The Design Slice: Decoranza IV: I'll have a sideboard with that

It just so happens that I found huge potential in another spare piece of Ikea furniture, as I did in these Poang chairs. However, this time, it was a piece that Justin and I cast-off two years ago when we realized our got-to-have-it, black Friday TV purchase wouldn't fit in our Bonde TV bench (which we have also updated since the original purchase, more on this later). So, we carefully removed it and it ended up residing in our dining room for the last two years. I'm talking about the recently discontinued-in-the-US add-on shelf for Ikea's Bonde series.

Since it has been in the dining room for some time now, I became accustomed to using it as a place where I could put seasonal decorations or store other knick-knacky things. It was natural then to repurpose it into a permanent piece of furniture as a sideboard in our dining room.

First, the whole thing had to be deconstructed. I took pictures of the process and of each piece when they were completely separated to have as a reference when putting it back together.

Of course, Harley wanted to help too!

The second thing that needed to be accomplished was cutting six inches off the bottom to adjust the overall height. For someone (me) who only has a circular saw, this was very intimidating and I knew it would be challenging to keep my hand still. I also knew that if I botched the cutting, 1) I would be mad at myself, 2) I would be out a piece of furniture and 3) I wouldn't have a project to work on anymore, so I didn't want to take any chances with it. I ended up taking the three boards that needed to be trimmed to my local Home Depot (HD). I remembered that they cut wood for a nominal fee and I crossed my fingers that they would cut mine even though I brought them from home. Forty-five minutes after walking in to the store, I left with shortened boards. Success!

Using spray paint worked when Justin and I painted our Bonde TV bench, so I decided to go that route to paint these pieces as well. What a waste! It was a breeze painting the medium-brown bench black, but I didn't realize that changing it to white was going to be that much more difficult. We went through about seven cans of spray paint before I threw in the towel and bought a gallon of paint. My original purpose for not buying liquid paint was to save money but luck was on my side again. When I went back to HD, I scored a gallon of Glidden Antique White paint from the "oops" cart for $5. In the end, I almost broke even but it took more time than I wanted it to.

TIP: If you are painting something that has a dark original color, skip the spray and go with the can. It'll save you time and money in the long run.

Once that fiasco was straightened out, I applied a couple coats of Minwax semi-gloss water based Polycrylic to give shine and provide a protective coat. If you are planning on doing this to your piece of furniture, I have found that the best way to get an even coat is to put some on a rag and smooth it over the piece. If it's a large flat piece, you could also pour some directly on the piece and smooth it out over the entire surface. Make sure to wait for each coat to dry completely before applying another.

Here's a close up of how the paint and the polycrylic look painted over top the veneer. I am happily surprised that the wood grain texture still came through and the paint stuck to the veneer.

Now, here is the Bonde add-on shelf recently converted to an official sideboard for my dining room.

This is nearly as long as my table, which means that it is just under six feet, allowing plenty of space for displaying items, holding drinks as an impromptu bar, or putting the second bowl of mashed potatoes that won't fit on the overly crowded Thanksgiving feast table.

I also removed the glass shelves (meant to hold electronics) which created perfectly sized cubbies for these square baskets that I already had on hand. The texture from the weaved sides add another texture to the room.