Upcycled Media Cabinet Into Armoire

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Do you still own one of these huge media cabinets? With a little bit of work, they can easily be transformed into storage armoires and can beutilized in almost any room in your house. They provide lots of storage and can be painted to match your decor.
With a little bit of work, you can gain all this more storage.
I started out by removing the back of the armoire since a hole had been cut out to help to dissipate the heat emitted from those very large tube tv's.
The back was replaced with new plywood.
The lazy-Susan shelf that held the tv and the compartment for the VCR was removed and these were replaced with MDF shelves. (The two shelves are shown in the pictures at the end of this post"
As is common with these type of media cabinets, the two top doors were the kind that retracted back inside for when you watched t.v. I wanted regular doors so it would look more like an armoire and so the sliding rails were removed and the doors were fixed in place. Below is how it looked after the inside was stripped and painted. I painted the armoire in "Shutter Grey" Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. Because I wanted a layered looks, I then painted a second colour, "Grainsack" Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint.
It also had three slide-out shelves on the bottom right, but I wanted something more useful for an armoire, so I glued four sections of wood together to form a drawer. We used MDF for this and then attached it to the slide-out shelf with brad nails.
After the paint dried, I distressed in certain areas with a wet pot-scrubber to the first colour and in some areas I distressed to reveal the wood.
I sealed it all with clear wax and then added a bit of dark wax in certain areas.
This is now a very useful armoire.
Lots of great storage.
Mary Vitullo - Orphans With Makeup
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 4 questions
  • Heje Heje on Feb 26, 2019

    Are the hinges for the top doors different from the ones on the bottom because I can see them in the bottom but not the top?

  • Gigi Weber Hansen Gigi Weber Hansen on May 03, 2019

    How many quarts of each paint were needed for this project? I'm getting ready to tackle an almost identical armoire.

  • Lori Lori on Oct 30, 2020

    I want to change top doors on mine but all slider pieces are metal. How would I do mine?

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  • Nathalie Blais Nathalie Blais on Sep 05, 2019

    Absolutely stunning! Love the new function and the look.

  • Ogo89723365 Ogo89723365 on Jan 23, 2024

    I recycled my computer cabinet into a makeup center, I can just shut the doors to cover up any mess until I have time to come and clean it up...and I always make a mess.

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