So a little while ago we had a garage sale to try and get rid of some stuff and raise some funds to put towards saving for a new house. One of the pieces that was in the sale was the old Oak Entertainment Cabinet from my parents basement. It was one of the ones made to house an older large screen tube TV. It has been sitting in the basement for the past eight years or so being used as storage space.
Unsurprisingly, no one even looked at it, there is no need to have a cabinet like this anymore with flat screens. We however did not send it out for donations when the sale was done. I had decided that if it didn't sell I would have some fun with it and make a new piece of furniture from it. So first I took the doors off and removed the shelves.
Measuring from the inside top of the cabinet and going down, I marked all three of the vertical supports and cut them off. Since I still do not have very many power tools of my own I was using my dad's old one which work but aren't always the best. If I was to do this again I would probably want to invest in some new saws which I will be doing over time anyway.
So with it now in two pieces I took what was previously the top half and removed the vertical supports. All I needed was the top itself. As I took the supports off I did my best to save the molding so that it would still be usable. It didn't work perfectly but the parts that broke off I was able to reattach and still use. The next step I unfortunately did not get any pictures of. I measure the length and depth of the portion where the TV went and cut a chunk out from the top. This left me a larger square with an L-shaped piece of trim on one side. This went back onto the base of the cabinet.
The section I took out of the top was used to fill in the back opening so it would be nice and solid. The new top and back panel were glued and nailed in place. With some light sanding I began painting. I decided to paint it rather then sand and stain because it would be a closer finish to our other existing furniture.
Three coats of paint and some clear coat later and this is now what I have. I did later go in and paint the inside of the drawer just to make it match. Now it was time for some upholstery work. I used a cheap 1/8" underlayment plywood to make four panels that fit inside the new seat area. These panels were padded using an old 2" thick memory foam pad we used for camping and covered with a home decor fabric I picked out from Jo-Ann Fabrics.
Each panel was secured in place using some industrial strength velcro so that they can be removed if the foam or fabric has to be replaced. I actually cut the panels so close that once the fabric was added they were almost pressure fit in place. My next step will be to use the left over wood to create some sliding drawers that will go into the two open cabinet areas.
For now it has been put back in the basement and will be used for our gaming nights as an extra seat. Eventually, once Jessi and I get our new house it will be placed in what we hope to be an old fashioned victorian era study/library. Since we are both big Harry Potter fans this room will be decorated with our props and collectables from the Wizarding World to try and give it the look and feel of being a study at Hogwarts. And yes, we are both Hufflepuffs which is one of the reasons I went with that particular color for the fabric.
I am hoping to begin posting once a week so keep an eye out for more content of what I am working on.