{DIY} Dresser to Entertainment Cabinet

I’ve been looking for just the right piece of furniture for our living room entertainment stuff since we moved into our new house. But you know me. I wasn’t going to spend a lot of money. I trolled Craig’s List for a while, but never found exactly the right thing.

During our neighborhood-wide garage sale a few weeks ago, I found just the right piece for just the right price. (The drawers were still being unloaded from moving.)

Beautiful, isn’t it?

No, it wasn’t. But it had good bones. It was in good shape, except for a broken drawer runner on one of the bottom drawers. And I wasn’t interested in the top part at all. (Maybe I’ll figure out something to use it for later.)

I decided to use latex paint and glaze as I have before, so after a trip to Lowe’s, I got to work.

First, I cleaned the whole thing, fixed the broken drawer runner, and built some shelves to go where the top drawers were. Then, I added a little reinforcement for the shelves and cut holes in the back for the cords to go through.

Then, the cover primer. (No sanding!)

Also? I found a genius way to paint drawers. Shelves!

After the primer, I painted the entire thing with Seashell Gray in satin finish from Lowe’s.

Out in the garage, it looked almost white. But I promise, it’s gray.

Then, I used a tintable glaze in Rugged Suede.

This glaze was very different than glaze I’ve used before, which was oil based. This, being water based, was much thinner and required that I paint it on and let it dry a few minutes before I wiped it. I like this stuff ok, but in the future, I’ll go back to my favorite oil based glaze.

Instead of trying to find new hardware for the drawers, I decided to paint the handles. I’ve heard all about the magic of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, so I decided to give it a try.

It took the handles from this…

…to this.

Love!

Husband had the hard part in this project. He took care of the kids while I spent hours in the garage with the jigsaw, screwdriver, and paint brushes!

We moved it in last night and got everything situated. It’s perfect for the space and what we needed. We may end up mounting the TV on the wall, but haven’t decided for sure yet. If we can get the million cords under control, I think we’ll be happier with it sitting on top.

(Also, please disregard the ceiling fan boxes sitting next to it. We still have a few to get installed.)

The total cost was $160, including the dresser, shelves, shelf hardware, primer, paint, glaze, protective coat, and spray paint for the handles. I also have some left over for other projects – maybe I can figure out something for the top part of the dresser after all.