Using Kitchen Cabinets as TV Cabinets
TV Cabinets, or Armoires, are fast becoming the norm in American homes. Coming in all shapes and sizes, these pieces of furniture are popular ways to store television sets and related video and sound equipment. Getting exactly what you want may be difficult though, since manufacturers only make a set amount of models; you need to shop around extensively for just the right one. What if even then you can’t find a setup you like? Custom TV cabinets are another option. These tend to be on the pricey side, and can cost several thousand dollars. It is possible though, with creative use of kitchen cabinetry, to create a customized tv cabinet at a price you can live with. There are no rules anywhere stating that a wall cabinet must go on the kitchen wall, or that kitchen cabinets need to go in the kitchen at all. What prevents you from putting them in a living room and using them as a tv stand? Nothing! Have at it, we say.
We’ve come up with a pretty simple example as a test, one that allows for a fairly good sized television and provides ample space for sound equipment and CD/DVD storage. Everything in the design depends on what you have for equipment; it’s easy enough to change though since it’s not one gigantic piece of furniture. Using kitchen cabinets means that it’s modular and customizable.
On either side of the television are stacked wall cabinets, 30“H x 24“W x 18“D, each with two adjustable shelves. On the floor in between them is a subwoofer with a block to either side. These blocks can be more cabinets, or some sort of framed in piece strong enough to hold up the television.
Above these is the television itself, and above that is another wall cabinet. We used a 12“H x 42“W x 12“D, which you’d have to bump out a bit to be flush with the rest of the cabinets, but you could get a cabinet with the same depth of 18” and figure out which height will look best. Certain cabinet companies might have the exact size you need here.
The idea is that you can get a totally customized television cabinet with kitchen cabinets for a fraction of what you would pay someone to build a comparable piece of furniture. We priced this one in Birch in a higher-end semi-custom cabinet company. With solid doors, it weighs in around $1900. With the glass pictured the price is in the $2500 range. Again though, this could change easily, depending on what you need.
Remember too that tv cabinets are not the only application for kitchen cabinets. Using similar ideas, it’s possible to make office desks, board room multimedia presentation centers, computer armoires, and many more.
Written by:
Craig
No Comments »
No comments yet.
Leave a comment
Other Design Articles
-
Kitchen Island Dimensions
Kitchen island dimensions can be tricky. It’s easy for an island to get out of hand in relation to the space where it will be installed. Catch mistakes with kitchen island dimensions early in the design process. More than once customer have contacted me about kitchen designs, and declared that they wanted an island. Once [...]
Kitchen Island Cabinets
Kitchen islands are a necessity in some kitchens. Kitchen Islands add both storage and counter space to a food preparation area. In some homes, kitchen islands have even replaced the kitchen table. There are so many options to consider when designing a kitchen island, but keeping a few key points in mind will make the [...]
Kitchen Island Design
Most kitchen designers these days try to incorporate a kitchen island into their designs, and with good reason. Islands are ideal for adding counter and storage space to kitchens, serving as gathering places, food preparation stations, and clean up areas. While some islands do one of these tasks very well, the best kitchen islands are [...]
Kitchen Base Cabinets Explained
Kitchen base cabinets are rather like their wall mounted bretheren, in that they come in widths of 3” increments. Base cabinets generally come in only one height though, and that’s 34 1/2”. A depth of 24” is also standard, though there is a bit of fudging on base cabinet depths. What you can get depends [...]
Kitchen Island Cabinets Design
Kitchen island. Just the sound of the phrase conjures up images of bliss, a homemaker’s oasis. “Where are you going, Honey?” “I’m traveling to the island.” “Have a nice time, Dear. Don’t forget to write.” Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? You can take a dream vacation to your very own island every time you prepare a [...]
Small Kitchen Design Ideas
Not all of you are blessed with gigantic kitchens. Space in your kitchen for preparing meals is scarce. So rather than waste square footage with poor design, these are several things you can do during a remodel or new design that will free up some valuable real estate in the kitchen and make meal prep [...]
Shelf Cabinets are Versatile
Sometimes you just need a shelf. Cabinet manufacturers are happy to oblige with shelf cabinets in the same wood and finish as the rest of the kitchen cabinets they’ll make for you. Some are made for walls, some for the floor. You can get them to go on a straight run, or for corners. Rather [...]
Corner Sinks in a Kitchen
As a novice kitchen designer (and NOT certified by any organization at all) I struggle with the concept of the corner sink. Mostly because it’s a pain to line up in kitchen design software, and because seems like a waste of space. Either a regular sink base gets spun 45 degrees (and thus a bunch [...]