You can save money by building your own entertainment center.
A good home entertainment center can cost a few thousand dollars. An alternative to purchasing one is to build one of your own. Using stock kitchen cabinets and a few other supplies available at most home improvement stores, you can create an entertainment center that fits the space you have.
Instructions
1. Draw a sketch of the entertainment center. This allows you to visualize the final product and gives you an idea of the materials you will need. It also shows where to cut holes for electrical wires.
2. Use clamps to hold the cabinets together. Fasten each cabinet to the other with screws. Attach a filler strip to the ends where the cabinets connect to each other. This will hide the gaps between each cabinet.
3. Use the jigsaw to cut holes for the connecting wires in the back of the cabinets. The size and location of these holes will depend on the number of electronic devices to be housed and the size and number of wires. For example, If you have a television, a DVD player and a game system in the entertainment center, you are looking at three plugs, a cable wire, two audio/video cables and possibly a cable box with its own connectors. You will want them to easily slide through the holes and to hide them from view.
4. Measure the area for the main countertop above the cabinets. Using those measurements, cut a piece of plywood (the thickness is your preference) to the proper size with a circular saw. Attach it to the base with screws. Cut a piece of one by eight poplar wood to fit around the edge of the plywood. This will serve as the countertop which will be the base of the upper section of the entertainment center.
5. Cut the sides and top of the entertainment center from the plywood (again, your preference of thickness). Attach a clamp-on straightedge to the wood to hold the pieces steady. Cut the plywood with a circular saw along the straightedge to ensure it is straight.
6. Create holes for support pins to hold the shelves of the entertainment center. Clamp a plastic template onto one of the side panels. Drill holes for the shelf support pins about two-thirds of an inch into the wood. Space the holes according to how far apart you want the shelves. Repeat on all side pieces.
7. Attach edge banding to the front of the plywood to conceal the edges. Sand the plywood along the edges to your preference.
8. Cut shelves from the plywood. Attach pieces of one by two-inch boards to the front of the shelves using a hammer and nails or a nail gun. Since the plywood is thin, adding the boards to the front with a bit more density will give the shelves a thicker appearance.
9. Attach the end pieces with wood glue. Further secure them with nails. Repeat for each end piece until the frame of the entertainment center is assembled.
10. Hide gaps by affixing trim strips to the front of the cabinets in areas where the gaps show. Attach molding or casing to the outside of the entertainment center in the area where the unit meets the wall.
11. Attach the cabinet doors per the instructions that are included with the stock kitchen cabinets. Insert the drawers and shelves.
12. Choose paint or stain color to finish the entertainment center.
Tags: build, home, entertainment, center, entertainment center, your preference, Attach pieces, boards front, each cabinet, entertainment center, from plywood, kitchen cabinets
