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Thursday, October 16, 2014

DIY TV Built In / Wall Unit

This is my DIY Built In / Wall Unit made for 60" TV.  I used three in stock brown maple Home Depot upper kitchen cabinets (30" wide x 18" high x 12" deep), plywood, bead board, 1x2 & 1x3 boards and some decorative moulding!  The cabinets required three coats of primer and five coats of paint. I used Olympic Interior Latex paint in Satin finish.  The color is "Crumb Cookie".

Starting Out:  You have to have an idea of size, style and color.  I had a very big wall and needed something big enough to fill the wall space, but not intrude on the living space.  The perfect solution was to buy in stock wall mount kitchen cabinets because they are only 12" deep.  Now, what to do with them?  My original drawing was just scratch paper with two cabinets with a 60" TV.  We soon realized we needed one more cabinet.  Thankfully, Home Depot was having a 25% off sale on all in stock kitchen cabinets.  


Tools, Skills & Time:  Living in the Northeast with lots of expected snowfall is the perfect time to build things.  We stayed pretty close to the sketch and kept the TV on the wall during the entire build in order to get exact dimensions around the TV.  This is not our first DIY project, but was the most time consuming, mostly because I'm a little fussy and this was going to be part of our living room.  I would say we have an intermediate skill level.  We spent two weekends constructing the unit and multiple hours priming and painting.  We used a table saw, circular saw, chop saw, jig saw, tape measure, pencil, square, level, screw gun, brad nail gun and shims.  I'm sure there are better tools for this job, but this is what we had in the garage.

Cost:  Approximaty $600-$800, excluding the cost of tools depending on the detail and your skill level. We used three kitchen wall cabinets which retail for $129, but we got them 25% off. The plywood was around $35 / 4x8 sheet.  We used four sheets and had some leftover.  The 1x2x8 and 1x3x8 pine boards were around $5-$6 each. We used roughly eight 1x2x8 and two 1x3x8 boards. A box of bead board for the back of the shelving and top was $20 and finally added some knobs. 

The Base:  This was fairly simple.  We built a small frame out of 2x4's roughly 14 1/2 inches deep by 7 1/2 inches high by 7 ft 11 inches long.  Once that was assembled, we covered it with 1/2" birch sanded plywood using a small brad nail gun.  Once the birch plywood was added, the unit is 8 ft wide by 15" deep (before finish trim).  This was intentionally made 8 ft wide to use full sheets of plywood for the rest of the unit.  The overall depth at the base once the finish trim is added is 8 ft 2 inches wide by 16 inches deep.



Setting the Cabinets:  In order to space out the cabinets evenly, we used a 1x3 as a guide between each cabinet and on each end. The 1x3's were attached permanently later.  To give the cabinets a more custom look, we also ran a 1x2 above and below all the cabinets which were later attached permanently on the front of the unit.  We did not buy full overlay door cabinets and I didn't want to see the cabinet frame.  To allow for the 1x2 spanning the length of the unit above and below the cabinets, we used 3/4" plywood under all of the cabinets and on top of all of the cabinets prior to the next step.  The 3/4" plywood gives the cabinets a little height in order to have a 1/4" space above and below the cabinet doors.  We placed the 3/4" scrap plywood at 13 1/2" and placed the cabinets on top of that allowing for a 1 1/2" gap between the back of the cabinet and the wall.  We did not necessarily need a gap, I just wanted the base to look slightly deeper than the side shelving.  The overall distance from the wall to the front of the cabinet door is 14 inches.



Media Storage:  We cut two pieces of 1/2" sanded birch plywood 15 inches wide by 8 feet long.  Using a brad nail gun, we attached a small piece of plywood to each end (15 inches by 8 inches).  We then added a smaller piece of plywood to be spaced between the pieces of plywood to provide strength and spacing for the media equipment (DVD Player, Sound Bar, Cable Box).  The overall height of the media box is 8 inches, but we added a 1x2 across the top making the actual opening only 7 inches.  We also put a 1x3 over the plywood edges on the ends and spacers later. 


Side Shelving:  Two more simple boxes for vertical shelves made out of 1/2" sanded birch plywood.  The sides of the box were cut at 42 inches by 11 1/4 inches.  They were attached together by cutting another piece of plywood for the back at 42 inches by 16 inches and one piece for the top at 11 1/4 inches by 16 inches.  The back piece of plywood was ultimately covered with bead board so we used scraps for that.  To add the finished look, 1x2 boards were added to the top and sides of the shelving.  Note: we do not have a bottom for the side shelves. They rest directly on top of the media storage box created above.


