I love how the TV sets of yore packed about 19 measly inches of viewing ability into an 800 lb item of furniture that required four people to lift. Does anyone even call them TV ‘sets’ anymore? Am I confusing the young folk? Would they just stare at me strangely if I went into Best Buy and asked where I could find “a real nice TV set?”
Well, those old sets can still serve a purpose. Like … as a pet bed! Better After reader Elisa got bit by the refurbishing bug, and turned this $2.50 ReStore purchase into a comfy bed for a furry friend. She posted it online and had it sold within minutes. Then someone else called immediately after it had sold and wanted it so bad they paid her to make another one! Let’s see your fancy flatscreen do that!
15 Comments
Erin @ The Impatient Gardener
October 19, 2011 at 4:05 PMThat is too darn cute! What a great idea. And you are so right … they aren’t called “sets” anymore. I wonder what that’s about. I just love that TVs used to sit on the floor.
Sheri
October 19, 2011 at 4:16 PMI would go through all that work for my cat and she’d either ignore it or sit on top.
Mariah Bohannon
October 19, 2011 at 6:41 PMLOL @Sheri! That is pretty cool though. Who knew those old things could be good for something again lol. My mother-in-law has one collecting dust right now…wonder if she’ll let me have it. Hmmmm…
I also wonder how difficult was it to pull the guts out of that beast…
Mellodee
October 19, 2011 at 6:42 PMI think over the course of my lifetime (at least the part when we had a TV), there have been at least 6 or 7 pieces of furniture purchased, used, and replaced to house our various TVs. Now we’ve got the silly thing hanging on the wall. Certainly is cheaper than a big ole console! Takes up less room too!
Traci
October 19, 2011 at 8:54 PMWhat a fantastic idea. Not only does your dog get a bed but you basically get a table.
Now I am on the look out for a “TV set”.
Traci
truckermomma
October 19, 2011 at 11:10 PMVery cool, actually wicked cool! I love it.
Meg and Mum's
October 20, 2011 at 10:13 AMTruly magnificent and so creative. I am now frantically scouring ebay for an old tv set. 😀
Our Delightful Home
October 20, 2011 at 11:23 AMWonderful idea!
~Mrs. Delightful
ourdelightfulhome@yahoo.com
Margaret
October 20, 2011 at 12:17 PMTV + cabinet = set.
Like twin sets. But without the hormones.
Angel
October 20, 2011 at 1:33 PMThat is seriously a genius idea!
The DIY Show Off
October 21, 2011 at 3:03 PMThat is so cool and adorable! What a great repurpose!
Lynda
October 22, 2011 at 10:52 PMThis is one of the most clever things I have seen!
Heather Rahn
December 8, 2011 at 4:02 PMI would really like to find out how she did this…do you know what her blog is?
ganna
February 28, 2012 at 3:58 PMI re-did mine, put an adjustable shelf in the middle, placed my grandchildrens’ small flat-screen tv on top and all their “hook directly to tv” games operated by joy sticks, etc underneath and dvd=vcr player underneath on the shelves. Now, when the older grandchildren have control of my larger flatscreen running the WII system, the little ones have their own games going on. They are 2, 3, and 4, so they don’t even really care if they are “winning” on their little joystick games, they just want to be playing like their bigger brothers and sister. I have 10 grandchildren and now, instead of having everything spread out and having to go from room to room to supervise everyone, thi re-do allowed me to have a tidy area all in one place that also meets MY need for attractive organization My old tv is now the little ones “gaming system” at almost zero cost and EVERYONE is happy…and I get to read my Kindle!!!
RoseAddict
April 3, 2013 at 2:16 AMCute idea!
The furniture, however, has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that television receivers were called “sets”, as had radio receivers before them. Rather, “set” referred to the set of tubes, wires, resistors, transformers, condensers, picture tube, speakers, etc. put together to make up the television.
I don’t know about pulling the guts from this particular “beast”, but the “beasts” (and there were some real behemoths!) of the 1950s were often quite accessible. In my early childhood, our “media cabinet” (only it wasn’t called that back then) contained not only the television set, but a radio set and a separate record player, as well, all built in at the factory. The hardest part was pulling it out from the wall. Then removal of a few screws allowed the tray holding the “innards” to slide right out for any necessary repairs.
Sometimes a tube would burn out, and it was not always easy to immediately tell which one. Grocery stores of any size (and I’m not talking about the size of supermarkets of today) had “tube testers” that anyone could test the tubes he brought in, to see which one(s) needed replacement. And of course, the replacement tubes were right there next to the testing machine.