# Alcove Entertainment wall desk & cabinets



## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

Well I have been occupied with this project for many months now and when I started I didn’t think about how large it was, only that it was a chance to design something, make it, and give my daughter and her husband something for their new house.

It started out as a request from my daughter who is great with children and very organized about it, the they had an unusual alcove arrangement in their new home ( 14” deep 7 ½’ high and 17’ long and they wanted a toy cupboard accessible to the 3 year old but easy to hid toys in when company is coming and Oh by the way what do you think about a TV stand and maybe a book shelf. 

We browsed the internet for style, discussed function, preferences and considerations to keep in mind.

Real wood, two contrasting finishes / colours and textures, 3 dimensional with varying depths, easy and safe access for little tykes to the Toy cupboard, strong enough for an aquarium on top of toy cupboard. Display shelves with power, storage shelves with indirect back lighting, TV stand with lots of storage underneath and surface area, also allow for hidden wiring and a couple of electronic components. 

Started making all the Maple bits firsts then started with the Oak shelf unit and the Oak and Maple for the desk which is the most difficult piece as the two woods need to be structurally glued together to finish building but can’t be until they are independently finished two different ways. I’m almost finished the desk which took a few months considering lapses for life to happen but I’m getting back at it full time ( every 2nd evening and 1 1/2" days on weekends ) and hope to complete the TV stand Toy cupboard and DVD / CD storage units in short order as the maple is done and the Oak parts are pretty straight forward.

Here is a sample of the stuff progressing.

The overall concept:

sketch below - They wanted built in look and feel without it being a bunch of cupboards.

The Gray shaded area = Maple
the brownish shaded area = Oak


All (Oak & Maple ) plywood - 1/2" & 3/4" cabinet grade edged with 1/2" * 1/2" or 3/4" * 3/4" Oak or Maple Tops and Oak wrap around edging all 3/4" lumber & 3/4" lumber panels.

I made all the Maple parts 1st 
a) TV Stand cabinet with four 1/2" thick sliding bypass doors. the end edges of the doors are 1/2" * 1 1/2" maple with routed out finger grip indentation / pockets.
Top and Right End drilled through for 1 3/4" computer cable grommets .
Used 3/4" aluminum U channel for track and slotted hardwood edging to suit.

b) DVD / CD cupboard is 8 ft long ( 2 x 4' section ) 10 1/2" deep to the wall with a 1/2" gap 1" deep at the wall for indirect LED lighting and overall 7" high ( thick ) supposedly a solid Maple beam with the face door opening up. the LED lighting will be approx 32 feet all around ( what I've begun to call the hanging T ) and the pics below show the experimenting I had to do to establish how I would space out the hanging cabinet to accommodate flexible LED ribbon.

c) display shelf : the Oak right hand side and bottom shelf surround the Maple middle shelf. the right hand vertical panel up the wall is hollow and a) carries power to cabling grommets on the both shelf surfaces, b) hides where your screw to the right hand wall, c) supports the right hand side of the shelves and d) keeps the shelves from bending down to the front from weight. 

The shelves themselves are hollow and the bottoms come off so I can screw the back to the wall anywhere to hit the wall studs. The square frame structures on the left end act as anti droop / torque stops as they fit against the wall as well as shelf book ends.

d) the toy cabinet has adjustable shelve ( not shown ) on which the 3/8" maple bins sit ( shown stacked ) as well as the top shelf, and 2 doors ( not shown ) on piano hinge with pop open magnets openers drilled into the outer edges top and bottom so little kids can open and close all day roughly.

e) the desk has been the toughest as I wanted the 4" thick slab of Oak top effect with a lift top to a maple tray interior as well as an Oak drop side surrounding a Maple filing drawer all of which sits on One square Oak leg to match the TV stand.

I had to build it, without gluing any of the Oak to the Maple and figure out the bracketing and geometry of a lift cylinder that would allow the Oak lift top ( hidden hinging ) to stay up when opened and with light positive push to close and not to drop like a guillotine on unsuspecting fingers. I also had to not have it push it open / up when closed. It turned out not too difficult to get working other than I had to construct the desk in same wood assemblies and clamp them together to actually work out the final on the lift cylinder. I'm just putting on the Oak top edging on now and will within days move on the the Oak for the TV stand and DVD / CD cupboard. Hopefully complete within a few weeks and then a few weeks for finishing and delivery to My Daughter and Son in Law.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Wow, Richard, I can see why that would keep you occupied....

Cant wait to see the finished picture.


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## Scottey66 (Feb 1, 2012)

Yes wow Richard, that is just fantastic! You have put some time into that so far. Great work, it looks so clean, I too can't wait to see it finished, cheers Mike


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## cedarwood (Feb 3, 2012)

Yes WOW! indeed and well don it would keep me occupied for a year or 2 lol but then again I do not have that much space in this wee house, look forward to the pics of the installation.