The Top:  Sensing a theme here?  Yep, another box.  This was customized slightly to allow for large crown moulding around the top. We ended up piecing the top because the length was longer than an 8 foot sheet of plywood, but at 8 feet high, we didn't care.  The bottom sheet of plywood was cut at 94 1/2 inches by 11 1/4 inches in order to fit directly on top of the side shelving.  The top section/sheet was made to be 103 inches long by 15 inches deep.  The front and sides of the very top board had to overhang all three sides for the crown moulding.  The two ends were cut at 19 inches by 11 1/4 inches.  The middle spacers were cut at 17 1/2" inches by 11 1/4 inches (two in total).  The overall top box is 19" high.  However, I wanted to display items flush with the top of the 1x2, so we added 1/2" spacers, then added another full sheet of 1/2" sanded plywood.  So, the inside depth of the box is only 17 1/2" due to the additional spacers and 1/2" plywood in order to create a flush affect where the top 1x2 sits.  The spacing of the dividers in the top box follow the spacing with the media storage spacing.  

The overall height of this top box was 19 inches to allow for a light in each section to be hidden behind the crown moulding.  We bought "Hampton Bay 6-Light Black Under Cabinet Xenon Puck Light Kit with a Dimmer" at Home Depot.  The Model# is EC1333BK, SKU# 818313, $39.97.  You can connect up to 6 lights into the outlet box they provide and then plug the outlet box into the wall, which we fished behind the trim and the TV.


Adding the Trim and Shelves:  Shelving using 1/2" sanded plywood was spaced equally between each shelf.  We cut some shelf supports out of extra 1x2's to hold the shelves, but you could also buy removable shelf brackets.  We attached 1x2 boards to the sides, front and each shelf and top to give everything a finished look using a brad nail gun. 


Hiding the Wires:  We were fortunate enough to have had wiring planned for a wall mount TV, but by adding a media area, we ended up with visible wires hanging down behind the TV.  What to do?  Attach two 2x4's horizontally between both side shelves with a hole cut close to the wall in the top of the media area.  And, then cover it all with a piece of 1/2" sanded birch plywood.  We did caulk the back piece of plywood all around the media storage and side shelving after it was attached to the 2x4's.


Base/Cabinet Trim:  We added a 1/2" sanded birch plywood board to each side (13 1/2 inches deep by 19 inches high) prior to adding the 96" 1x2 horizontal boards that spanned the entire length above and below the cabinets.  We also flipped a piece of baseboard trim upside down around the top of the base that sits underneath the cabinets and gave it a little softness by running a router across that top edge.  There happened to be an outlet in the wall behind the middle cabinet, so we just cut the back out using a jig saw.  We also cut holes in the back of the media storage to fish media wires into the cabinets. 


We finished it off by adding the vertical 1x3 pine boards between the cabinets, media storage and each side/end.  We actually doubled them up by putting one 1x3 on top of another 1x3 for a little depth.  Another piece of baseboard trim was run along the floor and tied into the wall baseboard trim to give it that custom built in look. 


Planning Ahead:  Although we're calling it a Built In, we realize technology will out live this unit. The solution?  We only attached everything below the TV to the wall.  Everything else fits like a puzzle and can be removed when the next big thing is invented. 

Decorative Moulding:  Adding a few extra touches can really make a DIY project stand out.  It may even look professionally built.  We added chunky crown moulding around the top as well as some small decorative trim where the top sits on the side shelf boxes as well as the media storage/cabinets. 





Priming/Painting:  While I would have loved to have sprayed this unit, we built it in place and it was not possible.  The cabinets required a lot of sanding and priming to cover the original brown finish.  But, it turned out beautiful and looks like it was built with the house. 



When we were building our house, we did a walk through of another house our builder was building and fell in love with the wall colors used.  Unfortunately, it's a custom color from Sherwin-Williams and there is no official name for the wall color.  We used this same color for our house and painted all interior walls with this color.  This is the picture of the tag on the top of the paint can if you would like to replicate. They can scan the bar code and color match from that.  The window and floor trim is just basic Bright White in Semi-Gloss.













