Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Hide The Cable Box With A Remote

When we last left off with our little media cabinet we had cleaned all of the grime off (with a Magic Eraser of all things) as well as removing the musty smell from the drawers with vinegar, but we mentioned that we still wanted to hide the cable box in one of the drawers somehow, and also had to seal the wood with something to lock in the color and shine. Well, we finally got ‘er done thanks to some technology and some good old fashioned elbow grease. So here’s how we went about getting that cable box off the ground.

TVConsole After 3 From Hall

We drilled a bunch of large holes in the back of the top middle drawer (and the back of the unit) with a large drill bit (it was a 1 3/4″ bit). Sorry about the bad lighting here, we needed a flashlight shining into the drawer to illuminate things, and it photographed really oddly.

Rf Remote1

Here’s an idea of how it looked when we had finished one side of Project Ventilation. Not to be confused with Project Runway, which is a lot more exciting, and usually involves at least seven kids from my Alma Mater (FIT – represent!). Anyway, so we did the same thing on the left side of the back of the piece (made four more holes) and then made the same type of holes in the back of the drawer itself (which was also open on the top, so any heat could easily escape).

Rf Remote2

Then we just hooked up the box, slid it into the drawer, and shut it. It’s nice that we can pull it out (if we ever want to access it) but we don’t have to keep the drawer open whenever it’s in use in order for the cable box to get a signal. Why don’t we? Why, because we got an IR extender. And it’s dreamy.

Rf Remote 1

Wait, you can’t see it? Allow me to point it out. See this little black dome that’s about an inch wide?

Rf Remote 2

Well, that’s an IR extender. We got it from Amazon (here’s the one we bought) and for $15.99, with tons of great reviews, it’s a deal that saved us from having to ditch/hack up/attempt to hinge a drawer front. The way it works is that you place the small round receiver (the black dome-looking thing) somewhere discreet on the front of your TV, and that picks up the signal whenever you use your remote from the couch. Then you just plug it into your cable box (there’s a wire that snakes around back).

Rf Remote

In a word: it’s genius. It has been just as reliable as pointing the remote at the cable box itself, and thanks to ventilating that drawer we haven’t had any overheating issues (even if we leave the drawer closed for a week and then open it, it’s not steamy in there).

But now onto what we did to restore some color and shine to the media cabinet itself. Because it looks pretty good in the two photos above – but those were taken after we put a little effort into it. So let’s go back in time for a second. Since it had already been scrubbed down and de-grimed we needed to work on restoring some luster and sealing it all in for long-lasting protection. Step 1: pull out the drawers and roll back the rug.

Media Cab 1

Step 2: Bring those drawers into the sunroom (where I had more space to tackle them) and grab some Restor A Finish and Howard Feed-N-Wax (we found it at Home Depot) since I’ve pretty much heard only the most amazing things about both products, especially when they’re used in cahoots.

Media Cab 2

Here’s how the drawers were looking before any luster-restoration or sealing. See how the wood looked a little dry and had small dings and scratches in the finish?

Media Cab 4

Step 3: Rub Restore-A-Finish onto each drawer as well as the frame of the cabinet with a rag according to the directions on the back (which are pretty much “rub it on and wait 30 minutes”). Look at the difference! In person, it was like seeing a crusty old foot in one of those lotion ads that gets some much-needed cream and transforms into a gorgeous and smooth beach-ready model-foot. Seriously, our drawers went from crusty to modelesque.

Media Cab 5

After the Restore-A-Finish application, there were still a few more heavy duty chips that weren’t quite solved (it was great for the small dings and scratches as well as moisturizing all of the wood though).

Media Cab 6

So that brings us to step 4: raid Clara’s art drawer. Ah yes, a brown magic marker will do.

Media Cab 7

Step 5: rub the brown magic marker into those bigger chips and immediately blend with your finger. Might as well rename it Chip-Be-Gone. Or at least Chip-Be-Way-Less-Obvious.

Media Cab 8

Then after the wait time on the can of Restore-A-Finish (30 mins) it was time to move on to our little bottle of Howard Feed-N-Wax to seal everything in. I was fresh out of clean rags, so I used an old white sock. Worked like a charm.

Media Cab 9

Step 6: Apply the wax to the wood drawers and frame of the cabinet, let it sit and soak in for 30 minutes, and then buff away any remaining wax with another clean rag (or sock in my case).

“Bling bling. Everytime I come into the sunroom bling bling.” That’s what I was singing with these flossy & glossy babies in front of me. Just call me Lil Wayne.

