built in media cabinet

this project is basically for my dad. my dad really likes the modern look. I made a maple cabinet in college, and decided to make a built in to match. The cabinet is sized around the components we already have, which doesn’t give us a lot of options when it comes time to upgrade or replace them, but it looks sleek, custom, tight and fitted, which I like. I like that there isn’t a lot of ‘extra space’ to leave junk and knick knacks. Not really my style.

I am considering more built ins for the basement, we have a quite extensive model car collection that would look fantastic in a similar cabinet.

In the backroom I have an IKEA wire management rack. I haven’t tidied up the wires yet, but eventually they will be all loomed and neatly wrapped on that rack. A conduit run behind the television into the backroom, so no wires are visible out front. (except the speaker wires which will be hidden with some kind of crown moulding in the future). There is a little puck light in the top of the cabinet for night time and when people visit, and you wanna act all Tony Montana or something. It’s only 20W and doesn’t throw off much heat, so no worries about burning the house down.

the floating shelf was cut and assembled using an EZ mitre technique similar to BritBoxermaker's

I screwed a 2×4 cleat into the stud, which was off center from the center line of the TV. I made sure the cleat was small enough that I could adjust placement of the shelf carcass on the cleat. With the cleat securely fastened to the wall, I simply goop a couple blobs of PL Premium where the carcass contacts the cleat, and leave it for 48 hours. The floating shelf will support the speaker, but would probably not take the abuse of children.

all in all, it should keep my dad pleased for a little while. and it was a pleasure to construct.