Materials List:

4 sheets of 1/2" Birch Sanded Plywood
8 - 1x2x8 Select Pine Boards
2 - 1x3x8 Select Pine Boards
3 - 30" W x 18" H x 12" D kitchen wall cabinets (Home Depot - Cambria Wall Cabinet - KW3018-CHR, SKU# 248306) 
1 pack of Cape Cod 14 sq. ft. Beadboard Wide Plank Paneling (3 pack at Home Depot)
1 pack of Under Cabinet Light packs (Home Depot - EC1333BK, SKU# 818313)
4-5 2x4x8 boards
10-12 feet of chunky Primed Pine Crown Moulding (under top shelf)
5-6 pieces of Decorative Trim (Home Depot - 5/16" x 11/16" x 8 feet - Model 244, SKU# 353-436)
6 Knobs or Pulls
Scrap Plywood for behind bead board (less than 1 sheet)
Paintable Caulk
Primer
Paint

32 comments:

  1. Was wondering ,does the top box "floor" sit lower than the finished 1x2 or did you raise it to be flush?

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    1. Also what type of lighting did you use?

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    2. The overall top box is 19" high. Originally, the floor of the top sat lower than the top of the 1x2. But, I wanted to display items flush with the top of the 1x2, so we added 1/2" spacers, then added another full sheet of 1/2" sanded plywood. My apologies, I will update "The Top" section to be more clear.

      We bought "Hampton Bay 6-Light Black Under Cabinet Xenon Puck Light Kit with a Dimmer" at Home Depot. The model is EC1333BK, SKU# 818313, $39.97. You can connect up to 6 lights into the outlet box they provide and then plug the outlet box into the wall.

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    3. Thanks,
      It's beautiful.
      We are using your tute as a guide. Ours will be smaller and we are using textured paintable wallpaper on the backs, (we have leftover from another project) Do all the sections have lights or just the top?

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    4. I would love to see pictures of your finished product. We did not put lights anywhere other than the top box, but if you use the 1x2 for the front of each shelf like we did, you probably could add them there also. There is a 1" overhang that would visibly hide the light.

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    5. Sure, we are doing this very slowly... only have the bottom and side boxes kinda done. Also not sure how to post a picture here.

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    6. I'm thrilled people are taking on this project. Take all the time you need :)

      I don't think you can post pictures within a comment, but if you email me via the Downright Simple link in the "About Me" section at the bottom of the blog, it will take you to another page with an Email option. I've received other emails this way. Include any information and pictures you would like and I'll be happy to post as a "Bragging Post".

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  2. Beautiful job you did. Very talented. I love it.

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  3. You all did a great job! Looks very nice.
    Quick question on the base. Did you stack the 2x4's to come up with the 7 1/2 height of the base?
    Thanks!

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    1. Thank you for your question. We actually didn't stack them. I'm sure you could, but we cut 2x4's at 7" and attached them vertically to the front piece of the plywood used for the base. Our base is completely hollow underneath. We screwed a header 2x4 along the wall (top of header is at 7") and a footer 2x4 along the wall at the floor. Then ran 2x4's from front to back where each vertical 2x4 was to anchor it. Then, we just attached the top to the wall header piece and the front 2x4s that are attached to the front plywood. This gave us our total height of the base of 7 1/2". If you email me I can send you a picture of what I'm trying to explain. I can't add a picture in these comments. You can email direct at erikalynndrs@gmail.com.

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  4. Looks great! I love the look of all of it ,even the rug. Can you tell me the name of the rug and where you purchased it? Thanks.

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    1. Thank You! The rug is from Lowes. I had been looking for a light colored rug that had some red and green tones in it, but nothing too formal and this was exactly what I was looking for. It's an 8x10 rug, but they have it in smaller sizes also. I purchased mine two years ago, but it looks like they still carry it. The item number is 331470 Cliffony Rectangular Cream Floral by Allen + Roth. The link is as follows: http://www.lowes.com/pd_331470-817-235159_1z11oio__?productId=3261635&pl=1#noop

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  5. I love it! Where is your rug from? And what is the color on your walls? Thanks!

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    1. Thank you! The rug is from Lowes. I purchased mine two years ago, but it looks like they still carry it. Allen + roth Cliffony Rectangular Woven Area Rug (Common: 8 x 10; Actual: 94-in W x 120-in L)
      Item #: 331470 | Model #: 235159. The paint is a custom color from Sherwin Williams.
      It looks like
      CCE*COLORANT OZ 32 64 128
      N1-Raw Umber - 30 - 1
      Y3-Deep Gold. - 9 - -

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  6. I love this! It is exactly what I would love to have in my livingroom. Thank you for the detailed instructions.

