Retro Dresser Turned Spray Painted TV Stand

I LOVED this project!!! Loved loved loved it! The transformation was incredible! I found this gorgeous, retro dresser from the 70's and it checked all the boxes when it came to using it as a media stand. I desperately wanted to replace this black fireplace media stand we had. It was dark, heavy and made the room gloomy. The paint on the walls was dark and the room made me feel sad! Well, that's probably an exaggeration but I definitely wanted to brighten it up a lot. This dresser was such a great find at $20! It's very solid and very large! It was the right height, the right width, it had the doors on the side and the potential for shelves in the middle..

The dresser sat in our garage for months as we prepared ourselves to make over our livingroom and make the final decisions about what to do with this piece. We almost scrapped it completely when we were measuring our many, many electronics as it didn't seem like everything would fit.. But of course my amazing husband made it work!

Here's what we started with! The doors didn't have hardware to begin with, the top 2 openings were drawers and it had weird metal trim in a few places.

The panels of the doors were removable (like a picture frame) so I may even decided to do something cool with a patterned sheet metal one day.. But for now, I flipped the panels around to hid the metal trim. My husband converted the top 2 drawers into shelves that would accommodate our heaps of electronics using plywood and the old frame for the drawers. We also tore off the ugly trim on the bottom drawer and filled the old hardware holes. This was the hardest part of the process!

Next was the painting process! I used a speed primer from a local paint store (Cloverdale) but have found a new Primer that I love and will forever use. My new favourite primer is Zinnser Bin shellac based primer and sealer. They could rename this stuff "Miracle In A Can" and it would be true. We primed our UNSANDED glossy oak kitchen cabinets with this stuff.. I've taken sharp objects and TRIED to scratch the primed surface but it held tough! ANYWAYS, one coat of this stuff (no sanding) and we were ready to go!

After all the pieces were primed, I gave everything 3 good coats of spray paint! I used the gorgeous "Blue Ocean Breeze" by Krylon which is the same colour I used on these old brass lamps. Pictures do it no justice! To seal and protect the beautiful finish, I went over the whole thing with 2 coats of Varathane Diamond Finish. I prefer the semi gloss and I like the Varathane Diamond because it's water based. I like it better than Polycrylic because I find the Polycrylic yellows a little whereas the Varathane doesn't.

The new hardware went on the doors and remaining drawer, holes were cut in the back board where we needed them and everything was put back together. The electronics went back in and we were able to admire our finished product! While we worked on this in the garage, we also worked on the inside portion of our livingroom makeover. The biggest change was the wall colour. Here's the drastic difference from switching the TV stands and wall colours! It feel so light, airy and happy.

This stand houses:
(Left door) A Retron 5 Console, a PS2, many accessories for those
(Middle, top shelf) A huge amp, a Nintendo Wii U, a Wii U tablet and Wii U Infinity dock
(Middle, second shelf) A PS3, a digital cable box, a PS4
(Bottom drawer) Retro games. So many retro games! This was an important factor in a potential media stand
(Right Door) Tons of discs and accessories

 It's gorgeous and everything we wanted!