1950's TV Bar Cart Transformation

I found this idea on Pinterest. Some cleaver person took a vintage 1950's tv, gutted it, and transformed it into a bar. What a genius idea! The moment I saw it, I knew I would have to re-create it. Here was the inspiration:

First I had to track down a tv. I scoured Craigslist and found someone who was selling one for $25 so I snatched it up.

In order to make a "bar" out of a tv, you need to remove all the "guts." Let me tell you now that removing the picture tube (inside of the tv) was a terrifying experience. I had read tutorial after tutorial online regarding the CRT (cathode ray tube). Every single tutorial I read said that if the CRT breaks, it would explode like a bomb sending glass particles everywhere. I.was.terrified.

I did not take any pictures of the tv before it was gutted, or of the actual picture tube itself. Why I don't know but here is a stock photo I found online to show you what I was dealing with!

It took me literally two weeks to slowly remove everything because I thought if I did it slow enough, I would somehow escape death. Well it worked. And I finally got it out. And then carefully put it in my trunk and took it to the landfill.

After that was done I was left with the gutted tv frame. Since I don't have any before pictures, here are the afters:

I knew I wanted to have a tiered inside so that there were 2 levels to sit the bottles (like in the picture). I took measurements of the inside of the tv and enlisted the help of my father to cut the pieces for the inside as he has all the power tools at his house. We cut ply board pieces for the sides and bottom, and then built the shelf insert. It was my plan to cover all the pieces in fabric and then glue the side pieces to the walls.

Testing out the tiered insert:

I made a huge dummy mistake and took EXACT measurements, leaving no extra room. What that meant was the cute little shelf fit nice and snug inside the tv...BUT the side pieces were not able to fit in. To solve this problem, I glued the fabric directly to the sides. **If you do this, you need to use thick fabric or else the glue will seep through and you will see glue stains.**

Don't do:

Do (check out that awesome retro print I found in the 1/2 off bin at JoAnn Fabric):

For the back side of the tv, I glued mirrors purchased at Ikea ($9.99 for four). Some mirrors needed to be cut to size so I took them to Lowes where they usually do it for free. Being a girl probably makes a difference here :) I did not use the sticky tape that came with the mirrors. I used construction adhesive and let it sit overnight. Worked like a charm!

Before - I added some weight so they would adhear better.

After (approx. 3-4 hours):

For the interior lighting I used LED lighting strips from Ikea ($14.99). They were extremely easy to put together and screw into place on the top part of the tv.

It looks magnificent all lit up!

I used Liquid Gold to clean the tv up a bit. I may put vintage casters on the bottom so I can wheel it around, but I haven't decided on that yet. I spray painted the knobs gold, repainted the numbers on the turn dial using black acrylic paint (not the prettiest job but it works).

Now I need to stock pile some booze! I see a massive ABC store run after my next paycheck. My next blog post will show the accents that will go on top of the tv (think DIY gold rimmed vintage inspired glasses, gold painted serving tray, etc. etc.). Hopefully by then I'll also have the alcohol inside the tv and the turn dial knob put back on so you can see it in its FINAL form!

I will end this post with a picture of my cat Lucy who decided to jump into the tv as I was working on it. "I Love Lucy" was on tv that night! Get it? Ha.ha.