Trash to Treasure: Workbench to Entertainment Center

Today's Trash to Treasure is a particular favorite. Not only because it was so simple but because the styling here totally makes something ordinary to extraordinary. Meet Jilly, one part of dynamic duo Me and Jilly. (Have I mentioned I have a weird fantasy about sharing this blog with a friend because I think it would be a lot more fun to have a partner in blogging crime? Ok, enough about me...lets get to the project!)

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Hi! I'm Jilly and I blog at Me and Jilly. My best friend Mia started our blog two years ago while she was all hopped up on pain medication after recovering from knee surgery. The next day, after she realized what she had done, she called me up to tell me we had started a blog! And the fun has been ongoing since that fateful August day in 2010.

I'm so excited to be guest posting here at Brooklyn Limestone. I think in my next life, I might want to live in Brooklyn, in Stefanie's Limestone! Isn't it gorgeous?

The project I'm sharing today is actually one of the easiest I have ever done! I basically lucked into it by stalking Craigslist for a good long while, but my persistence paid off. I was on the hunt for a big and sturdy, but slightly beat up garage workbench. Just before me and my husband had to build our own. (which likely would have cost me my marriage) I happened upon the very object of my affection. For $50.


"I'll take it!!" was my quick email to Bambi. "Only if you can get here before the others who want it as well" was what I got back from her.

Since Mia lived only 10 minutes away from the garage where my treasure was being housed, I sent her into the eye of the worst haboob Arizona has ever experienced. Yes, that's a real word that only we who live in the desert are privy to. And yes, this is a real picture from that very day.

After she picked it up, she did have to pull off the road for 30 minutes due to zero visibility, but she made it out alive and delivered it to me the next day. And that's just ONE of the reasons why I love that girl.

I gave it a good scrubbing, then brushed on a coat of Minwax Gelstain in Chestnut. After it was thoroughly dry (which was 10 minutes in the 117 degree weather), I finished it with a coat of clear wax. I absolutely love the way the wax dried into a soft luster with a hard finish.

Total time spent from picking it up in Bambi's garage, to rolling it into it's final resting place in my basement family room was 3 hours. Why can't all my projects be this easy?



I hope this trash to treasure story will inspire you to search Craigslist, yard sales, and/or your neighbor's garage for something waiting for you to give it a little love! I'd love you to come over and say hi at Me and Jilly. There are so many stories, tutorials, recipes and ideas on our blog, and we love to have visitors. See you soon!