Business in the Front, Party on Top: 70's Credenza Makeover (2024)

This post is sponsored by Velvet Finishes, however all opinions are 100% mine.Affiliate links may be contained in this post.

I got my first and only Achy Breaky Heart t-shirt at the flea market in the middle of town.

I was seven.

It was heather gray, with a big multi-colored neon heart and multi-colored neon lettering on it.

I was so damn proud of that t-shirt.

Billy Ray Cyrus and his mullet essentially had overnight success with a song that had a terrible title.

It was the age of the achy breaky heart craze.

It wasn’t until I was in at least middle school, if not high school, that I realized the name for Billy Ray Cyrus’ infamous hairstyle was a mullet.

And that people described it as business in the front, party in the back.

Well that’s just what this credenza makeover is. Business in the front, but the party’s up top…

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Y’all I wish you could have seen me hauling this thing into the truck.

I found it while I was riding solo thrifting one afternoon. A store employee helped me get it into the truck, but then he quickly realized the cluster that was about to happen and scooted off quickly.

He was a smart man.

This thing is heavy. And it ain’t small.

First, I thought I would just let part of it hang out the back of the truck and use Grunt’s ratchet tie-downsto keep it in.

Well, I knotted up that tie-down.

So then I thought it could just go sideways and I could close the tailgate.

It wouldn’t close by a hair. A hair.

So I turned it back around and attempted to strap it in again with another tie-down.

I didn’t get the tie down secured correctly, but I got it secured enough to get it home.

There was only one close call on the way home.

When I got it home, I promptly had a beer and told Grunt Labor I would buy him new tie-downs because I was pretty sure we were going to have to cut his to get this piece out.

But it was totally worth it.

This piece was only $20.

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And if we are going to be really honest about it, I probably would have paid that for just the hardware. It’s so pretty.

I originally intended to paint the entire piece. However, I decided that I really liked the stained drawers. The top though had to have something done to it…

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I think it must have had some other top on it at some point. Here’s what I did…

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I used:

Step 1:

Since the top was so rough, I used my power sander to smooth it out as much as possible. It didn’t do a whole lot of smoothing but it did knock some big uneven chunks out of the way.

Step 2:

I painted on a good, thick coat of Velvet Finishes Luxurious on the top and sides of the credenza.

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The paint helped to fill in a little more unevenness on the top and also worked as a primer of sorts for the deco-paste that would adhere the wrapping paper to the top of the credenza.

Step 3:

Next, I cut the paper to the size of the top of the credenza. I did leave a little extra on the sides just in case.

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Step 4:

This is where a friend comes in handy. Luckily for me, one of main girls, Brittany had come over to work on some other projects. I painted on the Deco-Paste that would adhere the paper to the top, while Brittany held the paper up.

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The Deco-Paste dries really quickly, so you need to work in small sections. I would paint on a little bit, then firmly put the paper on top of it. After I had the whole top covered with the malachite paper, I went back over it and smoothed out any air bubbles firmly with my hands, then let the piece cure for the rest of they day.

Step 5:

Once it was all dry, I came back with an X-Acto knife and cut off any excess overhang.

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Step 6:

Where there was any extra overhang that was too small to cut, I used fine grit sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block to smooth the edges.

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When you do this, you want to go straight down on the edge. Don’t go back and forth sideways or up and down vertically – go straight down and then again if needed. This helps to give the paper a clean, finished look.

Step 7:

Finally, I topped the paper off with a coat of Protect.

Business in the front.

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Party on top.

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This piece is destined for my office. I just gotta find someone to help me haul it there first. 😉

Any takers?

What do you think of the midas malachite touch?

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You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.

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Disclosure: This post was a collaboration with Velvet Finishes.However, all opinions and references to Billy Ray Cyrus are 100% mine.

Business in the Front, Party on Top: 70's Credenza Makeover (2024)
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