New TV Stand

Written by Shannon Leigh

I am considering this piece a semi-success.

I don't LOVE it but I think I sort of like it. There are somethings that I like about it and there are some things I really hate. I will explain.

Here's the before. I forgot to take a picture of it with all of the drawers, but you get the idea. It also had a cabinet on top (you already heard about what an utter failure THAT was).

Here's the after.

Things I like:

-The size

-The storage

-The height

-The hardware

Things I don't like:

- I don't like the color of white I chose... I think it's too white. I wish I would have gone darker.

- I don't HATE the black glaze on it but I'm not crazy about the glaze with the color of white I chose. I feel like it looks dirty instead of "aged." It's my first time glazing... so maybe I should have gone a bit darker?

- I don't LOVE the shape- I tend to like more girly stuff with long legs and curves. This piece is pretty masculine. That being said I think it works well with all of the other girly pieces around the room.

Something I really love is the hardware! This one was a head scratcher at first.

I really liked the shape of the hardware but I didn't really like the color. They were brass and not in great shape. I've spray painted in the past and I haven't been thrilled with the results. So I wanted to try something else.

So I did some research and found out that I could darken real brass to give it that aged look. PERFECT, just what I was looking for.

First I had to see if they were really brass. I did a few tests and had a strong feeling they were in fact brass. I then soaked them in TSP and a laquer thinner.

I then dipped them in brass darkening solution. It's simple! You just soak them until they reach the desired color... I wanted mine almost black so I soaked them for about 7 or 8 minutes. I rinsed and washed them in baking soda to stop the acid and viola- "aged bras."

If you want some of the brass to come through you can steal wool the surface. I chose not to but maybe I'll try that for another project.

Here's the before and after.

Over all the project cost around $175 bucks (not bad considering the one I really want from Pottery Barn is $1700). The piece itself (with the cabinet on top) was $125 at a thrift store. The paint and supplies was about $60 and the brass darkening solution was $15.

I suppose it will do for now.

Now onto the NEXT project.