Up-cycled Floor Radio

We had picked up an old floor radio/record player at an auction. It didn't work, and the finish was very worn. It had a certain blah factor to it. I went ahead and put it out on the floor as is, hoping someone would buy it for a project piece. No one did.

For some odd reason, any pictures that I took with my camera won't rotate when I post them on this blog. A very annoying glitch! If anyone knows a solution, please let me know!

Ugh! Makes me a little dizzy!

It didn't sell, so I took it home where it sat. And sat. And sat. All winter long. I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I have seen these turned into mini bars on Pinterest, but since we don't drink, we didn't feel comfortable doing that.

What else could we do?

Finally, I took it outside and just stared at it. Then it hit me. Just turn it into a decorative piece.

Then I took it inside, because it started raining.

Outside again another day. I removed the guts of it since it didn't work, and that is what made it rather heavy.

Then I took it inside, because it started raining.

Outside again another day. I cleaned the finish with liquid sander to remove some of the gloss. Painted one coat of black.

Then I took it inside, because it started raining.

Outside again another day. Second coat of black.

Then I took it inside, because it started raining.

I'm not kidding. It's been that kind of summer here in West Virginia. Rain almost every day.

While it rained, I replaced the fabric on the bottom with sheet music. The rain stopped for a bit, so back outside we went. A bit of sanding. A coat of varnish. Staple the sheet music piece back in, and hurry up and put it in the car before it rained again!

We thought about removing the stereo part and making a shelf. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I just think the record player and radio are what make the piece, even though it no longer works. So in the end, I decided to leave the inside in it's original shape.

Four sheets of sheet music fit perfectly. I just decoupaged them onto a large piece of cardboard, and stapled it into place.

It's out of my basement, and back on the floor in our shop. A unique piece!