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    1. Thanks for your comment Rita! If you decide to make this or something similar, please email me pictures so I can add to the "toot that horn" page. Good luck!

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  7. I love this!!! It looks so good.

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  8. Hi we are planing on trying to do this same project! Question I'm not sure how you attached the side "boxes" to the media box below it? I see how the media box can be attached with screws to the cabinets but not how you wwnt about attaching the side shelves.

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    1. Thanks for your comment. We did not "attach" the side boxes to the media box below. Instead, we set them on top and built the very top piece to fit on top of the sides to fit like a puzzle. The top and sides can be disassembled from the base unit if we decide to go with a bigger tv at some point.

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  9. Great entertainment center! I have been building mine off your design and I am almost done! I was wondering where you got the decorative trim that you got, what it is called, or maybe even what type of router bit profile you used if you made your own. It kind of looks like a roman ogee bit profile but it's hard to tell from the pictures. Thanks!

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    1. Thanks for your comment. I bought 5-6 pieces of small decorative trim at Home Depot that was 5/16" x 11/16" x 8 ft. I used 4 for the front and then the rest was used for the sides. I probably only used 5 total, but bought 6 to be on the safe side. They were only $5 each. #244, SKU# 353-436. I would love to see pictures when your project is completed.

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    2. I finished mine but I am not sure how to send you pictures or post them?

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    3. You can't add a picture in these comments, but you can email direct at erikalynndrs@gmail.com and I'll add them to the "toot that horn" page.

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  10. Did you attach the TV mount to the wall (studs), then cut an opening in the bead board around the mounting bracket? Or did you put a full sheet of bead board up then put the mounting bracket over the top of that? Nice work!

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    1. We attached the TV mount to the studs and added a 2x4 header and footer above and below where we hung the TV mount so we could fish wires to the area below. I wanted a smoother look behind the TV, so we used a sheet of 1/2 sanded plywood and just cut a hole out for the TV mount. Once it was in place, I caulked all around the plywood to give it a seamless look. I have a pic up above where we did this. Look at the pic under the section "Hiding the Wires". Good luck if you take on this project! :)

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  11. Learning to be me: Cabinet DIY completed and tutorial

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  12. Thanks for sharing this precious information with us, this help me a lot in my project as well

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  13. I had 2 weeks off at holidays; wanted a carpentry project. I'm relatively new to this having built 5-6 simple pieces so far having acquired a chop saw, brad nailer, and cutter/grinder in the past year. This was a v big job for me; I designed it 8'x7.5' so just a tad smaller than these plans. I used TWO Home Depot UNFINISHED cabinets at 36" wide and left the space between the two (trimmed w/1x3) cabinets open into which I've inserted my 18" wide subwoofer. So I had to build a "wall" along the inside of ea cabinet to cover its pressboard side. I used 1/2" plywood connected to the protruding ends of the 1x3 trim on the sides. Works well. I spent more than 8 days at 6+ hrs/day and had a guy painting for 9 hours. I built it in sections (base, cabinets, media center, shelving units, tippy top) and assembled them in position and mostly all painted. This way all painting priming trimming and section assembly was done on workbenches making access much easier. I used pocket screws to attach the vertical dividers in the media center and top unit and to attach the shelving units to the top of the media center. Having never handled crown molding that was the most challenging but we got it thanks to a WOOD MAGAZINE you tube video in which the host shows how to make crown cutting templates that then make determining how to cut foolproof. In this method all crown was cut flat on the saw using the 33.9 degree bevel and 31.6 degree platen. The only difference between cuts is whether the top or bottom of the crown is against the fence. Highly recc this video and this method. I cut 1x2 into 3" sections and then made a 45 degree cut on edge. This created a set of 6 "posts" I attached to the tippy top to hold the crown in position for measuring and attaching. I did trash a 9' piece and had to return to you know where to replace it on the day of final attach. I must say was largely fun to do this though not simple and VERY time and brain consuming for an amateur like me. Tough on my 62 y.o. body, too. Email me if you'd like a photo.

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    1. I would love to add a picture to my Toot That Horn page. Please email me any pics you have to erikalynndrs@gmail.com.

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