Dresser to Entertainment Center

Ok, this is something we’ve never tried before. Re-purposing furniture has always been scary to me for some reason. I guess it’s the thought of adding on to another person’s (or machine’s) finished product with my woodworking ability, that makes me nervous. But I must say, it was much easier adding on to a piece that was already squared up. All I had to do was align my additions to the wood that was already there, which took a lot of pressure off me to check (and recheck) my measurements. Now that I’ve got my first re-purpose under my belt, I can see many more projects like this in my future.

We found an interesting dresser at a local thrift store. We really liked the detail in the drawers, not to mention it was the perfect size to fit in our living room. We decided to build the shelves into the middle section since there were cabinet doors in this area, with smaller drawers inside.

After removing the inside drawers, I used an oscillating saw to cut out the guts where the drawers were. I used 1/2 in. MDF to box in this section, since we were planning on painting it anyway. This is the first time I’ve used this material, and it was very easy to work with. The shelves are made from 3/4 in. MDF to avoid sagging from holding our electronics.

We planned on painting the entire dresser, but we discovered a beautiful poplar veneer after sanding the damaged top finish. It took some trial and error to decide on a color to stain the top. We ended up putting down a layer of Minwax red mahogany, then appying a layer of Minwax espresso over top. To protect the veneer, I applied three coats of brush on lacquer. Then finished it off with Minwax finishing paste wax.

Finally, we taped off the top and applied some homemade chalk paint (the recipe can be found here).

I’m still amazed at how well this project turned out. I can definitely see why furniture re-purposing is such a hot topic. It’s so much fun, and there are no limits to what you can do to make the piece your own.