Turning a Chest of Drawer Into Primitive Tv Cabinet

I'm back today to show you how I turned the $50 Craigslist dresser into a fancy schmancy dresser TV stand for our living room. It easily holds our flat screen TV and all of our other home theater electronics.

Dresser TV Stand Supplies

Primer: Zinsser Cover Stain Primer

Primer Conditioner: Penetrol

Dresser Paint: Valspar Ultra White semi-gloss latex

Detailing Paint: Valspar "Grey Porch" (sample)

Latex Paint Conditioner: Floetrel

Paintbrushes: Purdy

Spray Primer: Rustoleum

Spray Paint: Krylon "Smoke Gray" gloss

Shelf Liner: Marshalls (The Macbeth Collection)

Pink Knobs: Hobby Lobby (clearance section)

Removing Unnecessary Things

Start by taking out the top row of drawers. Then, remove all the slides and stops. This step was a little hairy because they were glued on and/or secured by staples. Annoying.

Enter: screwdriver.

While I was pulling stuff off of the dresser I figured I might as well pull off the decorative thing on the bottom. I didn't care for it, so gone it was.

Then, I sanded done the spot where the decorative thing was.

Sanding the Dresser

While I was sanding, I figured I might as well sand down the entire piece. I used a palm sander that Brad brought home from Harbor Freight. Love me some Harbor Freight.

Tip: always look for a coupon before you go.

Use a sanding block on the drawer fronts and for tight spaces. I did have to patch a handful of nail holes with wood filler, so I used some wood filler and sanded the patches when the filler dried.

After sanding it, blow out the dresser with an air compressor because there may be some gross stuff inside. You know, like lint, dust, petrified mouse droppings. Fun stuff.

Priming

I used a paint sprayer to put on the Zinsser primer (conditioned with Penetrol). I saved hours spraying on the primer rather than painting it on with a brush. Hours.

I suggest two coats of primer, sanding in between each coat. Be prepared — This. Is. Tedious.

Add a Shelf

If you want a shelf for your electronics, you're going to need to put one in. To do this, I recommend heading to Lowe's and purchasing a 5/8 inch thick piece of wood. Because you're going to need to fit the shelf into the dresser, you're going to want to have it cut into three large sections and two small sections so you can fit them in the dresser. Ask the wood cutting person at Lowe's to cut your chosen piece of wood according to your measurements.

Slide each piece of wood into place. If you measured correctly, everything should fit snuggly.

Now it's time to sand, prime, sand, and prime the pieces on all four sides. I recommend using a cheapo foam roller and brush when using primer. It's not worth it to use a nice paintbrush.

Painting the Dresser TV Stand

After the sanding and priming marathon, it's time to paint the dresser, drawers, and shelf pieces. I recommend two coats in all, using another inexpensive roller to roll the paint onto the larger surfaces. Then, I use a quality angled paint brush, like this one, to go over the paint, smoothing it out. On the smaller areas I recommend a smaller angled brush. To minimize brush strokes, I used Valspar ultra white paint conditioned with Floetrel.

I decided not to seal it with Polycrylic like I did with the sewing machine cabinet. And after using the dresser TV stand for almost 8 years, the paint is still holding up.

Painting Detailed Sections

If there are any detailed sections on the piece, go ahead and paint them a different color if you'd like. I used some leftover grey paint (conditioned with Floetrel) from my sewing machine cabinet makeover and a small craft paint brush.

This part is a lot easier than you'd think. Paint the crevices and if any paint went outside the area, use a damp paper towel to wipe it off.

Creating the Electronic Cable Holes

While the paint dries, drill three holes in the back of the dresser for the electronics cables. Don't go too big because you don't want to see giant holes when looking at the dresser tv stand. I suggest an 1.5″-2″ diameter,

After the holes are drilled, set the shelf pieces inside.

I don't think there's a need to secure the pieces into place. Especially if you're just going to be setting electronics on top and not really messing with the things on the shelf.

Optional: Line the Dresser Drawers

You may decided to line the dresser tv stand drawers. I did this for two reasons. One, a child (probably the owner of Bubbles) decided to get his/her artist on. Two, simply put, I wanted to use pretty shelf liner.

Ahhh, much better.

Painting the Drawer Pulls

If you'd like to give the original dresser drawer pulls a make over, I suggest spraying them with a primer, like this one, and then spray painting them.  Then I attach them to the chest of drawers. I added the two pink center pulls to mix  things up a bit. Keep in mind you can buy new pulls for all the drawers if you'd like.

It's been 8 years, and we're still using and loving the dresser TV stand as our entertainment center. We love how it's a unique, one-of-a-kind living room furniture piece. And while it's one of my least favorite DIY projects to date, I'm so glad I tackled this beast.

Turning a Chest of Drawer Into Primitive Tv Cabinet

Source: https://www.twotwentyone.net/how-to-turn-dresser-into-tv-stand/

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