entertainment center

Today I have a special guest post for you... from my husband! He built us this amazing and unique tv unit for our family room and is going to tell you all about it! Here goes...
A post from Adam:_____________________________________________________________________________
The wife has been bugging me to write a little something on the newest addition to our home: our TV“Command Center” (as I like to call it). We recently hung our TV on the wall (when we noticed our existing stand bowing under the weight of the TV). After that was done, it was time to focus on the entertainment center itself.
We have had this project planned for awhile but never could find a piece that we liked. We looked at Ikea, Overstock.com, and several antique shops but never found something to fit our tastes and our components. So for Christmas I asked for a Kreg Jig and my project started to take life.
The first thing that was really important to us was hidden wires. When I was a kid, I remember hiding wires (you could call it OCD) because I hated seeing them. Hiding the TV and component wires included putting in a new receptacle and a low voltage box behind the TV (to be able to put all of our wires through the wall instead of dangling under the TV).
                     BEFORE                                                NOW HIDDEN IN THE CABINET

Before diving in, something to take into consideration when building furniture is symmetry. Our TV is fairly large, a 50” plasma, so it can really be an eye sore in a room (according to Shannon), so finding a balance between eyesore and visually appealing was my first goal. We started with a few different sketches (some more elaborate than others). 

As an engineer I like to draw things to scale, so I quickly went to my CAD program to draw it up. If you don't have a computer program, you can use a normal drafting scale (or graph paper - like Shannon did above). Drawing to scale really gives you a clear picture of the final product before ever getting out another tool. Our dimensions were very important because the shelf supports needed to fall on studs.
We had seen some really awesome pipe shelves floating around on Google images and other Blogs,but I wanted something a little more original (and tried to take that idea to the next level). We decided touse the steel pipe (black pipe) as our legs to get this project running. We also used steel pipe for theshelving components. 

Getting the right configuration of pipes required a few trips to Home Depot. 

The stand itself is made of Poplar, the “construction wood” of the cabinetry industry. Poplar is usually found to be made into drawer sides and unseen components. Shannon and I try to find the beauty in everything, and we felt we found some really nice texture and color in the wood we chose. It is coated with Winmax Poly Acrylic, which is an awesome water based coating that is easy to work with

and holds up very well.

Instead of going into extreme detail on how I made it (I think there are other blogs and “how tos” outthere that really show you how to use a kreg jig and basic construction skills), I will give some hints and tricks I found to be useful. 
[1] Draw your design out TO SCALE before you start. This will give you a pretty good idea of what you're finished project will look like.
[2] Remember to use a level for everything. Lining up your boards in a kreg jig squareand level is important. Keep your important dimensions fixed and roll with everything else. Inour case, the “fixed” dimensions were the sizes of cable box/dvd player and length between studs.
[3] I have found that most of my projects don’t turn out exactly how I plan them, but they usually come out nicely. 
[4] Always choose square lumber, not bowed or warped.   Be picky about your selections.  
[5] Remember when dealing with electronics, you need to keep them cool.  Leave enough open space for air flow.  We left the majority of the bottom open,  using just enough wood for structural support and holding components.  
[6] When it comes to using the Kreg Jig, test your connections on scrap pieces of wood first. There are many helpful videos on YouTube if you need help figuring out how to use this tool.
[7] Find a style you like and mimic it or warp it to your taste. 
[8] Take a step back every once in awhile to re-measure and rethink your project. We made changes along the way that we're really happy about.
Here are are few more final pictures. Shannon is still working on "styling" the shelves and we have plans to hang a few pieces of art in the near future. 

 

Hopefully our little project gives you some ideas to take your creation to the next level. Thanks for reading.

-Adam (The Barefoot Husband)

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I am in love :) My favorite part is the "nook" for our basket of blankets. That was my "must have" in this project. Come Spring time... that little chair to the right of the entertainment center is going to get a major overhaul. Fun fabric and a bright color maybe!? We'll see!
[p.s. this post may be linked to any number of these blogs]