Vintage Mid Century Modern Record Player Makeover

I have been looking forward to this day since early January. Dreaming of how it would feel to turn this ugly duckling into a swan, and how I couldn’t wait to post this awesome project on my blog to share with all of you! If you are a blogger, you totally get me right now. If not, you probably are thinking, “get this girl a straight jacket”. I promise, I am not insane- just insanely in love with this Vintage Mid Century Modern Record Player Makeover that I am so excited and proud to share with you today!

LC and I were at Goodwill in early January, and I saw this MCM record player sitting there looking very forlorn. The price on it was $25, and it had seen better days. I stood there looking at it and thinking that it was the perfect size for underneath our TV. But I had been on the hunt for an old dresser to put underneath of our TV. But it was such a cool piece! And let’s not leave out the fact that it was pretty beat up, but when I tried to wobble it, it didn’t budge. It was a solid piece of furniture, but it was in bad shape. While I pondered, I waited for LC to wander over towards me so I could get his opinion. The place was closing in like 10 minutes. Well, he never came over to where I was, so I just said to myself, forget about it. I went up and checked out. And then as we headed out to the parking lot, I thought to myself, I cannot leave without at least showing the cabinet to LC, I felt that I was going to regret it if I walked away without at least showing it to him. So we headed back inside, and he loved it! So as the store was closing, we bought it for $25!

When we got it home, Mr. 14 Year old helped LC carry it into the garage, and he wasted no time in telling me what a piece of crap it was, and how the TV cabinet we had was way nicer than this one (it was a Target special, not solid wood). I told him I was going to make it look brand new, not to fret, and then I mentioned that it was a record player, and I could see his mind changing, he thought that part was really cool. But he still had doubts that I could make this look good. Here are a couple of before shots that I took of it in our dark garage. The front wasn’t in bad shape, it just had years of dirt and grime stuck in between all of these wood slats. The top was what was beat up. You can see on the back edge, where the arrow is pointing, that it was severely damaged, plus there were several stains. I concluded from the get go that I was going to sand off the finish on top and paint it.You can read the full tutorial for how I made over this cabinet here.

So, I started doing some research on Mid Century Modern record players, dressers, and cabinets. I started pricing how much ones that were in good shape were going for, and they were going for prices ranging between $250 – $2500! I knew I probably had a valuable piece of furniture. And the record player does work, in case you are wondering. It just needs a needle. The radio also works. Here is what the inside of the cabinet looks like. The inside of the cabinet was in great condition.

Next, I started researching different MCM furniture that had been painted, I knew I wanted to paint the top and sides of the cabinet and leave the front the natural wood color. But I wanted to look at ways other’s had went about it. You can go to my furniture Pinterest Board to look at some other MCM furniture that I pinned for inspiration. I especially like this MCM dresser. I liked the color of white she used on her dresser, and she raved about the paint, so I decided to use the same thing- Behr Marquee in Cameo White. I’m not going to give a tutorial today for how I refinished this MCM record player, because I plan to do that in a separate post. Today is all about showing off the end results!
Update: Read the full tutorial for this makeover here

See the two white stripes down the front of the cabinet? I debated back and forth for quite sometime about whether to paint these or not, but without them painted, something just looked off about it. I knew I wasn’t going to be happy unless I painted them, so I went for it. And it made all the difference! As soon as I painted them I knew I was going to love the end result!

I also debated whether I should paint the legs or leave them. But I decided to paint them too, because they were going to be sitting on this hard wood floor and I figured the white legs would make it pop. I think it was the right call, what do you think?

Plus, on the left front leg there was a big chunk of wood that was out and in need of repair. I knew I could fill it in , but paint would hide it a lot better. You can just barely see in the picture below that that leg is not perfect. I did the best I could, and most people would never even notice unless they were really looking for it.

I just love the way this MCM cabinet turned out! The only downfall is that there was no place to put the DVR and Blue ray player but on top of the cabinet. But I love the cabinet so darn much that it doesn’t even bother me. I also started to hang a gallery wall around the TV, and you can see some sneak peeks in these pictures. I am loving the direction this room is going! It is so close to being finished. We hired a painter (our neighbor) to paint the ceiling in here, and he is coming on Wednesday of next week! I am so excited to get the ceiling painted, after that I can paint the walls. After all of the painting is finished, there will only be a few things left on our to do list in here.

I would love to know what you think of this transformation! Please tell me in the comments. I am in love with this piece, and I know it will spend many years to come with our family. This is one of my favorite furniture transformations to date. I have asked myself a few times if this style of furniture goes in the same room as my rustic barn beam mantle and Airstone fireplace surround. But you know what? When I sit in my living room looking at the whole thing, I love the way it looks. And so does LC, and a home is supposed to be a reflection of the people who live there, right? So I am just fine with it. After all, I call my design style eclectic, modern polished casual, and I think it all just fits.

Have a great weekend!