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- The old honey oak entertainment center once held a 36-inch TV. Now with a flat screen on the wall, it was obsolete. But, I was reluctant to throw it out or donate it because it was expensive; was made of solid wood and offered a lot of storage.
- Before I primed the cabinet, I added carved wood medallions to the front of each of the four doors. Previously they were flat. Now with this new embellishment, they give the cabinet character and make it look like an antique armoire.
- The original honey oak color was nice, but I wanted a pantry that would really pop and chose a raspberry color to match some pillows in my sunroom.
- I thought about distressing the wood after painting by sanding it or even using a crackle finish. Ultimately, however, I chose to apply an antiquing glaze.
- The antiquing glaze settles into the nooks and crannies of the doors, around the raised panels and especially into the caved medallion, which makes it look like it has withstood the test of time.
- The opening of the cabinet that previously held the TV was large, so I wanted to fill that space. I started by buying a plastic hanging wine glass holder from Bed Bath & Beyond. It installed below the top shelf of the cabinet with just a few screws.
- You can see that even with hanging wine glasses and liquor bottles the opening leaves plenty of room for removing bottles without knocking into glasses. Make the most of this space; it is large so think vertically.
- Drawers that previously held VHS tapes are perfect now for holding packages of microwave popcorn, extra jars of jelly or spaces and Girl Scout cookies.
- I replaced the old oak and gold-tone pulls with new black pulls and because the cabinet was moved to my sunroom, I put a nail in the side of the cabinet to hold a vase of flowers.
- It can be dark inside the cabinet, so if you don't want to do a lot of wiring, just add a Sylvania LED touch light. It adheres to the top of the cabinet with adhesive and swivels to send the light to the front or the back of the cabinet.
- I can hardly recognize the finished cabinet from where it started out. It was a total transformation that saved me a lot of money.
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The old honey oak entertainment center once held a 36-inch TV. Now with a flat screen on the wall, it was obsolete. But, I was reluctant to throw it out or donate it because it was expensive; was made of solid wood and offered a lot of storage. Credit: Cheryl Dangel Cullen
