DIY Dresser to Entertainment Center

Spring is in the air. The windows are open. The kids are playing outside. What more could a Momma with a brain full of projects want?! It is time to start.

Today I am working on a DIY home decor project. I am turning a pretty awesome dresser that I purchased at a garage sale last Summer into our entertainment center.

Before

See the before picture above. This is how I found it at a garage sale. I had my eyes open all season long and was excited when this one popped up. Before, I was assuming that I would end up finding a plain old wooden dresser that would need a fun color coat of paint or two and all new hardware. I knew about how much I was willing to spend on such a thing. When I saw this cool red dresser that was already painted well AND had decent looking handles AND came with two baskets?...I was shocked. The price was $170, which is more than I would usually spend on a used furniture item but when I took into consideration the time that I would save on getting another item to the same condition, it seemed like a no-brainer trade to me. So, there she was, all pretty like, but still needing my touch to make her just right. All of those eye-sore electronics and cords would have a home very soon.

There are three items we want to be housed in this unit: the receiver, the PlayStation whatever and the XBox thing-a-ma-jiggy. I chose to remove one drawer and both baskets, as they were good size openings for our electronics. I will be using those two baskets somewhere else in the house. But that's a project for another day.

The two basket compartments were already finished nicely on the inside so I only had to build a cubby in one drawer space. A not very aesthetically pleasing hole in the dresser so I had myself a little project. Yay!

Family trip to Home Depot!

The twins are really enjoying Home Depot trips. I predict two handymen!

I purchased a piece of sanded plywood that is 1/4" (thick) x 2'x4' in order to make two sides and a bottom for the cubby. They even cut it for me in the store. Cost for the wood: $9.92.

I put the boards into place and used a few finishing nails to secure them. And then it was time to use power tools. Double yay!

I wanted all of the cords for our electronics to go out the back of the unit. That means I got to drill holes into the back panel. I used a hole saw attachment for our drill and put a hole in the back of the three electronics compartments.

Now all she needed was some paint in her plain wooden cubby. I decided on Saffron Strands (yellow) by Behr. I love this color and had some leftover from our Music Room Makeover project. A penny saved...

After

I am very pleased with how she turned out. I will take a better 'after' picture when we have the living room painted and the electronics installed, but for now this one will have to do. We are also going to have the TV mounted up onto the wall above this piece. I can't wait to have it nice and organized. Thank you so much for reading and please come again!

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Book Nook Fort

Happy New Year's everyone. Seems every year around the holiday season my life gets so darn busy that I don't get time to write. So many things to say and share but today we are just going to stick to a fun DIY project I did yesterday for my kiddos to brighten up an eyesore from our playroom. A Book Nook Fort!

So, I love the playroom in our new house. It is wonderful to finally have a place where all of their toys belong and that they can play for long stretches of time safely. It has truly changed our daily routine for the better.

That being said, there was one corner that I wasn't happy with and yesterday I fixed it up nice. In the corner I have an old hand-me-down dining room table with the center leaf removed. We no longer needed this table but it didn't sell at my garage sale before we moved last Summer so I decided to hang onto it just in case. It worked pretty well to keep our little TV/VCR combo up high and out of reach of the littles while they watch movies but underneath the table was the one electrical outlet that we use in that room and the twins recently discovered that they could unplug things and it worried me. Here is a before picture of the table in the room.

Lots of fun toys. Lots of bright colors. Ugly brown and black crap in the corner. My solution was to turn that wasted, unattractive and slightly dangerous space into a fun and useful play area. Here is how I did it:

 I moved and repurposed 2 shelves I was already using for their toys in there. I flipped them onto their sides, duct taped them together around the back so that the kids can't pull them down and hurt themselves and then slid the unit under the table and up against the wall. This also helped block the kids' access to the exposed electrical outlet.

I purchased one 16 foot LED Ropelight in white and secured it up under the table top. Cost $12.47.

DJ was so excited and underfoot but it was adorable. I at least waited until the twins were napping to start this project. The Candyland rug she is sitting on was a $2 garage sale find I just couldn't pass up last Summer. It fit perfectly.

I purchased 4 yards of fabric but only ended up needing 3 yards so the cost for fabric used was about $16.00. I had taken the 3 littles along to buy the fabric and we were leaning towards Dinosaurs until we saw this fabric and the twins were so excited because it was just like Nemo. Of course.

I measured underneath the 2 sides of the table and the front section. I left the back of the table facing the wall open for safety and access to the outlet. For the 2 sides I sewed 2 rectangle panels and secured them up under the table with the staple gun. For the front section I sewed 2 panels and purchased a tension rod for $3.47. This way the front panels slide open like curtains.

I think this looks so much better. I also placed a power strip behind the little TV so I do not have to keep crawling under the table anymore whenever I have to switch out plugs for the TV, DVD player, their Lite Brite, and so on. Much more user friendly for me as well.

Total project cost was around $32.50. I could have done it a little cheaper by sticking to a clearance fabric but these fish were too perfect to pass up. I didn't even intend this, but when it is lit up and the curtains are closed, it almost looks like a cute little aquarium too. Bonus!

And then the twins woke up from their nap. I had to take some pictures of them enjoying their new spot.

They realized immediately that they could shut me out. Lol!

A couple old throw pillows and a sippy cup of milk. What more could they want? All in all, a success in my book. Pun intended! Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and happy reading!