Dresser to entertainment center redo

Do you see that dresser there to the right? I found it on Craig's List years ago along with that armoire on the left when my old dresser basically fell apart. This picture is at least two years old, so it has been awhile. I loved how sturdy it is, but hated the look of it. Fast forward to our move in April, and Mr. Thinks He Can and his helper could not get that eye beast up the stairs (it weighs roughly a thousand million pounds). I was not going to let it live in the master bedroom anymore, so it stayed in the living room. We needed a new entertainment center, and since the hideous dresser was already there, I tried to figure out what to do.

Ta-da!!!! I painted it dark brown, with an oil based paint. By the way, no one tells you this until you are no longer capable of Googling, but oil based paint does not come off your skin. When I finally got my finger clean enough to Google how to remove the paint I found out I needed to scrub it with oil. A bit of vegetable oil and a shower later it was off, and my skin was beading up like I'd been treated with Rain-X! Don't say no one warned you.

I enclosed the areas the three drawers were in the middle and drilled a hole in the back of each one for cords to fit through. That bottom one is where my laptop usually sits and charges. By the way, I have a dollar for anyone that can find the box with my camera in it!

The hardware was a strange size, so I decided just to spray paint it brushed nickel. It is a bit sparkly up close, but it mostly looks normal where it sits.

Check out how nicely the drawers behind the doors fit my DVDs! Disclaimer: I used to work in marketing for movie companies, so most of these were free. Not Buffy though, I had to buy that and it was totally worth it!

Here is the before of the lamp. I got it for $3 at the thrift shop down the road. I really liked all the detail of the shape of it.

Here it is again given a coat of primer and that same brushed nickel spray paint as well as an updated lamp shade. 

Not bad, right? Back to sewing soon! The armoire is still in it's hideous state in the garage. I'm thinking on it if anyone has any ideas... The mirrors off the top of the dresser may be painted and hung.