Brainstorm me some ideas for incorporating some metal in a media center

You could inlay some narrow brass on the edges.

-- I would drink a river of the kool aid before I took the smallest sip of the tea...

Metal or metalic formica paneled doors

-- Clint Searl.............We deserve what we tolerate

You could borrow ideas from campaign furniture they have a lot of exposed brass reinforcements.

-- Bondo Gaposis

You could use metal to look like it’s for joint reinforcement. Aluminum is fairly cheap and workable if brass is out of the question and you’re looking to do inlays or just visual pieces. It is also easy to finish several different ways.

-- "Well, at least we can still use it as firewood... maybe." - Doss

At the big box stores they’ve lately got an array of aluminum balusters for use in stair cases, mostly outside I think. They are black and grey. you might consider some of those?

There’s also gold leaf paint

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://gagnerwebsite.com/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

You could combine wood and chrome or wood and aluminum. Some coffee tables are being made with this method.
Just my thoughts. !

-- "My mission in life - make everyone smile !"

70’s house as in Modern? Or 70s as in cheesy? I’d look at some of the stuff Charles and Ray Eames did or George Nelson for Herman Miller and Knolls. You could even incorporate some primary color into it.

http://store.hermanmiller.com/Products/Nelson-Basic-Cabinet-Series-Medium-Bookcase-24X34

Horizontal bands of metal recessed below the tops or in the edge of the tops always looks good.
Accents of metal in the top molding is also effective. U channels, integrated metal door pulls along the door edges.

Aluminum bar and angle stock is easy to work with woodworking tools. You could add aluminum inlays to door panels fairly easily, or aluminum reveals between doors.

I’ve also seen copper door panels that have designs burnished on them, similar to leatherworking patterns.
A local artisan does them in Phoenix. Not sure hat options you have in Oregan.

I’ve also used metal grating and brass wire mesh in door panels. There is another guy who can cnc plasma cut sheet metals up to 1/4” thick to any AutoCAD designed graphic file I give him.
Metal standoffs, glass accents on metal standoffs.

There’s lots and lots of options – the list goes on.
Now, it’s time for some creative vision… Have fun!

-- "Hard work is not defined by the difficulty of the task as much as a person's desire to perform it.", DS251

You could also consider euro-style aluminum framed frosted glass panel accent doors – they’re not that expensive.

-- "Hard work is not defined by the difficulty of the task as much as a person's desire to perform it.", DS251

Thanks, and don’t stop now.

Notes to keep you current: I asked for black or silver. Gold or brass is not on the table.

70’s ranch One step above a dingbat. There’s really no style there to emulate or incorporate. In fact, it’s the absence of style that makes it a bit drear. This metal stuff could really bump it up.

Canadianchips really nailed the concept, but I think it will have a solid toe kick for ease of cleaning. And there will be a bridge across the top with small cubbies for the artsy stuff.

Doss, or anyone, where would you go with the “joint reinforcement” notion?

Thanks hugely.

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

Lee – Chemetal has an amazing array of metal laminates that can really spark some great ideas.

http://www.chemetal.com/?gclid=CIrknIbk8a8CFQgJRQodPkesVw

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://americancraftsmanworkshop.com

“some kind of fabric”

Speaker enclosures? Could just be removable grills to hide the speakers – lot’s of funky cloth that has metallic thread in it.

I meant fabric in the metaphorical sense; several ideas woven together to make an integrated whole.

L.

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

I know what you meant, but it triggered the other kind.

You could do a triglyph and metope design under the top and maybe the long middle shelf though that may be a bit much, have the metope sections be made of nickle-silver which is about the price of brass and can be bought in small sheets. Could then do a small piller effect to some of the uprights that could use metal or inlay some of the uprights as someone else suggested.

-- --Rev. Russ in NY-- A posse ad esse