Media Cab 10

Once I slid the drawers back into place, our media cabinet was all “Can’t nobody take my pride. Can’t nobody hold me down. Oh no. I got to show those movies” a la Puff & Mace.

Media Cab 11

It was like a bonafide hip-hop throwback concert at my house. With slightly altered home-related lyrics.

Media Cab 14

Ok, I’m satisfied with the amount of hip-hop references that I worked into this post. Although I gotta say, it would make my life to someday drop this little ditty: “I’m sorry momma. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry, but tonight I’m cleaning out my armoire.”

And now, let’s take a moment to appreciate how far this baby has come. Best $59 we ever spent. And the crazy part to us is that this cabinet sat at the thrift store long enough to get marked down by $20 (which means it was probably there for at least a month). Nobody saw the beauty.

TVConsole 2 Image From Phone

Also, on the subject of hip hop, dude why isn’t the magical pairing of Adam Levine, 50 Cent, and Eminem getting more radio play (warning, this isn’t the clean version, it’s the official video)? I first heard it last fall but it’s still not on the radio. What the heck, DJs of America? Help a sister out.

What are you guys up to when it comes to furniture upgrades. Any wax-on-wax-off-ing going on? Any other RF remote (or IR extender) lovers out there? It’s a pretty sweet piece of machinery, I gotta say.

Comments

  3. Jessica says

    Is that your DVD player next to the TV in the after photos? Are you going to put that in a drawer, too? Might as well, right?

    Reply

  5. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    That just goes to show that painting isn’t the only way to show those vintage finds some love! That dresser-turned-TV-stand is gorgeous!

    We have an RF remote and we love it! Our satellite box is actually in my bedroom closet next to the living room!

    Reply

  7. Heather says

    The great thing about drilling into a piece of thrift store furniture is that it’s not too pricey if something goes wrong!

    Reply

  9. Mega@ Rappsody in Rooms says

    WOW! I am so impressed by the transformation. I thought it looked good before but now it looks amazing! Well done elbow grease. I had also never heard about that remote before and I feel like it opens up so many more possibilities!

    Reply

  10. Wendy @ New Moms Talk says

    It looks beautiful, and thank you for the modified lyrics.

    My good man has changed nearly every 80’s tune to fit a moment of our lives. How he does it is beyond me, but the man’s talent with words blows me away.

    Reply

  11. jenna says

    I need to get a console/cabinet/something for my TV and I am sooooooo replicating what you’ve done here! Great idea, drilling big holes and getting the RF remote.

    Reply

  12. CTDC says

    Oh my goodness, THANK YOU for this post!! I never comment even though I read religiously, but I have to this time. I had never heard about the RF remote and it is going to have a HUGE (positive) impact on my living room. I have been struggling for the better part of a year to decide what to do for a media cabinet and was completely stumped about how so many other people managed to hide their cable box, thereby gaining a ton of great options (like your MCM dresser, which is what I have in mind too). Thank you!! I am totally going to get one of these. You also probably saved me mega bucks because now I now I can make an old piece of furniture work rather than buying a new piece that has the shelf for the cable box.

    Reply

  14. jordan says

    Love it! Just a thought, but adding some metal label holders to the drawer fronts (think library card catalog hardware) could add a finishing touch to this piece.

    Reply

  15. Crystal @ 29 Rue House says

    The weirdest thing – I was thinking about your media cabinet this morning (which I’ve always loved) and wondered if you ever did anything else to the finish. Seriously, the magic eraser was in my head on the drive to work. It is crazy the things that pass through my brain.

    Anyway, it looks awesome!!

    Reply

  16. Erin @ The Impatient Gardener says

    Oh gosh that’s beautiful!

    Have you ever used wood bleach on anything? Years ago I got a dresser that is almost identical to Clara’s dresser shortly after you redid hers (I bought it because I loved what you did with it). Well you know how long ago that way. It’s been sitting in the garage until this winter and I brought it in and painted the outside frame white and have been trying to decided what to do with the drawers. I’ve been thinking about going light with them for sort of a grayed oak kind of look and I was considering using wood bleach on them, but that’s one project I’ve yet to see a blog cover so I was wondering if you know anything about it.

    Reply

    • Ellie Wilson says

      I used to use wood bleach a lot when I was thrift ing all my furniture. ( after a while any house fills up) anyway, it is a great product. You may need multiple applications (and the is aside from the fact that it is a two step process) to get the wood as light as you want. The upside of this is that you can start on this road and quit when you get where you want to go without worrying about overshooting the mark. Just make sure to remove all the prior finish, and follow directions to the letter.

