Made with Love. Paid with Pennies.: "custom" furniture part 2: spruced up credenza

I mentioned in my last post that my latest DIY project consisted of redoing two pieces of furniture for a mere $16 (minus hardware);however, I only wrote about one. My paint stick coffee table was free. Yep, $0.

Paint Sticks: Free
Stain: Already had
Gold Paint: Already had
Gorilla Glue: Already had
Polyurethane: Already had
Paint: Already had (left over from Annie's dresser).

The next item on my project to-do list was to spruce up the white credenza that my television sits on.

I really wanted to paint it a bold bright color...kelly green was my top choice...but, after I finished painting my coffee table, I decided I re-do my credenza to match it. This is where the $16 comes in...I needed another quart of paint. This was one of the first times that I needed paint and didn't go straight to the oops section

...but $16 was a small price to pay for a "custom" furniture look. Plus, I obviously love the color..I have used it on 3 other projects:

Anyway, take a look at the before picture of my credenza. I don't mind it being white, but it looked extra country to me, and I am not going for that look in my apartment. Plus, this thing has endured 4 moves in two years, it was looking a bit dingy.

I feel like a broken record when I post about painting furniture, but the steps really are super important if you want a nice, smooth finish. If you read this blog, then you know the next steps...

For those of you who don't know, Anthorpologie has the best (but unfortunately most expensive) knobs/hardware out there. I saw this knob on their website a month or so ago and fell in love with it. Despite it's $10 (per knob) price tag- I knew purchasing four was in my very near future...very un-madewithlove like, I know.

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/home-hardware/25039561.jsp

I love the way grey and gold compliment each other....and, the gold matches the hardware on my paint stick coffee table...worth the $40 if you ask me.

I replaced the old black hinges with gold ones (ringing in at $6) and then reassembled my freshly painted credenza.

Just as I was about to take the after photos, I looked over to my left and saw a few paint sticks left over from my paint stick coffee table project...It was a matter of seconds before I was staining these few scrap paint sticks...here is a sneak peak of where I put them...