I love to modify and build things around my new house. For the longest time I had one of those small particle board entertainment stands somebody could get from a big box store. But now that I am establishing my forever home I thought that needed to change. In this instructable, I will show how I repurposed an old console stereo into my media stand.

Step 1: Get a Plan

I got the stereo from a thrift shop. I wanted the middle to house the TV hub, my gaming console and the Wi-Fi router. For the sides where the speakers were, I wanted to have some decorations and my Blu-ray discs. So I started the demolition.

Step 2: Remove the Hardware

The back panels were easily removable and the speakers were unscrewed and taken out. The guy I bought this from said that the old tuner and turntable was removed because they were broken. No matter to me because that dropped the price. All the hardware was easily removed by unscrewing them. The sound dampening material was merely stapled in place and was also easily removable. The speaker covers were screwed in as well and dropped right out of the frame.

I may save what I believe is the tweeter for some other project. I also like the old speaker covers and saved those for a potential future project. Yeah I am kind of a pack rat. . .

Step 3: Remove Excess Wood

The speaker cover support wood was nailed in place and I was careful not to pry to rough as to damage the wood I wanted to stay. With the supports gone, I measured out the dimensions in the bottom part that had the wire holes. I cut a piece of 1/4" plywood to fit, stained it and glued/tacked it in place with a nail gun.

Step 4: Add Shelves

Then I added supports with the plethora of wood screws from removing the speakers to place a second set of shelves. Once the 3/4" plywood was cut to size I had quite the tight fit. Too tight for my liking, so I planed down the edges. I found out that I cut with my circular saw on a bit of a bias that was causing them to not fit right. With the shelves snug I didn't even glue or nail them to the supports in case I wanted to remove them later.

On pic 1, you can see that where the tuner was there was a backing piece of wood that hung lower on that side than the other. I cut that down to match the other side with my jigsaw. I had some spare lauan sheets that I tacked in with a brad nailer as the backing board.

When the stain was dry on the new shelves I added a coat of poly to them. Once the poly was dry I moved the old entertainment stand out and made room for this one.

Step 5: Decorate and Enjoy

I placed my movies and games on the top shelf and some decorations on the bottom.

The biggest win for me (besides breathing new life in an old piece of furniture) was that since I put the power strip, the router, and the TV hub in the center behind the door, the only thing exposed was the one wire going to the outlet. With the old stand, the power strip, the Ethernet cords for the desktop, the TV and the PlayStation were exposed. As well as the power cords for the TV, the PlayStation, and the Wi-Fi router. Not to mention all the HDMI cords going to the TV Hub.

I had nightmares about all the exposed cords coming to life and strangling me like some sort of electric octopus...Okay that last part isn't true but I'm sure you can imagine. Now everything is nice and tidy.

I was asked whether I would sand and stain or paint the whole thing and I do not know at the moment. Probably, but that depends on what color I paint the walls this summer!

Thanks for viewing my project and I hope you gained some inspiration to do something similar.