  18. Vidya @ Whats Ur Home Story says

    That is awesome. Pinning it. That is such a life saver. That was always the excuse my hubby used when we were media console shopping and found a dresser that would have worked great int eh space. How does the RF remote work if you have say fios, dish, DVD? Does it recognize between the diff remotes and act accordingly?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It just correlates to what you plug it into I think, so it goes to our cable box and only controls that. We could get another one for the DVD player I think :)

      xo
      s

    • Steve S says

      I am the owner of Infrared Resources. This is our product. We would first like to thank Sherry for placing this on the blog.

      We would like to clarify that the unit is IR (Infrared)38kHz and not RF ( Radio Frequency) With IR you need to point directly to the receiver and it must be in line of sight as where RF picks up the IR signal without line of sight.

      We provide a list of cable boxes that it works with in our product description section on our Amazon listing and Amazon web site.

      Q: How does the IR remote work if you have say fios, dish, DVD?
      A: you plug the 3.5mm end plug of the receiver directly into the back IR port on the box i.e. Fios etc.
      It will not work with Dish or DVD player. They are not equipped for a IR receiver. We do offer our IRP repeater kits for all other boxes the receiver will not work with. The IRP kits will also operate A/V stereo receivers.

      While the IR receiver operate only the cable box our dual frequency 38-56kHz IRP kits will operate -2- to -6- devices depending on the model that you buy. i.e. IRP-2 operates -2-devices etc. They basically work with all devices in the market place including ATT UVerse and Scientific Atlanta boxes.

      Here is the link for the IRP kits http://infrared-resources.com/category/73634229101/1/IR-Repeater-Hub-Kits.htm

      Q: Does it recognize between the diff remotes and act accordingly?
      A: Yes it does. The receiver duplicates(repeats) the IR signal from any remote control as long as it is 38kHz (majority are 38Khz) with exception of Scientific Atlanta Explorer cable boxes. Some SA boxes are 56kHz.

      Thank you!

      Please contact us @ [email protected] with any questions.

      Warm regards,

      Steven A Stambaugh
      President
      Infrared Resources LLC

  19. gemma@thesweetestdigs says

    This post made me giggle.. I can almost hear you spitting rhymes through the computer. Haha.

    That piece looks fab! I love that it pulls the wood tone from the console behind the couch. That room is looking great these days!

    Reply

  22. Monika says

    This post is perfectly timed – I just bought my first piece of thrift store furniture yesterday! It’s a solid wood 6 foot dresser with tons of drawers and it needs a little love but it was only $30! I’m going to put it in the dining room as a sideboard…I can’t wait to get started on my new DIY project :o)

    Reply

  23. Kathy says

    Oh man, I would love an RF remote!!

    I saw an armoire that was similar to yours when I drove by our local thrift shop about two weeks ago (though it didn’t have as many drawers) and I told my husband I wanted to get it for our den, but now it’s not there anymore :-( Guess people in Southern NJ actually DO appreciate a good piece of furniture!

    Reply

  25. Megan says

    We have a credenza we inherited that we use as a TV stand as well. It was pretty scratched up, so I busted out this Old English tinted polish. Baby looks like new. I was so impressed. Good to know other options.

    Reply

  27. Jen says

    I’m looking for a dresser like that for my boys room so if someone in my area could get rid of one and the thrift store mark it down to $20 because no one had the gift of furniture potential foresight then that would pretty much rock my socks. As I’m writing this comment though, I read the little piece you’ve written under it and when I got to “U smell like a fart”…oh my…coffee nearly came out of my nose! HILARIOUS!

    Reply

  29. Mary says

    The cabinet is beautiful and I’m anxious to try the products you used on a cabinet that I already have. My favorite scratch cover-up is a Sharpie in the right color with a quick finger rub after. I use it on my wood floors, furniture, frames,woodwork and sometimes even on fabric when the detergent leaves a small spot!

    Reply

  31. Katie says

    “Chip-be-way-less-obvious” HA! You guys never fail to give me “laugh so hard my morning coffee comes out my nose” moments. Amazing results on the vintage media maven!

    Reply

  32. Abby says

    Ha! I love the marker trick. I use it all over my house. I chipped tile, chipped furniture, trim, etc. You name it I’ve done it and it works like a cheap charm! Way to go!

