I found this on the side of the road...

(minus the streak of primer - there goes that jump-to-the-gun-ness of mine)

and turned it into this:

I was driving home from work the other day and spotted this beauty on the side of the road in our neighbourhood.

It was love at first sight.

Those clean lines, vintage written all over it, and sliding doors made me swoon.

So I booted home, called Dman on the cell and told him to get into the car when he saw me pull up. I assured him that I had not gone crazy but there was no time for an explanation.

I sped back to the spot that I eyed it and, hazard lights a-blinking, we forced this baby into our back seat.

(On a side note: I sure hope that someone was in fact throwing this out and not in the process of moving it somewhere, but no one came out of their house screaming or threatening death, so, finders keepers!)

It was quite the sight to be seen - you see, the cradenza did not fit all the way into our car so we had one door wide open and a quarter of the cradenza just hanging out. But, I am pleased to say that we got her home safely.

I proceeded to sand her down and then I chose to paint for two reasons:

1. I love white, and

2. the wood was in rough shape, so the task of re-staining would have been monumental.

I used none other than my trusty Zinsser 1-2-3 primer, and then gaver her a coat of white latex paint. Dman cut the legs down because this beauty was just a tad too tall for my taste, and presto, a new cradenza turned TV stand (our old one was a cheapy from IKEA and served me in my pre-marital/roomate days so I was all to happy to get rid of it).

She's just so beautiful with those lines and these built-in pulls:

Did I mention that when I got her home, I discovered (from a furniture maker's stamp on the back) that this beauty is a bonified vintage mid-century modern piece all the way from Denmark!!!! SCORE!!!

Man I love free stuff. Especially when it is awesome!