How to Repair, Paint and Organize an Entertainment Center

DIY projects really help pass the Winter. Unfortunately sitting at home for months the I really start to notice every… single…thing…wrong… in our home. Whilst finishing the bannister update, I could not take the look off the damaged entertainment center any longer. Let me show you our entertainment center makeover.

We were/are very annoyed with the quality of our entertainment center and coffee tables. They were a $5000 purchase several years ago and with only two adults and a dog in the house we expected them to last much longer. We tossed out the coffee tables, took some chairs to the auction and growled at thedamaged entertainment center. This is how the furniture set looked five years ago. I loved the warmth of the wood so much.

What Colou Should I Paint my Entertainment Center?

The color you should paint your entertainment center depends on your personal preferences, the overall style, and the color scheme of the room its in. I considered painting the entertainment center sage or an olive green, mainly because of the teasing I know I am going to get, but white paint won out once again.

Neutral colors like white, black, gray, or natural brown wood tones are versatile and work well in most settings. If your entertainment center is going to be in use for awhile I suggest sticking with a neutral colour. Since painting an entertainment center is such a large painting project I wouldn’t want to be redoing the colour anytime soon. Neutrals are always a safe bet, trendy colours are fantastic, but we often get tired of them quickly.

This entertaincent is painted white using Sherwin Williams satin gloss Extra White, and Zinnzer 123 primer. All our moulding is being fixed and repainted with Sherwin Williams satin gloss Extra white paint, my hope was to make match up the entertainment center so that it appears built in.

Black, especially Fusion Mineral Paint Coal Black would look wonderful, but I shied away from having such a large black piece of furniture in this room.

It is what it is, so time to get over it, and get to work. Taking part in Waste Not Wednesday was the boost I needed to get this post done.

Entertainment Center Makeover Tutorial

Entertainment Center Makeover Supplies

Cleaning and Prep

Unfortunately I chose to do this the same week we were demolishing the bannister and having a beautiful new one installed. The how to pictures are messy, but I hope you can see the process.

Begin by emptying the entertainment center and washing everything down with TSP, including all the interior surfaces. Instead of removing the hardware I taped it off using painters tape. If you prefer to take off your hardware, make sure to label everything very well so that you can reassemble it easily.

I also taped around all the edges of the glass windows on both the inside and the outside. Note: I actually missed doing the interior of one door, and I didn’t notice when painting because the tape on the outside showed through the glass. Those are the things that happen when I multitask projects. Be sure to tape both sides.

Repairing the Veneer

This entertainment center had all kinds of chipped areas, and bits of lifting and missing veneer. To repair any smaller area begin by adhering any small lifts in your vener using E6000 to reglue it back in place.

There were several larger areas like this to fix, the pictures show the largest piece. Begin by removing the veneer, applying a thin coat of Drydex filler and then sanding it with 150 grit paper until smooth.

Fixing a Chipped Corner

Besides having broken and lifted veneer there was a broken chipped off corner, I was a bit daunted to try and fix this, but it ended up being very straightword to do.

1. Shows the broken corner. I had tried to camoflage it repeatedly using a brown furniture pen. It looked better than the whipped wood, but not much better.
2. Using a straight edge build a corner using the Drydex using any straight edge and then letting it dry.
3. Reshaping it as it is drying. It does not have to be perfectly smooth, but make sure the corner is larger than it needs to be. drying, then sanding it.
4. The final corner. It is a simple process just remember not to over sand and make it as smooth as possible. If you make the corner smaller than it should be, add more Drydex, and repeat the process.

Refinishing the Entertainment Center with Paint

Normally I suggest refinishing furniture by sanding it before and between every coat of paint. But this time the thought of all that sanding on such a large piece is daunting. So I took the shortcut and skipped the sanding and the icy smooth finish for ease and function. This piece will get a coat of primer and I will live with the regular less smooth painted finish.

The great part about the primer is its white and gave me a sneak peak at how it would look. As the entertainment center is so large, I fixed it right in the livingroom. Make sure to protect your flooring. move other furniture out of the way and I used little bits of scrap wood to lift the bottom edges off of the floor.

Paint the inside and out with one coat of zinsser 123 primer and then 3 coats of Sherwin Williams Extra White in satin finish. Allow it to dry well between each coat. I found by starting at one end, that by the time one coat was finished, I was able to start on the second coat right away. The rubbermaid containers you can see in the corner are holding all the goodies typically inside the cabinets.

Mistakes and Fixing

Fixing up paint drips makes me cringe, usually the light repeated coats of paint and sanding make this a non issue, but because I skipped the sanding, I found some careless paint drips along the edge of my paint finish.

Painting the edges of the glass was easy because I taped ahead. Unfortunately I miss one door on the inside. I used the painters razor blade to remove it as well. So easy, you can find the blades at the Sherwin Williams store, mine was $3 for a package of five I think and worth every cent.

How to Organize the Entertainments Center for both Storage and Display

Now that the entertainment center is painted, its time to deal with the three Rubbermaid containers s of stuff I took out at the beginning. As much as I try and be a minimalist I am not. If your like me and the large wall unit is to actually store stuff, I figured out a way to do it using color coordination, baskets to hide, dollar store containers to organize and lovely doors that close.

Downsizing Items

I Konmari’d three quarters of our china away a couple years ago, and all that is left are the pieces that give us joy. But all those loved collectibles have to store in this entertainment center, I did no downsizing. If you happen to have unwanted DVDs, video tapes (I had a disney collection), assorted cords, or anything unloved out it goes.

The upstairs entertainment center stores my pink depression glass collection, an antique teacup collection I had for 40 years, and the tulip crystal I inherited from my mother. Besides that it hold Hubs corporate memorabilia, a few DVDs, and the TV electronics.

Organizing and Hiding Cluttery Items

I kept the glass doors to act as a china cabinet, rearranged the pink glassware so only the largest pieces are displayed, and added some greenery (2 & 3). All the rest is hidden.

Then I bought some matching wicker baskets to hold the TV electronics (5). The middle basket is different because it holds the PVR and modem. The weave is more open so the remote controls work, and the cords were placed out the back through the weave.

The remaining wicker holds smaller glassware, that would clutter up the open glass shelves. (1). Finally the other bits I put behind the doors (4) and hid behind the baskets in the front. Most of it was placed in dollar store plastic containers to they can be easily retrieved and pulled out if we need them.

I actually miss the wood, but painting this instead of purchasing a new one saved is $4000. Its bright and clean, and organized, and for that much in savings it will do just fine.

Wow, fixing and refinishing furniture has so many steps, but I love the changes. My friend Sam created a white washed farmhouse table. I adore the carvings on the legs.

Some Other Furniture Makeovers

How to Whitewash a Farmhouse Table | Raggedy Bits

How to Refinish Veneer Furniture with Stained Top