or Xbox, because the Wii sensor sits on top of the TV. The panel isn't a big deal to remove (it pops right out) and it's stable and sits in a groove, so I don't have to worry about it just falling off.

Yay!

I love it. Since the back is open there's enough room inside for the wires to sit and not crowd the floor with their terribleness. A random fact about me is that I love painting/staining/sanding things so I was pretty much in heaven during this project. I think it's obvious by now that I really enjoy making things (and re-imagining them), because it's just so satisfying to look at something and know that you made it useful again! This was my first big project for the new house and I'm over the moon about how it turned out.

* I'm pretty sure this thing is called a credenza; apparently the terms "sideboard" and "credenza" are somewhat interchangeable, but since this had a built-in radio and record player I wasn't sure if it has another name. I always called it a record player cabinet (haha) and this person calls theirs a radiogram, so who knows!