Repurposed Door Coffee Station

Mid-way into this repurposed furniture project, it suddenly hit me that these bi-fold doors and dresser would make a perfect door coffee station cabinet. Originally I thought since it was a door project, that it should naturally be a hall tree. In any case it’s going to be a very functional piece for someone.

How to Turn a Dresser into a Door Coffee Station

At first glance the dresser (chest of drawers) doesn’t look so bad. It even looks like real wood until you take a closer look at the side. . .

Cheap Dresser

Look! It’s just paper. The dry brushed green and the gorgeous knots in the wood? PAPER!

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Cut the Dresser Down to Size

The first order of business was to cut off the damaged portion on the bottom of the dresser. NOTE: Whenever sawing furniture pieces, make sure you’re not going to run into an screws or hardware. Because of some well placed screws, I had to change up where I made my cut with this circular saw.

See? The bottom is in really rough shape, meaning some would have probably passed on this piece of furniture.

Making a Door Coffee Station

I grabbed a set of bi-fold doors out of my stash to see how they would look with the new dresser.

Attach 2 Bi-fold Doors Together

I decided to remove the hinges and give the doors a more permanent solution to hold them together. I used my Kreg Jig to drill pocket holes in several places down the door. These are hollow core doors, but there was enough on the edges to allow the pocket hole screws to connect. After securing the screws, I cut a board to length and used Gorilla Wood Glue and wood screws to hold the board(s) in place. One on the top, middle and bottom (back) of the bi-fold doors.

If you don't have a pocket hole jig, you can use mending brackets (plates). However, if you do a lot of projects, I highly recommend you investing in one of these jigs. For more details see my post How To Use A Kreg Jig

Now that the doors were permanently attached to each other, I needed to attach them to the dresser (chest of drawers). There was a cleat on the inside top of the dresser. I secured wood screws from the cleat, through the door, and into the back board (brace I added in the middle of the doors). In addition, I added wood screws through the door into the back of the dresser using my kreg multi-mark tool so I “hit my mark” with the screws. One last board was added on the underneath side of the dresser, securing it through the dresser, door, and into the bottom board (brace) I added.

For added security, I also used wood screws through the back boards, doors, and into the cleat, and bottom brace (under the shelf). So, basically the screws go from front to back AND from back to front.

Add Trim to Make Door Coffee Station

I typically add crown molding to the tops of my hall trees, but I’m running a little low, so I chose to add a 1x for a top ledge, then some other simple molding underneath it. I glued the shelf, and “tacked” it with my nail gun, and then used the wood screws for a better hold. The small white trim was glued and attached with finish nails.

I’m glad I removed the hinges, I like it a lot better. Can you see how nice this is going to be as a coffee station? So much room on the surface, and lots of storage room. Originally this furniture had some fake louvered doors covering the shelves, but my neighbor Rodney used them on a hutch he made for his wife.

Time to Paint

It was time to pain! I used my diy chalky paint primer made with plaster of paris and latex wall paint.

The Homeright Finish Max makes this job go quick. As always, I tip my piece back so that I can paint the underneath side of the coffee station first.

Paint a Base Coat | Black

If you have any paneled doors, using a Finish Max is the perfect way to paint them. None of that go this way, then that, paint the panels, then the outside, then the inside . . .

Doesn’t it look amazing after 2 light coats of the chalky paint primer. I always do a primer so the frankenfurniture is all the same color. Until everything matches, it’s difficult for me to see what color it should be. I’m really liking the Beluga (black), and remember, this is to be sold—so I need to find a color that will appeal to the new owners.

How to Get a Dry Brush Look with a Paint Sprayer

BUT! I decided to add some RED! I’ve only done this technique a couple of times with red paint, but I wanted this repurposed bi-fold door project to be unique. It was stressful, and I didn’t take any “in progress” pictures. I used a custom red (that I made with some off color red and a little GREEN) and lightly sprayed that in my Finish Max. I did this with such a light spray to mimic a dry brush effect. I didn’t want heavy coverage.

Seal with Wipe-on Poly

To protect, seal and deepen the color, I simply used some wipe-on poly on a rag.

This is the before and after. I imagine you could get the same look with wax, but my shoulder said NO to that!

Now for some finishing touches—single hooks from D. Lawless Hardware and a But First. Coffee sign, it’s now ready for it’s debut!

Red Door Coffee Station

Doesn’t it make the perfect coffee station cabinet? I suppose it would also be great for a baking center too.

Guess what?! I don’t drink coffee or BAKE!

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It really offers a LOT of storage. I hope it finds a new home soon! This was a fun project and came together pretty easily.

gail

See More Hall Tree Project Ideas Here