Monitor Stand Upcycled!

Puttering

From the Poor Man's Flea Market 

About a week ago I came out of my office at work and saw on the file cabinet that somebody had left a wooden monitor stand with a sign on it which read, "FREE."  I looked it over and it looked in fairly decent shape so I figured what the heck,  let's take it home and see what we can do with it.  So, let's get into it.

The Find

Fun fact: the label was still on the bottom of the stand which gave me a lot of info. For one thing, it turns out the monitor stand was made in China back in March of 2017.

It appears that whatever punkwood the Chinese made this out of, there wasn't a whole lot of formaldehyde in it, at least by California standards - for what that's worth.  Also, it was made for Target stores.

So, a little more research showed that Target sold it for less than $25. I also noticed in the pictures that there were no wheels on it originally, which of course means the original owner or some subsequent owner (besides me) added wheels to it for whatever reason. All of which was kind of fortunate because without the casters I probably wouldn't even have noticed this piece!

A Couple Features

Another thing about this stand that catches the eye are the little accent pieces.  While completely unnecessary, thus making them decorative, they do add a certain attractiveness to the piece.  One of those little additions are the antique brass corner guards on each of the four corners on the top. 

It also had a nice little card catalog drawer pull with a little piece of card stock... nice little touch.

And of course, for all the obvious reasons, I took these pieces off before painting.  Not the least of these reasons is the fact that I just don't have a steady hand while painting. Now, one might think that was because I'm getting old, but quite frankly, I take umbrage at that because I've always had an unsteady hand, regardless of the fact that I am indeed getting old(er)! The nails in the corner guards were so tiny I actually had to use a chisel to gently pull them out.

Experience told me to collect all the little screws and nails and parts in a central location in a small tub so they don't roll off onto the floor and get lost.  However, in the midst of moving things around, I knocked the entire little container onto the floor and it took me at least 10 minutes to find all the little nails.  But in the end, I was able to find 'em!

Slightly Damaged and a Simple Repair

As I noted earlier, the bottom skirt under the drawer was missing.  Obviously, we've done much more complicated projects here 173, so I knew that - even I couldn't mess this one up!

I had a piece of scrap poplar just the right width for this piece.  The only very slight problem was that the board was just ever so slightly too thick for the spot. So I marked out the areas on each end where they would butt up against an inside rail and just filed them down ever so slightly 'til they were flush with the front.  After about 5 or 6 minutes the repair was made!

 

Then I glued the parts together, used a couple small weights as clamps and let them dry overnight.

And just like that, the stand was as good as new.  Of course, considering that it's almost purely decorative and was just missing one little piece of wood, it's not surprising that it was all of a sudden good as new...but there we have it.

I only feel angry when I see waste. When I see people throwing away things we could use. – Mother Teresa

A New Paint Job 

Then it was time to paint.  It really only took me a minute or so after bringing this monitor stand home to know what color I would end up painting it.  That's because once we decided it would be in the dining room, the only color that really made sense was the dark gray (Benjamin Moore's Kendall Charcoal) used on the former typewriter table turned sideboard, and the chairs.  Two coats later and that was done!

A few posts where stuff was painted here at 173
∙ A Great Tool for the Color Challenged! - February 2012
∙ Yellow Door at 173 - July 2013
∙ Painting Furniture: Dining Room Table - February 2015
∙ The Basement Stairway Remodel - June 2015
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Our second most applied label...Made at 173

The Hardware

When it came to putting the corner guards and catalog pull back on, I decided to only give them a light cleaning instead of shining them up.   

The catalog pull showed a bit of wear, but I think it just added to the "antique" look.  Besides that,  it's not an expensive piece of fine furniture so I want about to over think it.

And... because the nails for the corner guards are so tiny, I used a drop of wood glue to help keep them in place.

And here's the fully upcycled stand... now called a plant stand!

Done! 

Here's the new plant stand in the dining room.  We'll let the paint cure for a couple days then that large plant in the background will have a new home!

That's the story of the free, nearly discarded monitor's simple transformation.   Hey,  thanks for stopping by - see ya' next time!