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## thrinfo (Jan 21, 2012)

Like we say in french (chapeau), very nice work and well organize, you know what you want and were your going. thumb up.


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## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

lot of work went into the details but that makes the project so nice.


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

*Signature for pieces*

My daughter asked me to sign the work so I gave it some thought and figured with all the time spent I might as well do something special.

I want to thank Barb "outofthewoodwork" who graciously agreed to "FREE HAND" route out a signature mark I drew up for her to route into 1/2" maple and which I will inlay into the Oak at the bottom side, back corners. She did such a great job I figure I will only inlay them in 3/8" and with 1/8" round over edging they should look pretty classy. Barb hasn't even replaced her light router yet but had picked up some fine bits. She did a great job and buy hand, with a full sized router no less. 

Note for those who don't know Barb one of our forum members from Michigan, her workshop got broken into and cleaned out and she is still dealing with her insurance Co. and sourcing replacement tools.


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## Chris Curl (Feb 13, 2012)

very inspiring ... i can't wait to see the pics of it when you are finished.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Inspirational, Richard! SWMBOJr is very lucky to have you...


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

There is more than one signature, so that means more units, right??????


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> There is more than one signature, so that means more units, right??????


No James I just wanted to make sure I had at least two or three, as I plan on putting them on most of the pieces like the TV stand and the hanging storage unit. The picture doesn't show but I left a large gap between two to allow for a routed out pencil holder in the interior of the desk which has a slot routed out to insert it. one of the two will be cut off. I did it this way as I figured Barb might mess one or two up but she did them all perfectly. I made up the design in my CAD program, mirrored it backwards and printed it on a Laser printer then used a steam iron to transfer the result on the maple for Barb to route ( tried it on a bubble jet but that wouldn't transfer ).


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

Thanks guys this project is taking a toll, but I'm hoping to show a completed wall full of Stuff in a couple of months. It's hard to stay focused and tempting to set it aside on occasion but I like to think I'm a finisher for better or worse.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Great job Richard, I love doing stuff like custom built cabinets.


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

*update on wall unit project*

I mentioned that Barb ( Member "outofthewoodwork" ) had volunteered to route a signature plate for me, she had to use her full sized router as she had not yet replaced her small one. During the weeK I got around to sanding sealing colouring and top coating the pencil tray for inside the desk when you open the lid and 4 signature plates I plan to cut into small rectangles and inlay into oak sticking out 1/16" or so with round over edges. The pictures are sitting on Oak, unfinished and samples of stain shades I haven't decided on yet.

Her Free hand routing is amazing and it will sure class up my project. THANKS BARB.

.
.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Wow, Richard. With all that kind of cabinets I think that your relatives won't be out of the alcove for a while.

Best regards!!!


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## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

Wow, Richard, thank you SO MUCH for the compliments! *blushing*

I'm so happy to see that the completed plates have come out to your satisfaction. When I do something for someone else (and on their wood) I'm a nervous wreck till they get it complete, and give me their feedback 

Been busy with family (and the tummy bug) making its rounds this Holiday Season, but FINALLY got the first check from the insurance company, and got to go shopping (WOO HOO!) With the timing of it, there were great deals to get my electronics, and I did end up getting my scroll saw, but still have to get my trim router since the one that was supposed to be put on hold was sold on me. Oh well. Here's the scroll saw; I'm stoked! It's totally amazing! (He's bolted in, as are all the new tools as of date; someone comes in now, they better pack a lunch and tools, cuz these aren't goin anywhere!) The material at the back of the machine is what I cover him with.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

The standard of your freehand routing is nothing short of AMAZING Barb. Perhaps in this new year I'll attempt some tiny freehand sign routing, but if it doesn't turn out to be even close to your standard then you'll hear no more about it from me!


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## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

Thank you, Harry. "Tiny" freehand sign routing? Go with bigger signs lol they're easier. 

I, for one, would like to learn or do some of the things I've seen you post, and hopefully will give it a try. Doing what I do, I'm just as limited as those who use just a routing table for projects, I'm just on the other side of the spectrum. 





harrysin said:


> The standard of your freehand routing is nothing short of AMAZING Barb. Perhaps in this new year I'll attempt some tiny freehand sign routing, but if it doesn't turn out to be even close to your standard then you'll hear no more about it from me!


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

*Progress Update on Entertainment Wall Unit*

Well the TV stand is finally looking like something besides a box with sliding doors, I'm working on the legs ( two, square Oak, 6” wide 15” front to back that keep the bottom edge of the unit 5” off the floor ) and hope to have that done in a few days. 

