Upcycle a CD Tower Into a Rustic Farmhouse Cabinet
YES!!! I finally did it. For months now I’ve been planning to upcycle an old CD tower into a rustic farmhouse cabinet for our little house by the sea but for some reason I just never got around to it. Until this weekend 😀 And I could kick myself for putting it off for so long. She turned out way better than I imagined. Can you see me doing the happy dance?
She’s so perfect for showcasing all those special little bits and pieces that are normally tucked away in a cupboard. Like this beautiful Lord of the Rings wine goblet. I mean seriously, that shouldn’t be hidden away somewhere, amiright?
And best of all the rustic farmhouse cabinet only took me a day to put together. If you’d like to make something similar, here’s how I did it.
How to Turn a CD Tower into a Rustic Farmhouse Cabinet
CD towers are super easy to find in thrift stores and they’re really inexpensive too. It seems no one uses them anymore. We’ve had this one for years, and besides the layers of dust she was still in pretty good shape.
I measured the length and width of the CD tower and asked our local framing shop to make two frames that would fit neatly on the front of the tower. If you’re not lazy scared like me you can always make your own frame. Confession time; I have this thing with angles. They frighten me and I normally get them all wrong. So I thought it best to get an expert to do it for me.
Okay let’s get on with that upcycle shall we. After wiping the CD tower down with a wet rag and a little bit of rubbing alcohol, she was ready for a coat of paint.
While the paint was drying, I could start turning those frames into some doors.
Making Doors for the CD Tower
To create the rustic farmhouse look I decided to use chicken wire. Since the doors are actually “frames”, there’s nothing stopping you from using glass if you prefer. We just had a whole bunch of chicken wire left over from some of our other projects. I used a staple gun to attach the chicken wire to the back of the frames.
Because the frames and the edges of the CD tower are really slim, the hinges needed to be quite narrow and strong enough to support the door. Piano hinges are your best bet for something like that. They come in different lengths and thicknesses so just make sure you get the right one. I used two for each door. One towards the top and another for the bottom. Hinges should always be mounted at least an inch from the bottom and top edge of the frame to prevent the wood from splitting.
When positioning the hinges just make sure that the center-part of the hinge is placed on the outer edge of the frame. Mark where you want you hinges to go and drill a small pilot hole before screwing them on. The pilot hole also helps prevent the frames from splitting.
For the door handles I found these cute little crystal knobs. The bottom bits were silver and that didn’t really work for me. But as they say in the classics there’s nothing a little bit of paint can’t fix 😉
To attach the door knobs simply drill a hole into the frame and screw them on, making sure they’re line up nicely.
And that’s it. The doors are ready to be hung on the CD tower.
Hanging the Rustic Farmhouse Doors
Crunch time, well for me anyway. I’ve never hung a door before, and since there are two on the rustic farmhouse cabinet, I had to make very sure that they lined up perfectly. I must have measured at least five times, okay maybe seven 😉 to double and triple check. Once again I marked where to drill some pilot holes before screwing the hinges onto the sides of the CD Tower.
Fortunately all that measuring paid off 😀
All that’s left to do is install a magnetic catch and add some shelves.
Adding the Magnetic Catch
A magnetic catch helps keep the doors closed and comes in two parts. A magnetic base, which is screwed into the cabinet and a striker plate that gets screwed to the inside of the door.
To install that catch place the magnetic base on the top or bottom of the cabinet making sure you align the front of the base with the edge of the cabinet. Mark where to screws will go, remove the base and drilling two pilot holes. Use a screwdriver to screw the magnetic base to the cabinet. Place the striker plate on the magnetic base and close the doors. Since our doors have chicken wire, it was really easy for me to see where to drill a hole for the striker plate. If you decide to use glass instead of chicken wire, I would suggest you add the magnetic catch before you insert the glass into the frames. That way you won’t struggle to figure out where to put the striker plate. Ask me how I know 😉
Now for those shelves. I had two options. Make the shelves out of scraps of wood or do it the easy way. Once again I took the easy way out. I just repurposed some CD covers to make the shelves 😉
Repurposing CD Covers As Shelves
We have a whole bunch of CD covers that are empty for some strange reason. Does that happen in your house too?
Anyhows, if you use the top bit of the CD cover and break the little end bits off, it’s the perfect size for a shelf inside the tower. Just give them a quick coat of spray paint and wait for them to dry. Sooooo much easier that cutting up bits of wood to fit.
The best thing about the shelves is you can adjust them up or down to fit those special things and add as many as you want. Pretty cool right?
See why I’m doing a happy dance? It was just so easy and the only time I stressed a little was making sure those hinges were perfectly aligned.
And the chicken wire inside the frame really does make it look all rustic and farmhouse-ish.
What do you think? Does it work for you?
If you like the idea or want to make something similar, don’t forget to pin it for later.
Oh before I forget, if you’d like to make something similar or prefer to buy rather than DIY, we’ve got you covered Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us come up with more unique DIY and craft ideas for you 😉
Until next time, wishing you a beautiful and craft filled week.
I think I see a new spice rack for me . . Love it …
Thanks so much Suzie. It would make a brilliant spice rack. Have fun with your repurpose ?
I think it would be ideal to store all my small herb and spice bottles and look good sitting on the counter top.
It would look lovely on a counter top Christine and you’ll be able add a whole bunch of spice bottles inside. It’s surprisingly roomy
Fantastic upcycle Michelle! It looks wonderful l!
