DIY Dresser to Entertainment Center

When we moved from Illinois to Missouri, our stuff barely fit in our U-Haul. Seriously, we were giving stuff away at our moving party. One of the things that didn't make the trip was our tv stand. It was laminate and cheap, but it looked nice and served it's purpose while it lasted!

So when we got to Missouri, we had our tv sitting on our old coffee table. Not a great look. I saw some awesome renovations on Pinterest where people took old dressers and converted them into entertainment centers. They were awesome! I began skowering  (not a word), searching Craigslist for the perfect dresser for my project. I kept finding okay dressers that I could make work, but they were at least $50!

Here's the thing...if I have to put a lot of work into something, I don't want to spend more than $25-$30 tops. Call me cheap, but I get what I want! 

I held off on Craigslist, and the next day I found this beauty just down the street on the curb waiting for the garbage truck! 

She was in skank nasty, don't touch it without a glove rough shape. The furniture REAKED of cigarette smoke and cheap perfume. It was really wobbly and barely able to stand. The Hubs did not think this piece had any life left in her. But I saw potential. She had nice height and sassy curves, sure she  looked like she had just been rescued from a crack house, but that was nothing that a little wood glue, wood filler, sanding, paint, and new hardware couldn't fix. After all, she was FREE, which is my favorite four-letter word!

I started by picking out my 4 favorite drawers. It basically came down to the 4 that had less rodents and or insects taking shelter inside. Gross is an understatement. I then applied wood filler everywhere! I filled every single nook and cranny with that stuff. It was reminiscent of my battle with Neosporin when I had significant OCD in my preteen years, but that is another story for therapy another day amigos.

The wood filler looks extremely rough in these pictures. It was grossly needed though. Oh, why is there a bungee cord attached to the dresser you ask? Simple answer: it was holding the dresser together. Seriously. That brings me to my next step:

ELMER'S WOOD GLUE IS MY BEST FRIEND. Upon further inspection, I discovered that one of the support beams inside was snapped in half. I really hoped that wood glue would fix this problem, but I was doubtful. I figured "eh, what is there to lose?" at least those are the words I said aloud to my Hubs, but in my heart, I thought "hell if I am wrong! I ain't about to lose this battle without a fight!". So I applied a ton of wood glue on and around the broken beam. Then I held it in place with my makeshift clamp---a bungee cord of course! I gotta give credit to the Hubs on that one though, all his idea!

After letting the glue dry for 24 hours, I sanded the crap out of the entire piece until it was smooth as a baby's bottom such a freaky statement! Then I began spray painting it. I picked out a slate grey color and did approximately 3 to 4 coats. I also sprayed the inside of the top two drawer openings. By the way, carpenter spiders don't like spray paint. It causes them to crawl out of the deep recesses of crack house dressers inching dangerously close to my hand. TERRIFYING. Several sprays later and screams and tears, no more spiders!

Finally, I had the Hubs use a round door knob drill bit to create 2 holes in the top 2 drawers for cords. Then I applied a polyurethane top coat and let it dry for several hours.

I also spray painted the drawer handles a glossy black.

Here is the final result:

We put our dvd and stereo receiver in the top 2 spaces and filled the remaining drawers with dvds, games, etc. It is so functional and I love how it turned out! It was really simple!

Final Cost Breakdown:

Dresser - $0

Grey spray paint - $12

Black spray paint - $3

Wood Filler - $3

Wood Glue - $6

Polyurethane - $5

TOTAL COST: $29!!!!