Repurposed Dresser tv stand

I’m not cutting up any furniture in today’s post. Even so, I think I have some tips for you on how to make this repurposed dresser tv stand from an old 90’s pressed wood piece. It may look like it has nothing to offer, but it still has a lot of purpose left.

Y’all know I won’t turn down anything that’s free, so I was happy when this dresser landed on my doorstep.

Dismantle cheap dresser

As I’m trying to figure out how to add strength to the bottom, you can see that the pieces that separate the drawers are made out of cardboard.

I began ripping out the pieces of cardboard and the drawer slides.

Of course, I saved the drawer slides and screws because they were in great shape!

Add plywood shelves to repurposed dresser tv stand

I used thin plywood (underlayment) for the shelves. It was thin enough to slip into the slot intended for the cardboard.

Each shelf is now in place, and I used Gorilla Wood Glue and my Airstrike Staple Gun to secure them in place.

Paint with a Finish Max Paint Sprayer

The dresser was ready for a coat of DIY Chalky paint primer (Behr Polished Pearl) with my HomeRight Finish Max. NOTE the damaged area on the back corner.

To get a good angle inside the dresser with the Finish Max, it’s best to lay it down on it’s back.

Even after painting the top of the dresser, you can see that it still needed a little TLC.

Add new plank top to repurposed dresser tv stand

Here, you can see I have added some trim on the bottom (sides) to cover up that pressed board defect I showed you earlier. I am also doing a dry fit of some pine boards for the top.

Kreg Jig Pocket Holes for plank dresser top

I used my Kreg Jig to drill some pocket holes to join the boards together.

After joining the boards and giving them a smooth finish with my orbital sander, I broke out the Dark Walnut stain by Minwax.

While the stain was drying, I started work on the underneath side of the dresser so I could sturdy it in order to add some wheels. Because it was pressed wood, as I tried to remove the corner brace, I busted the wood. It was not bothering the structural aspect of the piece, but it sure did “ugly it up”. I cut a piece of scrap (underlayment) plywood to make a false side to cover the bad spot. g.o.n.e.

Beef up dresser to add wheels

You can see I added some 2×6 pieces across the bottom of the dresser to give it strength and give me a place to attach the wheels. I used pocket holes strategically spaced so that they wouldn’t interfere with the screws holding the wheels on. Had I not planned this process, I may have run into trouble while attaching the wheels. You can also see the original chipped wood piece. Not shown is the piece I messed up while removing a very stubborn corner brace that I spoke about earlier.

To prepare the original dresser top to accept the new pine top, I drilled some holes down through the pressed wood.

Wood glue to attach plank top to dresser turned tv stand

I then used some Gorilla Good Glue to make sure the new top would stay put. I put the new pine top on, and secured it with screws going up from inside the cabinet into the new top.

This two toned look – cream color (or white) and dark stain is still my favorite. My coffee table and kitchen table both sport the same look.