Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

  • Shop Our Houses
    • Our Current House
    • Our Richmond House
    • Our Beach House
    • Our Duplex
  • Before & Afters
    • Our Current House
    • Our Previous House
    • Our Beach House
    • Our Duplex
    • Our First House
    • Our Second House
    • Our Showhouse
  • DIY & Decorating Tips
    • Most Popular
    • Home Improvement
    • Painting
    • Cleaning & Organizing
    • Crafting & Art
    • More . . .
  • Painting Projects
  • Plants Guides
  • Shop
    • Our Fav Home Finds
    • Our Lighting Line
    • Our Books
    • Book Club Picks
    • Black-Owned Businesses

Young House Love » Reader Redesigns » Frosting The Glass Doors Of A Media Cabinet

| By Sherry Petersik | January 19, 2010 | 50 Comments

Frosting The Glass Doors Of A Media Cabinet

When Courtney sent over her awesome entertainment center transformation we just had to share the goods. Here’s her letter:

YHL always inspires me because you find ways to tweak or repurpose the resources that you have rather than blow the budget on something expensive. I’m not a fan of clutter and have tried multiple ways to hide the shame that is the DVD collection in my entertainment center (I’ve covered the glass doors with wrapping paper, but this required opening the doors to use the remotes for the cable box and DVD players). Then I came across these cut-outs at Michael’s that are used for scrap-booking and thought they would make great stencils. Down came the wrapping paper and up went the stencils (I used 3M General Purpose 45 Spray Adhesive to hold them in place) so I could frost the glass to hide the mess but still allow for remote controls access. I protected the wood frame of the door by placing plastic bags around the perimeter and just sprayed Rust-O-Leum Specialty Frosted Glass spray in a semi-transparent finish (about two coats while still wet). Ten minutes later it was dry and ready to use (see more details over on my blog). Thanks so much for your dedication to YHL and to your followers; it makes my day to see what you two accomplish and it inspires me to do the same in my own rental! – Courtney

Here’s one side of her entertainment center before the big transformation (see the door on the right?). The left door has the stencil stuck in place but has yet to be sprayed…

Frosted DD1

… and here’s everything after the frosting spray was applied and the stencils were removed. Pretty darn amazing, eh?

Frosted DD2

Wasn’t that functional and beautiful solution a stroke of genius on her part? Thanks so much for sending the photos our way Courtney. We love that the remotes still work through the newly frosted doors and it all looks so chic and high end. The entire piece is elevated by this crafty little solution. What do you guys think? Didn’t she use that frosting spray like a champ? Anyone else out there interested in frosting their entertainment center doors after seeing this stunning transformation?

Psst- Speaking of frosting things, check out this step-by-step tutorial on how we frosted the windows in our very own basement.

More posts from Young House Love

Filed Under: Reader Redesigns

Our Bathroom Makeover – A Full Reno For Under 2K!
How To Make Vintage Looking Wall Signs With Wood & Paper

Comments

  1. lauren says

    January 19, 2010 at 2:04 pm

    I would have never thought to frost the glass doors- great choice! Also, I just want to say that I love, love, love those colored coded books on the surrounding shelves. All my bookshelves are colorcoded so I always notice when other people do this to theirs as well :)

    Reply
  2. Amy says

    January 19, 2010 at 2:21 pm

    I love it! We have the same issue with our tv/media cabinet. I might have to steal this idea for it- it’s brilliant!

    Reply
  3. Erin says

    January 19, 2010 at 2:25 pm

    Genius! I love seeing how creative people can be – it challenges me to be more creative myself!

    Reply
  4. Tricia says

    January 19, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    Looks nice… I also think it looks tidier to put DVD’s in baskets sized just right for them, like I do. I also recently went thru mine and donated a bunch of unwatched ones to the public library.

    Reply
  5. court. says

    January 19, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    J&S,

    Thanks for posting my project! I’m glad to hear that at least someone appreciates my neurotic color-coding of my bookshelves (Thanks, Lauren!!). Maybe we should start a support group!

    Reply
  6. Carol N. says

    January 19, 2010 at 2:45 pm

    Love this idea! Hmmm, that is giving me some wonderful ideas for a couple of glass doors that I have where the insides are not a pretty and ordered as I’d like. Thanks, Courtney and Youngsters!

    Reply
  7. rachel says

    January 19, 2010 at 2:52 pm

    neat concept, but it’s not great to leave the doors shut when the DVD player et. al. are turned on. they can overheat, which shortens their lifespan. it’s ugly, but it would be best for your appliances to open the doors when they’re in use (which would remove your remote problem).

