The time had come when I knew I needed to soon say goodbye to our existing entertainment center. It was a great piece of furniture for the time that it lived in our home, but its days were soon to be numbered. That said, my search for a replacement piece began!

Whenever I’m hunting down a piece of furniture, I very seldom look for a new item. For me, it’s way more exciting to land a bargain used piece!

1) It’s often more durable. You know the concept…”they just don’t make them like they used to”.

2) The price is generally very good, and sometimes FREE!

3) I can make it my own through new paint, hardware, etc.

However, in my hunt for this particular piece of furniture, I came up short over the course of many months of looking.

In a conversation with my husband one particular evening, I whined bellyached communicated about the fact I couldn’t find anything even close to what I was looking for throughout all of my many searches. Of course, he then wanted to know what I could possibly be hunting that would make it so hard to find. I shared my little drawing with him, and his creative juices started to flow!

“I can build that for you,” he offered.

“Really? Even with all my little cubbyholes? What about the doors?” I think I secretly doubted.

“Of course!” he emphatically shared.

Well. There you have it. The search ended, and our project began. My role was to give Joel as many specifics as possible.

Hubby purchased the lumber, screws, “feet”, etc., and I picked out the paint! I’d been wanting to try Annie Sloan’s chalk paint for quite awhile and finally did with this piece! I couldn’t be more excited about the way it turned out.

My husband built the piece in sections, and if when we move someday, we’ll take it apart and move it back out in sections, because it’s rather large when all together as one piece.

After he constructed the pieces, we both did the sanding work.

After sanding, I put on the first layer of Annie Sloan Country Grey. No primer necessary with chalk paint.

For the second layer, I chose Chateau Grey (actually looks more green than grey). Before it was even completely dry, I started distressing the piece so that the Country Grey would peek through, and the whole thing would have a bit of a weathered look.

I loved how it turned out!

I finally finished off the piece with Annie Sloan Clear Wax. Ta-da! My new entertainment center!!!