Entertainment center seeks new purpose.

November 16, 2012 1:39 PM

What can I do with a massive entertainment cabinet after getting rid of the television? None of the local charities are interested (and I don't blame them). For reference, it's 6'10" tall x 8' wide x 2' deep, the doors need 18" clearance to open, the upper shelves are glass, and I hate needing to worry about the glass doors. All suggestions (kindling? cat gym? ding-dong ditch it somewhere?) on where to take it or how to repurpose it are welcome!

Sorry about the terrible picture quality.

posted by VelveteenBabbitt to home & garden (17 answers total)

Freecycle
posted by girlmightlive at 1:43 PM on November 16, 2012 [5 favorites]

Craigslist, either for free or not.
posted by brainmouse at 1:45 PM on November 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

Option A:
Call a junk removal business to haul it away for you.

Option B:
Purchase heavy-duty trash bags.
Purchase a FuBar.
You do the math.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:45 PM on November 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

Why not offer it for sale on Craigslist? The other option is to muscle it downstairs on "Big Garbage Day."

We have folks who troll the neighborhood looking for stuff on Big Garbage Day. Many's the thing that lasted only an hour on the curb.

Just because it exists, doesn't mean that it has to be reused. Sometimes old stuff really is garbage.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:46 PM on November 16, 2012

Anything (really ANYTHING) for free on Craigslist will disappear in short order.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 1:51 PM on November 16, 2012

Yeah, clist or freecycle. Be prepared for a nonzero number of unsolicited penis pix if you go the craigslist route, though.
posted by elizardbits at 1:55 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

SOMEBODY wants that thing and will pony up the cash to rent a truck and come get it. If it were me I'd put it up for like $150, wait a week, and change it to $0 if nobody bit...
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:57 PM on November 16, 2012

When we moved we had the same situation, I had replaced all the CRT tv's with flat screens before we moved into the new house. I ended up keeping the Entertainment Center, put it in the family/all purpose room at the new house, it's used as storage for 30 years of lego sets, a lot of board games, lincoln logs, a few books, and all the VCRs that we will never look at are stuck in those side doors that need all that clearance. It actually worked pretty good for storage. I did make a back for it where the big hole was in the TV center section...
posted by HuronBob at 2:08 PM on November 16, 2012

I have never found anything so strange or useless that it could not be gotten rid of by putting it on the curb with a sign saying "free" taped onto it. You could add a posting on CL or freecycle for good measure, but my experience is that putting it out there does the trick.
posted by Forktine at 2:12 PM on November 16, 2012

I had a big entertainment unit that I needed to dispatch before I moved. Put it up on CL for free, and it disappeared in about an hour.
posted by thomas j wise at 2:39 PM on November 16, 2012

Agree with putting it on the curb. The best way to do this is put it on the curb, take a picture of it on the curb, then post it as a curb alert on Facebook. It will be gone in record time.
posted by raisingsand at 2:40 PM on November 16, 2012

Humidor!
posted by Sunburnt at 3:16 PM on November 16, 2012

Because it's just particle board inside, it'll end up in landfill eventually, so if none of the above work out and you have a car, consider just hauling it's ass to the dump. I live in a big city and thought it would be a hassle to go to the dump. I found out this summer that it's one of my favourite errands.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:46 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Bar.
posted by notyou at 7:35 PM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Aquarium!
posted by Ignorance at 7:37 PM on November 16, 2012

That's just begging to be turned into an indoor finch aviary.
Kinda wish I was in a place, physically, financialy, and animal-husbandry-wise, to snatch that up now.
posted by DisreputableDog at 11:22 PM on November 16, 2012

If you're at all crafty and know a little kid who'd be interested, old entertainment centres make amazing play kitchens.
posted by 0127661 at 12:16 AM on November 17, 2012