Reclaimed Living Room

I have lived in my home for 8 years now and have already started going back and re-doing rooms that I first decorated when I moved in. 1st up to have an update is my living room. For the last 8 years I have been using it as a formal room for when we have guests. We have guests about once or twice a month. I realized that I am wasting an entire room for people who don't even live here and just drop by for a few minutes a month! My living room is right off of the kitchen and would be a much better place for the family to play games and watch movies together. I decided to reclaim this room! I sold the sectional on craigslist and brought up my nice big comfy sectional from downstairs. I re-painted a lighter color and also brought up our entertainment center. I took down the burgundy, blue, and green curtains (color theme from my wedding 12 years ago) I had made and put up some from IKEA. They were red and white striped and a little bright and candy cane looking so I tea dyed them.
We really enjoyed our new room and after a couple of months decided to keep it as a family room. However, the entertainment center was just too huge for the small room. I found an entertainment center that I really liked at Pottery Barn, but it was out of my budget. I decided that I could make it with an old dresser. I searched craigslist and KSL classifieds for days, until I found this perfect dresser.

My DH thought it was ugly, but I told him to trust me. My inspiration was my buffet-hutch in the kitchen.
I bought this about 7 years ago and LOVE it! It was the most expensive piece of furniture I had ever bought ($800) but I was in love and had to have it. I decorated my entire kitchen around it and now wanted to duplicate it's look in my new family room.
The dresser came with a hutch and was $120 total.
It was solid wood and from the SEARS Open Hearth collection. It was rustic looking and had the cutest liners in the drawers. The lining was made to look like old newspapers and really went with the look I was going for.
I sold the hutch on craigslist for $20 since I didn't need it. My DH cut out the panel in the door and put in some bead board for me. He also built me a wood top to hold the DVR and put the TV on (Those sell for $250 or more at Pottery Barn).
Here is what I did:
1. I took off the handles and filled in the holes.
2. I sanded down the dresser and drawers
3. Primed it with a dark primer I already had from another project.
4. Painted it with some satin paint that I had tinted to match my buffet (2 coats).
5. Sanded down the edges to give it the distressed look.
6. Sprayed it with a spray can of polyurethane
7. Drilled new holes for some wooden knobs (wood knobs are about 50 cents each).
Total cost was about $150 for everything. This is now a favorite piece of furniture in my home! I love all of the drawers for remotes, games, books, toys, etc... It is not as huge as my old entertainment center, yet it holds just as much stuff. I love just sitting and looking at it.
I love having my formal living room as a family room! I am motivated to keep it clean for when guests come over; Where before it was always a mess because I knew no one would ever see it. I have turned my family room into an office/playroom and love that new space too. Sometimes you just have to think outside of the box and find what works for you.

Did I mention that my favorite color is red?.