From Drab Dresser to "Magnetic" Media Center

Last year I shared with you my decor ideas for the upstairs living room / family room.  I planned to decorate in red, white and blue without seeming nautical or patriotic.  The idea also included furniture pieces  that were a glossy black.   For the media center,  I needed something well made (which usually means an older piece) but I wanted the clean lines that are usually found in newer furniture! The ideal dresser was going to be a challenge to find - especially on a budget!  After a few months of looking around, garage sale bartering led me to a neutral stained solid-wood dresser for only $40.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a before picture.  You'll just have to picture this as an old, light brown dresser, badly in need of love.  The up-cycle started with sanding and ended with a coat of primer and charcoal black oil base paint.

Now came a new dilemma.  How do we store the gaming console and dvd player in a way that makes it accessible, yet hidden?  Well, we came up with the idea of giving a detachable "door" to one of the drawers.  Basically, we cut the front panel off the top center drawer and attached magnets to it so that it could easily be detached from the dresser.  The rest of the drawer was painted, put back in, and screwed in place so that it would not slide out.  The end result was a drawer made into a type of built in shelf with a detachable door!

As you can see, the magnet is attached to each side of the inside of the drawer.  These magnets line up with the metal pieces on the back of the drawer panel.

Here you can see the front panel of the drawer.  We just lay it to a side when the console or DVD player is in use.  When not in use, the panel just snaps back into place to hide the "ugliness".  You would never know that the devices are there!

As an extra BONUS, our kids can play their Wii without ever taking off the panel.  As long as their game disk is in, the console works wirelessly via the bluetooth controls.

We love it!  Dozens of movies, game disks, and controllers are all hidden away in the bountiful drawers of this old up-cycled dresser.  How about you?  Have you created your own media center?  What did you do?