How to transform a dresser to Media Console {Tutorial}

Another fabulous find from Habitat for Humanity! Our farmhouse media console turned out perfect! We looked for a few months debating on what type of media console we wanted and with most manufactured sets costing well over $500 we started adventuring to the Habitat on a weekly basis to try to find the perfect dresser to convert…and by luck we did! Although it isn’t very ornate, the selling point for this dresser was it’s perfect size (70 inches long exactly). We needed the size because we have a very long wall in our family room and with the hopes for a TV upgrade in the next year, we wanted to have the balance that would work with a bigger TV.

I’m super proud of the transformation and these quotes made me so much more excited to have something in my house that I repurposed while also supporting a great cause:

“Shopping at Habitat For Humanity ReStore does even more than assist Habitat’s mission of eliminating poverty housing! Your purchases grant a second life to items and prolong the life of our landfills by reducing waste.”

“At Habitat for Humanity, we build. We build because we believe that everyone, everywhere, should have a healthy, affordable place to call home. More than building homes, we build communities, we build hope and we build the opportunity for families to help themselves. Your donation will help families break the cycle of poverty and build long-term financial security. With an affordable, stable home, families have more to spend on food, medicine, child care, education and other essentials. Your support can help us do more in all the many ways that Habitat builds.”

What we used and cost:
Cost of Dresser = $42.40 (with tax)
Total Materials Cost = $119.51
*The material cost will go down significantly if you want to paint the top or your dresser has a real wood top that you can sand down and re-stain. Ours was not, which made us buy lumber and create a stained rustic farmhouse top to tie in our other furniture.

- (2) 1-2-6 select pine = $7.24
- (1) 1-4-6 select pine = $6.96
- (2) 1-6-6 select pine = $23.52
- Valspar Chalky Finish Paint (color – Cathedral Stone), Quart = $29.99 (lasted the whole project) *again they warned not going with the “tinatable colors” but the paint color ended up exactly like the swatch so I was pleased

Valspar Clear Wax = $16.99 (you do not need all of this at all, but good to keep to more projects)
(2) Paint Brushes(one for paint and one for wax) *I cleaned my paint brush with water after every coat and reused it (own already…we have about 50, guess I’m a little bit of a paint brush hoarder)
Minwax Wood Stain, Red Oak, Quart = $7.99 (you do not need a quart can for this project, but I got the bigger one to make something else with)
Staining Rags= I had leftovers from another project
(6) 3-in Cabinet Pulls= $26.82
Miter Saw (own already)
Nail Gun(own already)
Screwdriveror Electric Screwdriver 2-Inch Hole Saw(own already)
2-Inch Hole Saw(own already)
Cabinet Door and Drawer Template(own already)
Sanding Sponge(own already)

2 Wicker Baskets Cost (HomeGoods) = $40Total Media Console Cost = $201.91 (3 days of drying and labor time)

How we did it:

1. Removed the 2 bottom drawers and drawer rail sliders on each end
2. Dissembled drawer fronts from base and used to build the bottom of each side so baskets could sit inside
3. Cut the holes in the center area for the wires using a 2” hole saw
4. Used the wood from the dissembled drawers to cut a small block as the anchor for the drawer fronts to sit on – attached with nail gun
5. Once the base was secured, the drawer doors were cut to size to fit perfectly on the bottom and were attached with a nail gun
6. Used the wood from the disassembled drawer sides on each side of the dresser to add a little character and cover up some damage it had from transportation (cut to width)

Used the cabinet drawer template to pre-drill the holes for our new hardware
Wiped the entire dresser down with a damp rag and let dry for 20 minutes
Painted the entire dresser (minus the top as we added the wood pieces) with one coat of paint and let dry overnight
While the dresser was drying, we cut all our lumber for the new farmhouse top to fit the length of 70” and roughly sanded both ends
Applied one coat of stain to all of the wood and let dry overnight
24 hours later, apply one more coat of paint to dresser and one more coat of stain to wood
24 hours later, check for missed areas on paint and apply one more spot coat if needed to dresser. I also ended up applying 3 coats of stain to my pine wood. The 3rd coat of stain was in the AM and when I didn’t like the way the stain took to 2 of the larger pieces I dry brushed the Valspar paint on in a very rustic manner to cover the botched stain. I actually like this method and glad I did it even if the stain came out, it gives it so much character!
Liberlly applied Valspar wax sealant with a paint brush to the painted dresser
Once everything is dry, we arranged the wood on the top and secured with the nail gun and attached the new drawer hardware
Finally, we placed the baskets in to complete the rustic farmhouse look
In order to keep the cable box hidden behind the doors, you can buy an Infrared Receiver Extender Cable which will allow transmission from the remote to the box…heck yes, no ugly box!
All done!