    Reply

  33. Maureen says

    Looks so pretty! I have actually been trying to clean my grandmother’s rock maple dining room set. It’s from the 1950’s, but was used until the 90’s. But the grime that has accumulated is horrendous. I have been cleaning it with Murphy’s oil soap, but I think after the cleaning, I will try those products you mentioned. It is definitely dull and dry after so many years of sitting in storage. I’m sure I am not the only one who says this, bu I really rely on you guys for good product advice because I am really lazy about researching. My husband is a great product researcher also, but when I decide I need something, I need it pronto. LOL So, I simply buy what you buy. I went out and bought the nail gun you used for the board and batten (which I wish I had when we did ours) for the all the mouldings we are planning to replace. Maybe you guys have a future with Consumer Reports? :)

    Reply

  34. Katie J says

    Just an FYI…there have been several house fires caused by people putting these boxes in drawers or stacking them on top of eachother! They get very hot!!

    Reply

  35. Allyn says

    Oh man, that is so what we’re looking for when it comes to our tv cabinet! We just need to scour our thrift shops more. Craigslist has not been our friend.

    Reply

  36. Jaclyn says

    Hey guys,
    Have you ever considered having a “question” area where first time DIY-ers can ask questions about projects you have completed? I think your posts are super elaborate and really help with the pictures but in case an extra question pops up it would be nice to ask it there! Unless…. That is, it’s okay to ask random questions here in the “comment” section exactly like what I am doing!
    Sincerely,
    Trying but nervous DIY-er :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we’d love to start forums where folks can ask questions and help each other out! We are trying to get them up sometime this year (they were part of our 2013 resolutions this year :)

      xo
      s

  38. Gwen says

    Wow, looks great!

    Just a few days ago I used Restor-a-finish and Feed-n-wax on an old dresser. That stuff is amazing!! Can not recommend it enough.

    Reply

  39. mommydale says

    I have serious dresser envy AND I am shopping for a remote for my box this weekend. I had NO idea that you could do that and I hate our cable box sitting out (but the toddler loves to bang on it!).

    On a random side note – I still feel lousy that the cross stitch I gave you in ATL was wrinkly (annoying perfectionism streak) so I was wondering if t ironed out ok (if you’ve had time). I hope so!

    Reply

  42. Cara D says

    Thanks for the link. I am planning on getting a control like that but the ones I was looking at were much more expensive! I hadn’t thought about ventilation for the media cabinet either. Mine will be attached to the wall so I may have to put some holes on the bottom or something.

    Reply

  43. Elizabeth says

    OMG love the marker tip! I have a few black/brown Ikea furniture items, and every time I get a scratch in one of them (from a cat!), I use a Sharpie to cover it up. My mom told me that tip a few years ago and it works like a charm!

    Reply

  44. Sarah says

    Love the fact that you are a “ghetto superstar” (as my husband would say) like me! I had to comment not only because I liked the changed lyrics, and the updated cabinet, but that I TOTALLY agree with you on the no radio love for that amazing song. I loved it when they did it on the voice and have been waiting for it to blow up!

    Reply

  45. Heather P. says

    Very cool tips on how to bring a wood piece to life! I’m a big fan of the IDEA of using vintage wood pieces, but was always afraid of what I’d have to do to clean them. This makes it sound a lot easier than I thought!

    Oh, and thanks for the tip on the remote – I’ll have to keep that in mind the next time I look for a new TV stand. We now have an open glass one (yeah…it’s a bit 80s looking…which is why my husband is now banned from buying furniture), and it’d be nice to get something like what you guys have to keep everything hidden away!

    Reply

  46. Kim says

    I think I need to buy one of those remote things! Think it could work on gaming consoles? I HATE seeing my boyfriend’s Xbox and PS3 and their millions of wires in my nice pretty media console. Would love to banish them to the coat closet!

    Reply

  49. Brittany D says

    Oh, thank you, Petersiks! We found a beautiful piece at ReStore (a steal at $42!) last summer and ran into the same problem with needed access to the cable box. I had almost given up hope of using the piece and was considering putting it up on Craigs List earlier this week. Your post was quite timely! Do you know if you can wire more than one device to the RF reader? Thanks again!

    Reply

    • Meleah says

      Brittany D., I know they have three eye splitters that you plug in to the wireless remote extenders. They will allow you use three remotes with the same extender. I was looking at them before we moved. They allow you to place your devices in a closet or another room, but you can still operate them with the remote. I was looking at one that looked like a flying saucer. The splitter was extra and an add on. HTH. :)

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