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    Home » Repurposed Furniture » Kid's old drawer media cabinet

    Kid's old drawer media cabinet

    Published by Gail | Published February 6, 2015 | Updated April 9, 2019
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    Hi! Mindi from MyLove2Create here again! I am excited to share my Kid's old drawer media cabinet with you today!
    My brain is always spinning and I come up with lots of ideas...then I forget them. Sometimes I actually remember an idea but it takes me a long time to turn it into a reality. Does this happen to you?

    Anyway, this is one of those ideas...

    MyLove2Create, kids old drawer media Cabinet



    My older boys have this old beat up cheapy dresser that I got for free on craig's list a long time ago.

    old dresser

    Pretty ugly, but useful.

    old drawers

    They were sick of it and wanted it gone, so months later I decided to see if it would work for what I wanted, a place to store my kids media. I am done tripping over wii games and skylander guys!

    I pulled out four drawers and lined them up, it was going to work! The best part is that the drawers were exactly the right depth to store Wii games and DVD's. Perfect!

    cutting off excess from drawer faces

    In order to attach the drawers together I had to get rid of the "extra" on the drawer fronts to make them the same on all sides. I measured, marked, and then went out to the shed and cut them with my Ryobi circular saw.

    gorilla glue drawers together

    Once they were all cut I grabbed some Gorilla glue to attach them together. Since they were covered with some kind of covering I wanted this glue to really hold them, I wet both sides of the drawers, added glue, then attached them together.

    nail drawers together

    Instead of clamping I used my nail gun to secure them with finish nails.

    add base to bottom

    With the drawers all attached together I grabbed some scrap 1x2's to glue and nail to the top and bottom of the drawers. I got these scraps off the side of the road in someone's garbage on our city clean up day. They were cut up from some kind of furniture.

    1x2 support on top and bottom

    Here you can see the 1x2's on the top and bottom. If you want another great idea for repurposing drawers I did a similar thing with my Under the bed storage.

    adding 1x2 trim

    Now to make this pretty! I used 1x2 furring strips to add trim on the top, bottom, and the seams where the drawers attached together.

    trim out sides

    The sides needed to be covered and I had some scrap ¼ plywood that I cut and glued on. I also added some scrap pieces to add trim to the back, I didn't have any pieces long enough so I cut two and put them on top of each other. If you look closely in the right photo you can see the seam.

    glue and nail on top board

    Oh yeah, for the top I had a 1x8 board in my garage that needed to be used so I glued and nailed it on.

    micro pocket holes

    Since I was using this for media storage I needed shelves and I happened to have some 1x6 cedar fence wood that was perfect to fit inside the drawers. Since it was ½ inch thick it was time to bust out my new Micro pocket hole drill guide that a very dear and awesome friend gave me. 🙂  It drills smaller holes for thinner wood, and it rocks!

    measuring for shelves

    I used DVD cases to measure and space my boards. In order to make sure I had a bit of wiggle room I put a piece of cut up blind on top of the case before I set the shelf on it (top left). Then I made sure it was level and marked the sides.

    attaching shelve with pocket holes

    On the left photo above you can see my markings. I put the cabinet on it's back and drilled in the pocket hole screws to attach the shelves. It would also be nice to drill holes and put in shelf pins to make the shelves adjustable.

    Did you notice that I stained my trim boards. I filled the nail holes with dark wood filler, sanded them down, use pre wood stain conditioner, and then Rustoleum's Kona. Sorry no pictures I did this late one night and totally spaced it.

    cabinet door cuts

    For the cabinet doors I measured the openings and cut scrap plywood at ¼ to ½ inch thickness (two were ¼ inch thick and two were ½ inch thick and kind of warped, I don't recommend warped, just using what I had).

    To trim them out I got some lath wood at 35 cents each and cut them to fit the edges of the doors. After sanding I stained them to match the trim.

    attaching trim with glue and clamps

    I used wood glue to attach them to the plywood and clamped them for half an hour. When they were done I attached all the doors onto my kids new cabinet. I spared you photos because I am less than expert at this part. But, I will say, I am much better at it now than I was before. 🙂  Practice makes perfect right! Ha ha!

    MyLove2Create, kid's old drawer media Cabinet

    I had four matching handles that I had gotten from the restore a while back, they are not the best but they work.

    MyLove2Create, kid's old drawer media Cabinet

    A full front shot. Yes it needs feet, or casters. I had some casters but they were huge and didn't fit so I will have to get some smaller ones. Or, do you think some nice legs or feet would look better? I am kind of torn, but it does need something...

