Clunky Dresser to Mod Media Console

When I started the Media Room Project,  obviously, one of the first pieces I had to find and transform was that “special something” to become the media console.

Thankfully for me, many of our local thrift stores their wares on Craig’s List.  I saw this big clunker and immediately I could see potential.

Also, fortunately for me, is no one else could see it’s potential. I mean, really that thing is pretty hideous. Right?

As soon as I saw she marked it down from $65 to $45 and I drove out to the store and pick it up.  Oh, and a little tip about these clunky old dressers, they are usually made of extremely heavy particle board.  So, you and some little lady from the thrift store ain’t aren’t gonna be able to lift it into your car! Even with her husband we struggled to get it in the back of my SUV.

Once it was home, I got to work giving it a good cleaning, applying primer and semi-gloss white paint.  I didn’t use high gloss paint because I was a little afraid of brush strokes and I already had some semi-gloss white paint in my stash.

I rolled the primer on the flat pieces and used spray primer for the doors and drawers.  All of the details and crevices on the doors had the potential to be drippy mess.

I followed up with rolling the paint on the top, sides and insides. I used a brush for the doors and drawers. I kept a close eye on the drips.  I had them laying flat as I painted them to keep the drips to a minimum.

To convert the dresser to a media console, I simply removed the runner for the drawer. I didn’t even bother to patch the drill holes, because I knew they would be covered by media.

Here’s a look at what it looked like when I as done.  OOps!! Forgive the bad iPhone photo.

Not so good. 

I guess with the drawers out and no reference, I didn’t notice how warped the wood “shelf” was.  So, hubby and I made a quick trip to the hardware store to get a piece of wood cut to the size of the opening and picked out a piece of trim that seemed to have some of the same lines as the dresser details.

To get it to look just right we placed the new wood on top of warped piece, lined the trim up to cover the warped gap and used a nail gun to attach it.

I’ll tell you, that one piece of trim made all the difference in making it look like it was always a shelf and not a drawer.  Drilling a few holes, in key places in the back, for wires and such was easily done with a door hole drill bit and provided the needed functionality for a media console.

The last thing to do was to give the original hardware a couple coats of brushed nickle spray paint.

I just love it now!  It’s crazy to me how more than just a little bit of paint can transform a funky seventies dresser into a hip media console.

All the movies, games and gaming consoles are stored inside the ample space the dresser provided.  To play games, we all you have to do is open one of the side doors.

If you’d like to see more of our media room, here’s the reveal. This is truly a room on a budget.

Want to see the transformation from it’s conception?   The big transformation of the room can be found here, where I shared the before and I also explained how I used Pinterest as design board.

Still not convinced paint can make a huge difference? Here’s the first scary seventies dresser I worked on.  It was a heavy booger too!

Would you tackle a vintage piece like this? If your answer is yes, just make sure you bring a long some muscle! Chances are you are going to need it. 😉

Sharing here:
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage  / Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground   /  Friday Link-up @ Redoux  / Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed   /  Shabbilicious Friday @ Shabby Art Boutique  / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest /  Inspire Me Please @ Liz Marie  / Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage  / Hooking up @House of Hepworths  / Home and Garden Thursday @ a Delightsome life  //  Frugalicious Friday @FInding Fabulous/ Pity Party @ Thirty Hnndmade Days  /  Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors /  Weekend Wrapup@ Tatortots and Jello  /

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