Turning An Old Box TV Into A TV Stand

This is a project that has been years in the making and it actually started long before this blog was even thought of and just recently was finished--as in last week. So there are no step-by-step photos (sorry!) but I will lay it all out there and hopefully do an ok job explaining it. I definitely learned a few things along the way and want to pass them along to you!

You might notice that the before photo isn't the same as the after. That's because I had no before photo and had to take a photo of one a littler different, but you get the idea.

Step 1: Getting that old TV out of there. Most of these old box tv's have some chipboard or something covering the back. If you pop that off, it's easy to get the TV on out. Pull out any unnecessary items or bracing inside until you have an empty box.

Step 2: Adding a shelf. For mine, my momma actually built the shelf for me. Just measure your width and depth on the inside and take a piece of ply wood and make a shelf. I attached another piece to the front to make it appear larger, but you don't have to do that.

Step 3: Paint! Add some paint, or you could leave it. For me, the wood didn't match my living room so away it went.

Step 4: Adding a back. For the longest time, mine didn't have a back. I got the bright idea that I wanted a rustic look, so I thought I'd disassemble a pallet--those pallet projects always look so cool. Feel free to skip the italicized text coming next, it's a bit of a rant...{Side note, disassembling a pallet is awful, awful, awful. It's difficult, time consuming, and all of those people making all of these pallet projects neglect to tell you how difficult it is. I took ten boards off and it took well over an hour to do so. Some cracked, snapped in two or just wouldn't come off. I disassembled an old and a new pallet (for a varied look), neither is better than the other. Be prepared to use a lot of muscle and time. Phew, ok now that that's all out of my system, I disassembled a pallet.} Once I had the pieces pulled apart, I cut them the length I needed using a circular saw (my dad is a cabinet builder, yay for unlimited tools!). Before attaching, you want to drill a couple circular holes in a few boards for your power cords. To attach, I simply used some small nails and wood glue.

I hope this is helpful! And sorry for the mini rant about pallets. Seriously, though, have any of you tried some pallet projects before?