    Reply
  8. Katherine says

    January 19, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    These look great! We are getting ready to frost the doors on our Billy bookcases from Ikea (we added 3 of them in our alcove in our kitchen and pretty much tripled our storage space!). I would love to do a pattern like Courtney’s done, but I don’t think the scrapbook patters will work for big doors like these. What else could we use?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      January 19, 2010 at 3:00 pm

      Katherine- Any stencils will do, even something that you DIY. You could try to use blue painters tape (or green frog tape) to create a pattern on the doors to your bookcases or even cut stencils out of things like cardboard or acetate from a craft store. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  9. Stacy says

    January 19, 2010 at 3:01 pm

    I was thinking of something like this for french doors. Well I actually just have one going out to my back covered patio that the 2-story house behind me “could” see in.
    Has anyone done this?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      January 19, 2010 at 3:02 pm

      Hey Stacy,

      A while back we saw some awesome lace-like window film that was applied to french closet doors to obscure them. Perhaps you can look around online and in craft stores for patterned window film to achieve the same effect?

      xo,
      s

  10. Letty says

    January 19, 2010 at 3:09 pm

    That is so freakin’ smart!! Things that make ya say hmmmmmm (shout out to Arsenio).

    Reply
  11. Jill Stigs says

    January 19, 2010 at 3:21 pm

    Great job Courtney! Looks great.

    Reply
  12. Jenna says

    January 19, 2010 at 3:29 pm

    Whoa! That is FAB!!

    Reply
  13. K. says

    January 19, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    love it! way to be creative…

    Reply
  14. lori lust says

    January 19, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    very nice, i like how easy it was to do that frosted glass look..I’m going to look into this for my closet mirrors thanks

    Reply
  15. kami says

    January 19, 2010 at 3:37 pm

    did you do this on the inside or the outside? i’m guessing inside, but i couldn’t tell. also, does the adhesive just wash off?

    it’s adorable! i’m copying!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      January 19, 2010 at 3:41 pm

      Hey everyone,

      We’re so glad you’re digging Courtney’s smart little frosting project! Don’t forget to head over to her blog for more details and the answers to your questions! Courtney has already dropped in to see what everyone is saying over here, but if you have any additional questions (that you can’t find the answer to over on her blog) we’re hoping that she’ll stop in again with that info for ya. Stay tuned…

      xo,
      s

  16. Tori says

    January 19, 2010 at 3:42 pm

    This is awesome! I actually need to frost the window next to my front door (partially because I think it’s more functional than window coverings, and partially because I’m too lazy to go looking for window coverings), but it never occurred to me to do a cute, funky pattern! I think I have a new item for my home’s to-do list : )

    Reply
  17. Teresa says

    January 19, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    lovely solution…really like the pattern that you chose. nicely done.

    Reply
  18. Kayt says

    January 19, 2010 at 4:12 pm

    First of all, that’s an awesome project. She did a great job!

    Second of all, that’s my exact entertainment center, from a local store in Colorado. Creeepy. We should so switch, hers is much nicer than mine.

    Reply
  19. lana says

    January 19, 2010 at 4:28 pm

    what a neat idea! love the stencil for the frosting!

    lana
    http://www.joeyandlana.com

    Reply
  20. Melissa says

    January 19, 2010 at 5:34 pm

    wow, I love it!

    Reply
  21. Amanda in Boston says

    January 19, 2010 at 5:35 pm

    Wow, this looks so good! Makes me want to run out and buy something with glass doors just to do this. I am thinking that those stencils and spray paint could also be used on a piece of canvas to make a cheap DIY print!

    Reply
  22. Anna See says

    January 19, 2010 at 5:37 pm

    This looks great! I never would have thought of that. Love the stencil design she picked.

    Reply
  23. Barbara says

    January 19, 2010 at 5:41 pm

    I never have any luck finding that frosting spray. Ever. Any time I’ve gone looking for it – not there. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      January 19, 2010 at 5:47 pm

      What about craft stores like Michael’s or Ben Franklin? You might also want to try places like Home Depot and Lowe’s as well. Happy hunting…

      xo,
      s

  24. theclassywoman says

    January 19, 2010 at 6:56 pm

    I love the new look of the entertainment cabinet!! I am in love with that moroccan pattern. I have used it as framed art in our home and love the idea of using it with the frosted glass.

    Now I’m going to have to stop into Michael’s to see if I can find that scrapbook cardstock pattern. I would love to use it on a mirror I have. :)

    Reply
  25. Laura@PARING DOWN says

    January 19, 2010 at 6:56 pm

    Hobby Lobby has some great patterned stencils in harlequin diamonds, bamboo, fleur de li, etc. These are large pieces and priced about $17. They’re in the aisle with the more traditional stencils and paints. That’s the same aisle as the spray paints, which includes frosting spray.

    I’ve also purchased frosting spray at Home Depot no problem.

    I’m really interested in this project because of my huge, ugly, bathroom shower window. It’s not opaque enough but it’s a huge eyesore!!!

    Beautiful project!

    Reply
  26. Handy Man, Crafty Woman says

    January 19, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    We are going to install some glass doors on some cabinets soon, I may frost them. Nice idea.

    Reply
  27. katrina says

    January 19, 2010 at 7:02 pm

    This is a great idea! I hate looking at movies and messy stuff in our tv stand — this might be a great solution for my house

    Reply
  28. r8chel says

    January 19, 2010 at 7:03 pm

    What a creative idea! It makes the entertainment center look much more classy.

