Done!

From this...

To this.

We finished our new TV cabinet. And we love it. It fits in the room so much better than the big armoire we had in this spot. We are having a bit of trouble believing that we built it from scratch, but I've got photos to prove that we did. Hidden behind the door on the left is the woofer for our speaker system. I designed this so that it would hold the woofer in the cabinet. One less speaker out on the floor. But in case we eventually decide to have a system installed in the ceiling, we put in peg holes in both cabinet door spaces. All of the shelves are adjustable. I wanted this piece to be as flexible as possible.

Not bad for a few weekends of work and a bit of lumber and trim. Now I think I'm going to go watch a movie. And mull over the next project.

Making Progress

It's past time for an update on our latest building project: the new TV/media stand. We are very close to finishing the major construction work and starting to paint. It's been a fair amount of fun to see it come together. And I'm still hopeful that the final cost will come in close to or just over $200. Of course, it helps that we've got paint already. Thankfully, I was able to layout a cutting plan for the main pieces that allowed us to get the most out of a single 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" MDF. And it also helped our work schedule that Lowes cut the 4'x8' sheet into 5 18" x 4' tall strips. That left us with only having to do the shorter cuts with our electric saw.

I did do a lot of the cuts with a very fine saw and our little miter box. All of the molding and the pieces for the  the two door frames were cut by hand. I felt I had more control and precision that way. Here's my daughter Emily helping out cutting a door frame. Unfortunately, that was one of the short pieces that I measured wrong, so her effort was for naught.

On the bright side, she still has the skills she learned building robots in high school.

There's been several challenges in this project. Figuring out how to evenly space and drill the holes in the sides for the adjustable shelves was one. I found a plan online for a jig, but it was a failure. What did work beautifully was Larry's idea of using a scrap from the pegboard we had in the garage. Another challenge was applying the molding. I originally thought we'd attach it using the brad nailer that is powered by our air compressor. But I decided against that because after testing it on a couple of sample bits, I decided that I didn't want to risk ruining the molding by a brad not going in all the way. So, Ms. Control Freak grabbed finish nails and attached it the old fashioned way with a hammer. I did luck out in how well the mitered corners came together and I discovered a new use for painter's tape. Holding the molding in place while I attached it.

So what does it look like now? Like this:

I'm very pleased as is Larry. Next up is to do a finish sand (need to sand over where I filled various holes and dings with wood putty), then move on to priming it. Then we'll do the finishing touches like finishing and attaching the cabinet doors and attaching the back. I am planning on painting it white, but am thinking of painting the interior of the center section (where we'll have two shelves for the various electronics attached to the TV) a pale aqua blue. The cabinet doors will get white tulle curtains instead of glass or a solid filler mainly because I want to put the woofer for the stereo in one of the cabinets and I don't want to have to open the door every time we turn on the stereo.

For now, we're on hold as the temperature outside has dropped below freezing and I refuse to bring it into the house to paint. Sometime this weekend it will warm up during the day and I'll be able to paint in the garage. It may not be done by the Super Bowl, but we'll definitely have it finished by our next Sunday Supper in February.

Here We Go Again...

Evidently it's time for Larry and me to embark on another building project. I thought I would be working on loom as my next major project here at the house, but there's been a change of plans.

A month or so ago, I mentioned to Larry that I was thinking about getting rid of the 'armoire'/entertainment cabinet in the den. This particular piece of furniture is approximately 40" wide, 20" deep and about 7' tall. For a while I've been thinking about what to do with it or about it as it's just a little overpowering in its current location. Plus, I knew that sooner or later Larry would be wanting a larger TV set. Not to mention that from my favorite chair, I can't see about 2 inches or more of the screen due to the way the doors on this piece are designed.

Originally I had thought about finding an old buffet or similar piece that we could repurpose as a TV/media stand. But after spending some time antiquing this weekend and not finding anything that would work, I began to think about designing something that would work for our equipment. The sense of urgency on getting something in place was due to Larry deciding that it was time to go for a bigger set. He found a really good price on one and ending up buying it on Saturday. So, we spent a good part of yesterday afternoon looking online for anything that would fit my aesthetic requirements. Nothing did. So, I sat down with pencil and graph paper and came up with this:

It's a take on a buffet, but it's designed to fit our equipment. The unit measures 52" wide, by 20" deep and 38" high. The box measures 26" high. In the center it has adjustable open shelves that measure 20"wide, and then 2 12" wide doors on either side. The doors will be open frames with curtains of gathered tulle inserted in the openings. It will be trimmed out with molding along the edge of the table top and on the bottom (shown). I plan on painting it white with the center shelving part painted a pale aqua, which will give the den an additional spot of color.

We went out this afternoon and bought the materials. I have done the measurements for the box, so hopefully Larry will be able to make those cuts tomorrow and we'll get the basic box together. We're hoping that we can be ready for me to start painting next weekend.