Entertainment Center Redo

Can I just say, this is a project that has been in the works for MONTHS!!

And I do literally mean months!  

It was still cold and possibly snow still on the ground when I bought this lovely 80's three piece entertainment center off Craigslist for $125.

Even though my house is small and I don't like clutter, I didn't have any display space either.  Nowhere to put my pretties.  Nowhere for the things I've collected over the years.  Nowhere I could change things up for my favorite seasons like Fall, Halloween and Christmas.   

I really wanted something that felt built in, but with the flexibility (meaning, nothing actually built in so when I change my mind 1000 times once in awhile, I'm not forced into anything because I do have some ever so slight tendencies to change my mind.) ;)

This is my beauty in her original state.

You can even see in the bottom right corner, I even had the huge 36", 500 lb, tube TV to go in it. 


Over the MONTHS that it sat in my living room, I slowly finished off a bookshelf.  Then a door.  Then MANY weeks later, another bookshelf, etc.  


The huge TV died shortly after I purchased this unit.  But luckily for me, I'm too poor to buy a big TV, so I got a flat screen that would fit inside.


Recently I finally got enough motivation to finish the middle piece!  


But I had a sudden epiphany!  With the whole upcoming foster care thing, I really felt like the computer should be in the living room so I could always monitor what was being looked at.


After moving every piece of furniture in the house around (that might be a slight exaggeration, but it felt like it) to get a feel for where to put the computer and the TV, that's where the epiphany came in.


I turned the center entertainment unit into a computer desk!!!

Yep!  I did!


And all by myself at that!  I'm pretty tickled with how it came out.


For now, I just have the leftover fabric from my no-sew curtains hanging on a tension rod to block all the "ugly stuff".  I plan to cut it to the right length and possibly add a ruffle to the bottom.  I don't know we'll see.

I did not have to buy a single thing to make the transition from entertainment center to desk.  I reused everything I could from the original unit.


I moved one of the shelves up to desk height...even using the cleats from the shelf.  And I used the molding from the bottom of the unit to cap off my desk front.

I painted it the same white as my kitchen cabinets and antiqued everything.


It was A LOT of work!  But it has so much function now and I just love that all the components are hidden and that my computer can be in the living room with style and without looking like an "office".

Now to find a chair...which will have the added bonus of extra seating in my living room!  :)