    Reply
  29. Christine says

    January 19, 2010 at 7:10 pm

    Um yeah! I love this idea! I too have a massive collection of DVDs and entertainments equipment (I’ll blame my boyfriend here). He likes to ‘see’ everything and I hate the clutter. This inspired me so much- I love the pattern too.

    Reply
  30. Babs says

    January 19, 2010 at 7:53 pm

    That makes me wish I had furniture with glass doors in my house!

    Reply
  31. Miki says

    January 19, 2010 at 8:49 pm

    Such an easy solution. Love it!

    Reply
  32. court. says

    January 19, 2010 at 9:40 pm

    Hello, Hello!

    I’m so happy to see that my project has started an avalanche of questions and has inspired bigger projects!! Sliding glass doors?? Amazing. Hop over to my blog and I’ll give the details.

    Oh, and here’s a thought. Why not use a few yards of LACE and spray over those for bigger projects. That would look ridic!!

    Reply
    • Cindy says

      June 12, 2013 at 6:14 pm

      This really does look nice. I just did a window in frosting spray. How do you clean the window without wiping off the frost?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      June 12, 2013 at 10:01 pm

      Anyone know? We have only used frosting film and not frosting spray.

      xo
      s

  33. Dana says

    January 19, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    What a wonderful idea that looks much more expensive than it actually was! Budget and functional constraints make for unique solutions… this is one of them! Yay!

    Reply
  34. Jamie says

    January 19, 2010 at 10:53 pm

    Clever!

    Reply
  35. Laura says

    January 19, 2010 at 11:24 pm

    As usual it is amazing! You guys do such a great job. I have seen that tile at Lowes, and it looks great!

    Good luck on the bean, my dd is 16 going on 17, birthday 5/18!

    Getting ready to drive, yikes!

    Toodles,

    Laura

    Reply
  36. Angel Cutsforth says

    January 20, 2010 at 12:56 am

    Such a great idea! I really like how innovative and inexpensive it is!

    Reply
  37. Cristina says

    January 20, 2010 at 3:14 am

    Great great great great great great job!!

    Cristina

    Reply
  38. Erin @Cultivating Home says

    January 20, 2010 at 8:33 am

    I think the frosting looks great. Good work! You can make your own stencils using clear contact paper. Place it on your surface and cut out your design, removing unwanted pieces. Cover it in etching cream, let set, wash off, and remove remaining paper. Very easy to do (Martha Stewart has some good posts on this as well).

    Reply
  39. Christin says

    January 20, 2010 at 9:10 am

    This looks fantastic! I’ve done the frosted glass thing before – but never with a stencil. Very creative and inspiring! It gives the entertainment center a totally new look!

    Reply
  40. Brittany says

    January 20, 2010 at 9:49 am

    The frosted glass definitely adds an extra touch of class. Another technique I’ve seen (on Trading Spaces maybe?) is to replace the door inserts with metal mesh. Not only does it allow for the use of remote controls, but it also improves airflow around electronics, and it comes in a variety of finishes (like copper! patina = YUM) I had my doubts about frosting spray, but now I’m itching to stencil my bedroom windows for some privacy.

    Reply
  41. court. says

    January 20, 2010 at 12:28 pm

    Hey, guys, I’ve posted more detail on the frosting project here:

    http://bigbeigebox.blogspot.com/2010/01/frosting-your-questions-answered.html

    Reply
  42. Fran says

    January 20, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    Way to go Courtney! That looks fab!

    Reply
  43. Alisha says

    January 21, 2010 at 1:26 am

    I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

    Alisha

    http://sketchingdrawing.com

    Reply
  44. Kristin says

    January 21, 2010 at 11:47 am

    Great idea!!! And I LOVE how you have your books are organized by color.

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

John and Sherry Sitting On Woven ChairHey, we’re John & Sherry. We’ve fixed up 7 homes, written books, designed products, started a podcast, and then downsized & moved to the beach! Here you’ll find over 3,000 DIY projects & home updates. More about us…
*This site contains ads and affiliate links*
See our disclaimer & privacy policy to learn more

Latest Finds

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

SHOP OUR LIGHTING

Young House Love Shades Of Light Capiz Chandelier

GET POSTS BY EMAIL

We’re Digging

Traditional Rug
The “Magic” Rug
Smokeless Solo Stove Firepit
Smokeless Firepit
Outdoor Solar LED Path Lights
Solar Path Lights
Criss Cross Office Chair
Our Desk Chair
Blue Air 211 Air Purifier
Our Air Purifiers
Eufy 11S Max Robot Vacuum
Our Robot Vacuum
Kohler Memoirs Toilet
Our Favorite Toilet
Livable Luxe Book
Fav Design Book
SEE MORE OF OUR FAVORITE FINDS > >

  • About
  • FAQs
  • Press
  • Contact
  • :)

© 2025 Young House Love ® · Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · A Fun Wordpress theme on Genesis Framework · Hosted by Liquid Web