The Media Stand Blues

My media stand is one of the larger projects that I’ve completed in recent months, so I deemed it the perfect candidate for my inaugural post!  I’ve been using the same small dresser as my media/TV stand for longer than I care to share with the internets (as in the Jr High days – whoa).  This poor thing went through years of mistreatment unintentional neglect.

I mean lets face it, polishing wood furniture was just not on my shortlist of priorities as a teenager.  Shocking, I know.  But before I get into how I gave this dresser a much-needed face lift, I’ll give you a bit of history on her.  My mom bought this dresser for a few bucks off of a neighbor who was moving out of her apartment complex back in the mid-70s.  Fast forward to [insert your guess here] years later, my mom has met my dad, created me and my little sister and given me this dresser.  Several other events happened in between but there’s no time for those shenanigans…

The dresser holds our TV and stores a VCR and several old VHS tapes of school plays and possibly, maybe some recorded episodes of Dawson’s Creek…  And a Super Nintendo and a Game Cube.  Because all of those things are still relevant, right?!  She had a few stains and battle scars and just looked sad in general.  She decided that she wanted a facelift.  She told me so.  Just call me the dresser whisperer.

I first sanded her down with my Black & Decker hand sander, which I did in my back alley on a 107 degree day.  Because that’s my idea of a good time.  Don’t judge.

In case you’re wondering, that’s Disney shelf liner in the drawer you see two pics up.  Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto.  The works.  Who knows how long that’s been there.  Let’s keep it real – I left the liner in there.  I felt a little nostalgic about it.  Even though I have no idea who put it in there or when they did it.  Anyway…

I wanted the piece to have something unique about it.  Enter Allen + Roth textured paint-able wallpaper!  I used their design that’s kind of a cross-hatchy, weaved-looking texture.  I felt that it stood out but was still subtle enough to be versatile and adapt to any environment you use it in.  As you can see from the above photo, there are keyholes in top two drawers.  They stand out on their own and didn’t need to join in on the wallpaper fun.  I primed the drawers that were getting the wallpaper treatment and attached the wallpaper according to Allen + Roth’s instructions.

Here comes the fun part!  Once the wallpaper was adhered and completely dry, it was time to give this gal a layer of primer and a fresh coat of paint.  I picked Valspar’s Fountain Mist, which is a lovely pale blue.  Oh and special thanks goes out to my fella, who sacrificed the middle of our living room for several days, which is where I set up shop to paint the thing.  He didn’t utter a single complaint, though I’m sure he wanted to.  Shout out for being awesome, babe!  I wish these pictures did the color justice.  Since they don’t, my white ceramic owl “Darius” is standing in to provide a little perspective.

Since I knew the dresser-media stand hybrid would be getting regular use, I topped the paint off with two coats of Minwax Polycrylic to protect it from chipping.  Minwax says to let the poly dry for 24 hours before use but I waited 72.  I knew I’d be putting a heavy TV on top of her, so I wanted to be extra sure that she was ready to take on the weight without the risk of scratches and chips.  Here she is in her finished state:

I absolutely love how this project turned out!  This dresser used to be something I wanted to cover up so people couldn’t see her, but now I love show her off!  I love her so much that I made her two matching shelving units to flank her sides!  I’ll be posting about them very soon…

Anyone else re-doing old pieces of furniture?  Or maybe you also have a significant other that is sweet and accommodating when your hair-brained DIY projects invade your living space?  Do tell…