Introduction
In March of 2012, one of my neighbors approached me about
building an entertainment center as a surprise gift for her husband’s birthday. She
had seen our entertainment center and wanted one built with a similar look.
They had a niche in their basement family room and she wanted a custom
entertainment center to fit the exact dimensions. It was a unique size and
required close planning. The tricky part of it was that she wanted it to look
almost built-in, but have the flexibility of moving it in the future if they
were to move. She also wanted the space for the TV to be as big as possible.
We put together several design options and presented them to
her. She wanted a lot of similarities to our entertainment center, but with
some notable differences such as a shelf in the center top cubby, beadboard in the back center, drawers in the middle and doors on the outside, a different color and different hardware. We went to work pricing the materials and
taking the lessons learned from our entertainment center and applying them to
this project. Since we had a lot of the tools we didn't have during the build
of our entertainment center, the project went extremely smooth. It was a lot of
fun building the project and knowing our friends have a perfect entertainment
center for their taste and space.
Estimated Material Cost
$440*
*Depends on the grade of wood you buy. #2 and better
whitewood (AKA pipe) is cheapest, then select pine, then poplar. (I would
recommend select pine or poplar for the face frame pieces and maybe the drawer
and door fronts—these are highly visible and take a little bit of abuse.)
Dimensions
The overall dimensions of the project were 45 3/4 inches wide by 77 3/8 inches tall by 19 1/4 inches deep. These
dimensions could be easily modified to fit your individual space.
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| Entertainment Center Front Dimensions |
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| Perspective Full Dimensions |
Tools
- Table saw
- Miter saw
- Jig saw
- Orbital sander
- Pneumatic nail guns
- Air compressor
- Circular saw
- Drill with bits
- Kreg Jig*
*Recommended, but you could join the face frame through
other methods (nailed the face frame directly to the box)
Lumber and Material
- ¾” x 4’ x 8’ birch plywood sheets for complete structure (3) @ $45 = $135
- 1” x 2” x 8’ select pine for face frame (5) @ $4 = $20
- 1” x 6” x 8’ select pine for bottom piece and arches (1) @ $15 = $15
- (1) 8’ piece of crown molding @ $12 = $12
- (1) 8’ piece of 3 ¼” base board @ $12 = $12
- (3) Drawer slides @ $6 each = $18
- (2) Door fronts ¾” x 9” wide x 26” tall (1” x 10” x 8’ select pine) @ $25 = $25
- (3) Drawer fronts ¾” x 9” tall x 24” wide (1 x 10 x 4 select pine w/ left over from door fronts) @ $12 = $12
- (1) Beadboard 4’ x 8’ @ $20 = $20
- Drawers (1) 1/2” x 4’ x 8’ MDF sheet @ $28 = $28 (if needed – maybe use left over plywood)
- (4) Hinges @ $2 - $4 each = $16
- (8) door/drawer pulls @ $3 - $4 each = $32
- Consumables (wood filler, screws, nails, glue, adhesive, sandpaper, saw blades, etc.) = $20
- Primer, paint, glaze, paint brushes, etc. = $40
Subtotal = $405
Tax @ 6.85% = $28
Estimated Total = $433
Cut List
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| Box Cut List |
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| Face Frame Cut List |
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| Doors and Drawers Cut List |
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| Crown and Base Board Cut List |
Instructions
Step 1
1.
Assemble the case
Below are the pictures and the dimensions for the
entertainment center. We used birch veneer plywood for the 18” deep pieces.
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| Entertainment Center Box Dimensions |
For the shelf pieces, we used birch plywood with a pine trim
piece at the front. We cut the beadboard back from a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of beadboard at 44 3/4 inches wide by 75 3/4 inches tall, but we didn't install it
at the time because we wanted to paint it before it was assembled. This allowed
us to get in the nooks and crannies and saved us some major headache.
I screwed pocket holes for the bottom, top and vertical partitions outside of view (below it, above it, or where the drawers are).
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| Entertainment Center Box |
I used 2” or 2 ½” 16 gauge finish nails to assemble the
pieces. I drew a guide line at the bottom of each piece with a building square
or speed square to make sure I was installing the pieces completely level
(perpendicular to the sides). I also put a cleat piece on the bottom to
strengthen the whole assembly (I put cleat pieces at the top for this project, but it isn't necessary and I don't show it in the Google Sketchup Images.).
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| Guide Line For Interior Pieces |
2.
Build the face frame
I used a Kreg Jig system to join the face frame pieces
together. I measured the length of the box and cut the stiles and rails to the
dimensions required.
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| Face Frame Dimensions |
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| I Used a Kreg Jig to Create Pocket Holes for the Face Frame |
3.
Paint the box and beadboard
At this point, it is a good idea to paint the box and
beadboard back. I put on the face frames before I painted the boxes, but
looking back it may have been easier to paint them separate and then assemble the face
frames and back. We used water-based paint and a gravity-feed paint sprayer.
I didn't paint the areas where there are drawers because
they are not visible.
4.
Nail on the face frames and backing
I used a 16 gauge finish nail gun with 2 inch to 2 1/2inch nails to attach the face frame
to the box. It is a good idea to make sure the box is square when you nail on the face frames and backing. You can check this by measuring diagonally from corner to corner or placing the pieces on a perfectly level surface and checking the plumb and level with a level. The face frame and the beadboard should be square, so they can be used as your guide. The face frame and beadboard backing create the lateral strength for the furniture and can be adjusted at this point with a little pressure during the assembly. |
| Nailing the Face Frame to the Box |
For the beadboard back, I used a pneumatic stapler. You could also use a liquid nail type adhesive to glue the backing on, but it would still need a few nails to hold it in place while it dries.
5.
Build the drawers
I installed the
slides at the bottom end of the face frame and made sure it was flush with the
front. I added a few filler pieces in the back to fill in the gap between the
slides and the vertical wood pieces. I attached the slide pieces to the bottom
of the drawer and made sure they fit. After the drawers were all in, I cut the
drawer fronts and doors. |
| Example of Drawer Slide (From Another Project) |
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| Drawer Dimensions |
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6. Cut the doors and drawer fronts
The measurements for the drawer fronts and doors was based on an overlap of about 1/2 inch at each edge. We also bought the hinges so I could mount the hinges to the box and hold up the doors to make sure they lined up perfectly. The size of the doors may vary slightly depending on the layout of the hinges, so make sure you purchase your hinges before you cut the doors.
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| Doors and Drawer Front Dimensions |
After I cut all the doors and drawer fronts, I routered the
edges with a roundover bit (either a ¼” or 3/8”). The bit was raised enough to
give it the round and then edge profile.
7.
Touch up
We went back over it
with paint to touch everything up. We also touched it up again after it was
installed in the niche (after moving it into place…now that is a whole other
story).
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| Entertainment Center in Place |
8.
Final assembly and decorations
Great project. Thanks for sharing! What software did you use to create your diagrams?
ReplyDeleteGoogle Sketchup.
Deletecool cupboard under the TV. but I prefer that the TV is not standing and hanging bracket
ReplyDelete