Our goal was to find a piece of furniture to add storage under our TV to house our entertainment electronics, cords and other odds and ends that didn't yet have a home. Unfortunately we didn't take pictures of the process, but I can certainly describe what we did.
We started by removing the original handles and patching the holes left behind on the six bottom drawers with slices of dowels and a bit of wood glue. Next we gave the piece a quick sanding and three fresh coats of navy blue paint. We purchased and attached two sets of new handles and pulls.
We converted the top two drawers into shelves with false-fronts by resting fitted pieces of masonite (had them cut at Home Depot) on the wood rails/drawer supports. The only tricky part of the project was attaching the false drawer fronts with hinges and magnetic latches, which required some trial and error (and patience!) to get them to match up correctly with the body of the dresser. We also had trouble finding hinge screws that were short enough to not pierce the front of the drawer face (note the shims between the screw heads and back of the drawer face). Luckily, they are hidden away and no one will notice. We easily completed the project over the course of one weekend and were quite pleased with the outcome!
Thanks, Jenny!
(Images: Jenny Nelson)
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Smart! Love the navy paint.
Way better. I'm doing the same to a buffett I purchased off of craig's list. Nice to upcycle rather than toss. Bravo.
Neat idea!
nice hack
Small spaces can kill game systems and etc. (especially Xboxes!) so always remember to install ventilation! I've seen a lot of people stick old computer fans in their furniture to help with exactly this problem. If you can't deal with fans, I'd at least cut open as much of the back off as possible without compromising the furniture strength and keep the dresser a good bit away from the wall to encourage air flow.
If you're going to have the drawer fronts open a lot of the time to operate the systems too, it might be fun to paint or paper the insides with some really cool pop of color too. :)
I love the white knobs. I hope the old hardware was in good enough shape to keep for another project someday - it looks fun too.
@Kaete Absolutely agree about the inside of the drawer fronts. Crisp white would look stellar!
Great choice of colour! And I love the mismatched handles. I've done a similar project recently with a bedroom dresser bought for $150 at an auction house. Took everything to convince my man to go with a coral colour... it looks great in our master.... he admits it ;)
Great job. Smart color choice.
I love what you did with the video game drawers!
My husband put his foot down when I suggested something like this or us. The systems overheating is too great a risk, as Kaete mentioned. Still, for a simple DVD player and cable box they'd be awesome!
I love this idea!
Like the paint but wish the original handles had been kept!
Thanks for the comments everyone! We had a great time with this project and it made an awesome capstone to our January Cure.
@Kaete @DovieAnn I take your point about overheating my xbox, especially since we keep the drawer closed when in use, maybe installing something decorative on the side (http://tinyurl.com/afphvtc) would be a good workaround?
@Kayeu, @Kaete I agree that white would make the inside pop, maybe that'll be a target for phase 2...
Oh, and @SammyStyle, we've got the original handles set aside for a future project. Want em?
-(The Aformentioned Boyfriend)
Very nice - the blue is fantastic.
We just did something similar to our tv cabinet (with lots of ventilation holes!) Finished the blog post today - it goes up tomorrow morning at 1500sqft.com! ...I do love that blue finish btw!
cool!!!
I think that grill would help a lot, and be a really cool accent piece to the furniture to boot. :)
Swatters 42 - the grill is a great idea, as long as there's nothing next to this furniture that would block air flow. Until you get it installed, though, I wouldn't play the Xbox with the drawers closed. It will overheat and shut down in a matter of hours.
I say that from unfortunate experience :|
Great idea and great execution! I LOVE the drop-down doors! I tend towards the "natural" side of The Great Natural Versus Paint Debate, but what you've done here looks terrific! What a fun piece!
Yes to the heat grate! Or even some nice raditor cover metal with cute trim.
or take out the back portion where the xbox is to allow airflow... put the grate in the back.. I would love the handles btw!!! if your serious about letting them go email me jaguar1211@gmail.com