Thank you so very much Keri 😀
Michelle, this is brilliant and so, so adorable. Farmhouse is so big right now, and I have to admit – I totally love it. Using the CD cases as shelves is genius, and I love the treasures that you have chosen to display. It is absolutely perfect.
? Awwww Amy thanks so much for that.
I love, love, love this!!!! I just recently moved to a new place and there is this HUGE island in the middle of my kitchen. I love all of the space but I also need some things to jazz it up since it connects to the living room. This would be perfect!!
Thanks so much Tina, I’m so happy you like it. We’re still in two minds about whether we should keep it in the kitchen or put it in our bathroom. Oh well maybe I must just make another one ?
Super imaginative idea! Love how you thought to have the frames made! Thanks for hosting Sweet Inspiration!
Thanks so much Julie, getting someone who knows how to make the perfect frame helped a lot.
Amazing upcycle! Love the white, the chicken wire and of course those knobs! Great taste! Great job, Michelle!
Thanks so much Mel ?
You are such an inspiration, I love what you did to this cabinet. The size of this cabinet would be perfect for over the toilet. Pinning, and thank you.
You’re so right Leanna. We still haven’t decided if we’re going to keep the little cupboard in the kitchen or put her in the bathroom. She’s just the right size to store candles and bath luxuries too ?
Not only does it work, but it looks farmhouse fabulous! I think the trickiest part is getting the hinges right. Not only do I love the outside with those pretty knobs, but the inside is also full of so many great treasures. I think using the actual covers to make the shelving was very clever too!
Awwww Mary, thank you. I’m really happy with how it turned out and how easy it was to do too. If I’d know I would have done it a long time ago instead of letting that poor CD tower gather so much dust ?
Now this is my kind of DIY! You are truly creative, I would never of thought to do something like this, great for decoration in the home or even as a gift.
? Thanks so much.
Come on!!! This is magic!!!! Simply my friend you are the BEST!!!
Thank you so very much Christina ?
I love projects like this! And such a great tutorial too! I’d really love to try something like this in the future.
Thanks so much Christine, hope you do get to try it one day soon
Great project and well done tutorial! Thank you.
You’re most welcome Kathy ?
Oh this is so clever! Will definitely keep my eyes open for one of these towers. Off to catch up on all your other fabulous posts now xxx
Glad you like it Sarah, thank you
It looks wonderful. Much better now than what it was intended for. I like the idea of having the frame shop cut the angles. I am not good at figuring stuff out like that either. Pinned
Thanks so much Debra ? Angles and me are just not meant for each other. I can calculate them without a problem but it’s the cutting that I always seem to get wrong.
This is so so cute! I see CD towers all the time and garage sales. I may have to pick on up now! Wonder if you could fit a bottle of wine in there.. 🙂
You bet you can fit a wine bottle in there and 8 toilet rolls on each side too ?
Very clever Michelle! I do see these around some. Not as much as I used too though. I guess because people come up with these clever ways to repurpose them. ?
Love how you made the doors, perfect for showing off things like your Lord of the Rings wine goblet.
I would of taken the hard way and cut the wood shelves not even thinking of reusing old CD cases. Da!
Those doors were a breeze. Thank goodness I didn’t have to try make them from scratch. One day I’m going to get my angles right ? In the meantime I’m just going to leave it to the real experts with fancy machines that do it. Thanks so much Linda, I really do appreciate you popping around and coming to say hi
I’m impressed. Definitely thought CD towers were strickly to the curb but your cabinet came out great–love the use of chicken wire!
You’re so right Anne, most of them do end up on the curb and nothing says farmhouse quite like a little bit of chicken wire ?
What a great idea! I had a CD tower many years ago too, but I think we gave it away when we moved. Anyway, it was far from being as cute as yours! Your new cupboard looks practical and so so lovely!! ♥♥
Thanks so much Nati ? Everyone seems to be giving them away, the thrift stores are full of them in all shapes and sizes
Wow, very crafty. I wish i hadn’t thrown my towers out. I’m pinning this to my DIY board in pinterest
Thanks so much for the pin Prabashi, I’m glad you like it
What a fab project! You are very very creative. I would’ve never thought of that
Thanks so much Erica, this one was a whole lot of fun to do
This is genius, and turned out so beautifully! I would have never thought of using the CD cover for the shelf either.
Using the old CD’s just seemed so appropriate and they’re surprisingly strong too ?
Michelle!! This is such a wonderful transformation!! Love it!! Thanks so much for stopping by and for taking the time to comment!!
Hugs,
Debbie
Hey there Debbie, really appreciate that and I love popping around to your blog to see what you and the family have been up to. Hopefully it’s cooled down a little on your side of the world ?
Oh wow, what a great idea. loving this. you are so creative. At first, you would never know that it was from a CD tower.
So glad you like it Preet, thank you very much
Great idea and totally doable! A perfect weekend project. I love the adjustable shelves, too. So many different ways to set this up!
Those adjustable shelves are the best ?
Love this Michelle!! You would never guess this was a CD tower before, it looks so darn cute too. And I love how easy this was! I could actually see myself making one too!!!
? Thank so much Katrin. You would most definitely be able to make one of these
Oh wow. I remember those CD towers from teenage. I havent seen them around in ages. What a fabulous idea to recycle them. But your ideas don’t surprise me you know, you continue to out do yourself with each project.
❥ tanvii.com
Thanks so much Tanvi. I think this one probably dates back to when I was a teenager too. Oh wait, there weren’t CD’s back then ?