Refinished and Rebuilt Entertainment Center

Here is a project from last year that I am finally posting:

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When we bought our new house in February last year, one of the first things that had to go was this massive solid oak built-in entertainment center. It was original with the house so it was built for a tube TV from 1984, and would not fit our larger flat screen.

I have a binder that I keep magazine clips and ideas for my dream projects. Most of the projects I dream about don't happen because they are too expensive (like the jetted tub I would love in my bathroom). This Pottery Barn entertainment center had been sitting in my binder for a few months and would have cost $3,000-5,000 to buy. One day while looking at my binder, I had the crazy idea to transform our built-in to look like the Pottery Barn one.

I showed my super awesome husband my plans and we got to work on it right away. BTW: My awesome hubby is a computer geek, not a carpenter. He just cut things and nailed them together the way we wanted them. Thank goodness for wood putty and paint!

We found some 80's wallpaper and original carpet when we took it apart. I got to work picking out a lovely shade of greyish-blue for the walls and painted the room. I also spent a ton of time picking out the perfect floor which we installed after we were done painting the entertainment center and kitchen cabinets (floor post to come).

We took the middle section completely apart and used the wood to build a top shelf and bottom cabinet. We even cut the top off the doors to make them into smaller doors. My husband was able to glue all of the crown together at the top and we didn't spend a dime on wood. The only supplies we bought were new knobs and paint. We primed it, painted 2 coats of flat paint, distressed it with a sander, and then put on 2 coats of polyurethane.

After about 2 weeks of taking it apart, re-building it and painting, we were done. I love my new entertainment center!

I think it turned out pretty close to this Pottery Barn one. It is about a foot taller, so I found a vinyl saying and put it above the TV.

Before:

After: