D.I.Y. = J.O.Y.

Our “new” hi-fi, tested immediately upon re-assembly. Ralph put on Hall & Oates because he is not an asshole.

(a little of the “Before” piece)

A few years ago we picked up one of these Magnavox record cabinets from Freecycle. It was one of those… well, people who know furniture could describe to me the construction and materials, as wood and furniture products aren’t my specialty. Not too glamorous, built well-enough, handy for listening to vinyl or the radio. You know what else, these cabinets have that feature where you can stack multiple records and it will play them through. This is rare to find today, but a feature I really enjoy.

I don’t remember what made me think we needed another one of these pieces when we spied one at Goodwill. I do know I’d long wanted to refinish a record player and take it out of the assy-brown region, and I liked the lines of the second piece more than the first. We dragged another home for $20, swapped the decks, and put the first one back out to Freecycle.

As we contemplated refinishing this piece I looked around at a lot of paint and surface options. I became more and more interested in using oil-based paint, which has so many advantages. We used a Glidden Porch & Floor paint and even as it still cures I’m so thrilled with the depth of color and the hardness to the paint. I guess I’m a little worn out from years of living in eight-layers-of-latex rentals.

Much like my sewing work, I enjoy playing with color and seemingly dissimilar styles and patterns. For the main color of the piece, I used Granny Smith Apple and for the sliding top, Early Morning Sun. Just so you know, of course, the colors look different whether looking at my monitor, or at the paint chip by my side, or the actual piece of furniture – which is very green despite my bush-league photo efforts, here.

The oil pant is so glossy it gives you a blurry-photo optical illusion in this photo:

For the speaker re-cover, we looked through a few of my stash supplies and couldn’t get over how much we liked an Anna Maria Horner velveteen, which I’d found on sale for $15 a yard. I used a half yard with no waste, ripping on-grain then finishing by serging in case we ever decide to (carefully) dismantle and wash the velveteen.

So the total project cost a little under $50. $20 for the record player, $20 worth of paint and thinner, and $8 for fabric (we did not need to buy brushes or sandpaper as we had them already). However, I always think these cost estimates are goofy. They never include how much time one spent on a project, and don’t include the “hidden” costs like – how we had to buy a full gallon of paint in order to get the color we wanted. Anyway, we had a great time and I learned just a wee bit more about paint, color, and design.