Thrifty Thursday - Upcycled Cabinet Into a Gears of War TV Stand

Last Christmas the "family gift" was an Xbox 360 with a Gears of War 3 theme. We kept joking about redecorating the living room to match the cranberry and black colors on the gaming console.

Except last week, we found a used cabinet at our local ReStore for just $10 and the joking got serious. Throw in a trip to Home Depot where we paid $7 for a gallon of Oops paint, $5 for a can of textured black spray paint, and 51¢ board from the crap wood section and we just scored a custom-made entertainment center for under $25 total.

Here is a picture diary of the project from start to finish. Enjoy, and check back on Saturday when I list reasons why you should join me in shopping your local ReStore.

Former TV cabinet. It was too deep, too bulky, and a door recently fell off. A hand-me-down from a neighbor giving things away to lighten their load before moving several hours away, the piece had outlasted its usefulness.

Score! Cabinet for $10! Sadly, I did not get a picture before the doors and hardware were removed.

Cranberry red Oops! paint purchased at Home Depot for $7.

The stencil was as easy as tracing what was on the laptop screen and cutting out with an X-acto knife. 

Stencil taped in place, with newspaper taped around it to prevent spraying black in unwanted areas.

We peeled off the sections that we wanted to stay black, leaving the parts that were to stay red covered. Don't worry, we rolled the tape to make it double-stick to secure those middle areas.

As I sprayed I walked in a circle around the cabinet. This let the middle part get more black while leaving a stippled, airbrush-type effect under the very edges of the stencil.

Same type of stencil, post-spray painting.

Detail of the smaller doors.

And here it is in place! You can see how much closer it is to the wall and how the archery supplies in the corner behind the TV are much more accessible now as well.

And that's it! What projects have you tried? Ever been to a ReStore? Questions about one? I'd love to read all your comments in the section below!