    MyLove2Create, kid's old drawer media Cabinet

    Inside there is a lot of storage space! You can also see I added magnetic door catchers at the top, not sure what they are called.

    MyLove2Create, kid's old drawer media Cabinet

    I love that this cabinet will not take up a ton of space. Look how narrow it is, 7 ½ inches total!

    MyLove2Create, Kid's old drawer media cabinet

    This is the moment I have all been waiting for....finally! I took photos outside to get better pictures, but it was getting dark.

    MyLove2Create, kid's old drawer media Cabinet

    It can hold movies and lots of Disney's Infinity game characters...

    MyLove2Create, kid's old drawer media Cabinet

    And Skylander guys, and wii games. I am just glad they will be hidden away when not in use.

    MyLove2Create, kid's old drawer media Cabinet

    It is good to accomplish one of my "ideas"!

    Thanks for stopping by, and let my know if you think this Kid's Old Drawer Media Cabinet needs casters, legs, or feet?

    Hugs!

    Mindi

    see more of Mindi's posts on MRL below:
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    About Mindi

    Mindi is a wife, mother, runner, dancer, and a lover of all things fun and DIY.

    A few years ago she discovered blogs and fell in love with the idea that she could do things she had always dreamed of doing. Like build furniture from pallets, and make cool projects for her home.... Mindi was inspired by other bloggers that empowered her to create.

    Mindi decided to give back and possibly reach someone out there that has a desire to create like herself. She believes we all have that desire in some form or another, and we all DO create in our own way, every day. Whether it be crafty or not, even creating happiness in others is a gift that many share.

    Mindi loves to learn and use that knowledge to make beautiful and useful things for her home.

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    1. Pam

      March 20, 2015 at 8:52 am

      Wow...wonder piece, well maybe not to begin with but for sure when you finished!

      Reply
    2. Kris

      March 09, 2015 at 3:36 pm

      Looks awesome and what a great idea! So what did you use the dresser shell for?

      Reply
      • Mindi

        March 09, 2015 at 5:26 pm

        Thanks Kris! I still have the dresser shell, I haven't used it for anything yet, but I am sure someday I will find a purpose for it! 🙂

    3. storagemottingham

      February 17, 2015 at 8:57 am

      The closet turned great! It looks fantastic! Great job! Greetings, Storage Mottingham Ltd.

      Reply
    4. Julie @ follow your heart woodworking

      February 07, 2015 at 5:20 pm

      What a great idea to make something so narrow with shelves! I agree with Gail and would put a toe kick all the way around. I'd just use scrap whatever-you-have and build a shallow "box" that is narrower than the cabinet dimensions by about an inch or two all the way around.

      Reply
      • Julie @ follow your heart woodworking

        February 07, 2015 at 5:21 pm

        ... or since the cabinet is so narrow, maybe even with the back, but an inch or so in from the front and sides.

    5. Kate

      February 06, 2015 at 2:27 pm

      I'd use it as is (except for anchoring to the wall). For kids rooms (especially boys), I opt for furniture that is flush with the floor - no hiding space for legos and dirty socks.

      Reply
    6. Tali

      February 06, 2015 at 1:11 pm

      Mindi, you are an AWESOME, gifted woodworker! I love your projects! You sure inspire me! Unbelievable - the stuff you come up with...Your love to create shows in your beautiful (functional) creations. Thank you. Tali

      Reply
    7. Denise on a whim

      February 06, 2015 at 11:06 am

      This is a really awesome way to use that dresser! How ingenious!

      Reply
    8. Karla

      February 06, 2015 at 10:40 am

      I love it! I think some of those small casters would look cute on it but I agree with Gail, you'd still need to hold it to the wall and the casters would be for looks only. I think it looks great the way it is now. 🙂

      Reply
    9. Pam

      February 06, 2015 at 9:11 am

      Very cool.

      Reply
    10. gail

      February 06, 2015 at 6:23 am

      Oh my gosh Mindi! I love how your brain works. 🙂 I cut furniture apart, and you glue pieces together. This is a great project to repurpose old drawers. I have tons of drawers in my stash. I'm not sure that you should raise it, because it is so narrow, I'm afraid it my be tipsy. Before you mentioned how narrow it is, I was thinking maybe it could be raised a little sort of like a base kitchen cabinet, with a small "toe kick" area. Just a thought, but still think you may need to secure it to the wall if you do that.
      Thank you for sharing another great project with our readers.
      gail

      Reply

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    Hi, there! I’m Gail Wilson, the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. I’m obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believe that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again—myself included! I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and pick up a few tools along the way… literally!

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