We recently joined the flat screen television generation and parted ways with our huge clutter catching entertainment center. Although the flat screen is mounted on the wall, I still felt like we needed a table of some sort underneath. After a little shopping around we realized that most television stands on the market were very overpriced or cheaply made and wouldn’t last long. That’s when we had to get creative and started thinking about repurposing.
After a little searching we found this dresser on Craigslist. I neglected to take a photo of it before we took the center doors and drawers out, but it’s a standard dresser.
My husband had a few scrap pieces of wood in the garage that he fashioned into shelves to replace where the drawers were. You can still see on the sides where he removed the hinges from the doors.
The people we purchased the dresser from had already started stripping it with hopes of refinishing it.
As you can see, there was quite a bit of damage to the top of the dresser, which changed the direction we were going to go with it. Staining it wouldn’t cover the black marks… so off we went to research different painting techniques.
My husband removed the drawers and smoothed out the stained parts with sand paper. Then it was time to paint. We used a quality flat black paint and went over the dresser well… then allowed it to dry. Once dry he put the drawers back in, went over corners and edges gently with sandpaper to age it and his part was done! After a quick trip to Hobby Lobby I had the drawer pulls to complete the look.
| dresser – $30 paint – $15 drawer pulls – $25 total cost = $70 |
We think it turned out well! We use the top drawers for video games and accessories. The four side drawers are just deep enough to put DVDs on their side in a row which makes the titles easily viewable. For $70 and a little elbow grease we have a piece that can be handed down.
WOW! You did a super job. I never would have ever thought of doing this. It looks just as good as the ones you purchase.
Wow, that turned out REALLY beautiful!!
Looks great :). I wish I had the skill and patience to do this. We have a TV stand for our big-screen TV that we bought on sale from American signature for $100. It’s metal and glass and has held up well. We’ve had it since 2007. But yours has more character. If you bought this at the store, it would definitely set you back at least $300.
That looks amazing! Wish I had thought of doing something like that instead of buying a piece from IKEA. I’ll have to keep this bookmarked for future!
I really like what you did to this dresser! It looks very nice, and I wonder if it was a lot of work to do! I like the color of the stain, it goes with the TV.
This looks fantastic! My husband and I refinished a very similar dresser from my parents (around 30 years old) and did almost the exact same thing, just with a different color. We salvaged a piece that was in pretty rough shape and got a fantastic tv stand out of it for little to no cost. Great job!
We use a dresser as an entertainment center. We don’t have our TV wall mounted so we love that the dresser is taller then most entertainment centers on the market. Taller means it’s harder for small people to mess with the TV and their heads don’t block our view as easily, lol! I hadn’t thought of removing some of the drawers. I pinned this post so I can remember such a great idea.
Wow! That is awesome! You did a fantastic job on this. Thanks for sharing. You have inspired me to make some changes around here. Thanks again.
Amazing work! I love reclaiming furniture pieces that are ready for the scrap pile and turning them into heirlooms. You did an amazing job.
This is awesome. It looks great with your tv.
Great job!! I love it!! We still have the old tv’s!! Someday when one of them konks out!! My husband and his tv’s!!! You made it gorgeous!!
You think it turned out well? It looks AMAZING! I’m so inspired now! lol I need a tv stand too but don’t have the means to just go buy one, if i can make one look like yours does, i’d be so happy, it looks like the ones you can pay thousands of dollars for at stores. I could find a used dresser at a house sale and re purpose it 🙂 thanks for the great idea and post!
That’s a very creative use for an old dresser. I agree, a lot of entertainment centers are cheaply made.
what a great idea! I love it! I wish I could think of these creative things on my own!
What a neat and creative idea. My mom makes benches and toy boxes out of old bed frames. I would love to learn how to do these things.
I LOVE it…what a great job y’all did. That is awesome! I also love your entire setup now with the wall mount. Hmmm, ideas!
I love this!! I would have never thought of this on my own thank you
This is such a great idea– I would have never thought of that
I have thought about this before, but I like what you have done to it! thank you for sharing!
That is gorgeous!!! What a great idea!
love how that dresser came out, i love getting things from thrift stores and repainting them, love fun colors
I was thinking of repurposing a TV stand into a dresser!
wow you did a great job I was just telling hubby not to toss out the old furniture that we can do something with it, I am going to show him this post, thanks for the idea!
Gorgeous, now do one for me 🙂
Love this transformation! Wish I had the perseverance to do this 😉
That is a great idea and it looks nice too…Thanks for saving me money on buying a new TV stand. I have a similar dresser in the basement that I am not using. Thanks for the post.
We also repurposed for our flatscreen. My husband took apart a chiffarobe and used the wood to make a narrow stand next to the TV to hold the electrical components.
Wow, you guys did an absolutely AMAZING job!! That turned out beautiful!! I wish I had the ability to do stuff like that. I have tried refinishing pieces and they’ve turned out so bad… Sounds like you saved soooo much money and got something better than what you find in most stores! I love it!!
I love the color how you did yours. It is really nice. Its amazing what you can do with pieces of furniture most people just take and throw away. A great idea to recycle furniture and save lots of money too. I am going to have to tell my son to do this for my grandsons room . He will have more storage space then too. Thanks so much for the info on how to do this TV stand.
great idea!!!
Wow, what a fantastic job you’ve done, and what a great price!
I just bought a dresser for this very purpose. No flat screen tv yet, but I need more storage in the living room and this way we’ll be ready when we get a flat screen in a few years 🙂
you both did an amazing job..this turn out really nice..love this ideal.
Wow! That looks amazing! You guys did a great job on that, wish we were motivated to DIY projects, never seem to have the time 🙂
That looks great! Very good DIY.
WOW! You just inspired me!
It turned out fabulous! Excellent way to repurpose something!
This is such a good idea! I was wondering how I would get a television stand.
Wow, what a great idea. I am thinking of getting a new tv stand and instead of getting a new cheaply made one, I think I will go to the thrift stores and see what furniture that have available. Thanks for the great idea.
My daughter will be getting her own apartment soon. What a great option to buying new.
You did a great job! Nice way to utilize furniture instead of buying something you probably wouldn’t even like or want!
This looks fantastic!
Would you mind sharing what color you used?
I’m about to start the same project and love the color!
My husband said it was either a semi-gloss or satan oil based black. He sanded it down so the paint would adhere well. The key to getting the antique look was once it was painted and dried he hit the corners lightly with sandpaper. Good luck!!
Thank you so much Heather!
Wow, this looks awesome! Love the idea, you are so right about buying a flimsy stand. We bought one about a year ago and it’s kinda worn out. We don’t even use it that much aside from dusting. Guess I dust too hard.
I love making old things usable again. This looks like a completely new piece!
Wow!!! You did a great job Heather! That looks fantastic!!
What a clever idea! and it turned out wonderful.
I love this idea! I am moving at the end of the month and am trying to figure out where to put my TV so this is definitely a great idea!
This came out nice. I have a dresser that I am selling but it is very tall. We don’t use it for anything because it doesn’t fit our style and want something else. Hopefully someone can use it. It is in great shape but maybe someone will re-purpose it.