The work shop is a little tight when I get the big pieces in and have to put all the other pieces out in the basement storage area which is a little time consuming.
What is here is the unit without legs from the front, a shot from either end and one shot from the back. The last pic is the unit laying on its back to show the furniture bolts holding the Oak bottom plate onto the Maple cabinet, there are also 4 furniture bolts inside on going through the top, holding the Oak top onto the cabinet. The Oak vertical has two 3/8” ( ready rod with nut welded to one end ) long bolts from the bottom going up into T nuts built into the top. All the furniture bolts go into threaded inserts imbedded in the wood.

The last picture shows the unit on it’s back and while it does not show well the bottom Oak plate is three pieces with an 18” section in the middle. This TV stand is very long ( 94” ) due to where it is going but if my kids ever want to use it somewhere else it probably wouldn’t fit so I built it so if you take out the 18” center section the open cabinet part with the self for stereo etc. is 18” and the entire Oak end surround can slide over 18” so you will still have a useable TV stand with an Oak surround , just not the open shelf part. The Maple cabinet is a ¾” maple top surface so to allow for future bolt hole and not ruin the currently exposed top surface I drilled ¼” hole in the right position to hold the top when / and if it is shifted to shorten the unit and simply glued in dowels. While you can see the dowels if you look for them they don’t ruin the look of the top and the represent the accurate positions to drill out for the hold down bolts.

I hope to get the legs done this coming week and then start building the vertical portion of the last piece the Hanging “T” cabinet portion.

You can see the signature plate that Barb routed for me inset on the right end towards the back ( sticks out about 1/16" with rounded edges ) and it will really stand out once I stain the Oak ( Gray tone ) parts and only a clear for the maple parts.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Looking good Richard. This is a big project and the finishing will take some time as well. Looking forward to seeing the end result, keep at it your almost done.


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## Andries (Feb 3, 2013)

Was that really done FREE HAND? WOW, this is one talented lady!!! Pity about the lost equipment. However, most tools "grow" on you and even when replaced with new ones it just never is the same again.


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## TRBaker (Jul 5, 2012)

So true, Andries, but I don't see anything not to like in that scroll saw she bought. That is one fine saw. 

GW, that is an outstanding job you are doing. Keep up the good work.


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

Well It's been a year now since I started going over a design for and alcove entertainment / desk / storage / shelf unit with my daughter and son-in-law. I CADed it up and we modified it several times before I got going in late May early June of last year and I have only recently finished actual construction and started finishing.

The project is all clear coated Maple and gray stained satin coated Oak so I'm clear coating the Maple first. It's pretty tight in my workshop but thanks to two IV stands I picked up years ago at a garage sale I rack all the flat bits and pieces and roll them out of the way still drying as needed from one end of the shop to the other.

Once I'm finished the Maple I'll start on the Oak then finish assembly, adjustment and delivery. I need to get this project done as I'm now referring to going down to work on it as "going down to work on the BOAT" as I'm sure I could have built a sail boat by now.


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

*Finnaly DONE & INSTALLED*

Well it’s been a 1 year endeavor ( with time out for life as I went ) but in the end My daughter and Son-in-law are happy. The couple and their kids ( two when I started, now three kids ) bought themselves a nice Semi detach home in a North Eastern Toronto suburb with an unusual living room ( it had been the model display home ) where the living room had a 17 ft wall had a 15 ft alcove 14” deep. Starting out with a bunch of small kids is always financially tight so Grampa volunteered to turn a $500.00 budget into some built in shelving and cupboards. Little did they know the $500.00 was just to lock them in while I spent a year ( after work and weekends where I could ) playing in the work shop, so they waited and waited.

Objective :
Fill the wall without just filling it with book shelves and cupboards. 
My daughter loves real wood and the feel of the grain if possible.
My son-in-law wanted something a little snazzy as opposed to classical built in shelves.
It had to be kid friendly and tough to resist lots of young family activity including jumping and scratching. 

1.	Some shelves, 
2.	a toy cupboard, 
3.	a desk able to hide the computer when company is coming and the desk can be a serving area when hosting company, plus a little bit of a file draw would be nice.
4.	A TV – audio stand with storage to hide STUFF
5.	Storage for DVD movies and CD discs 


IKEA on Steroids :

The design is based on flat finished OAK surrounding Gloss finished MAPLE – ( clear water based floor varnish really TUFF with a single coat of DEAD FLAT varnish over the gloss on the OAK multiple thin brushed coats so you can actually fee the grain in the Oak.

The pictures show 
a)	Before
b)	After form the front door
c)	After from the kitchen door
d)	The shelves
e)	The Toy cupboard
f)	The Desk attached to the toy cupboard
g)	Desk with top lifted ( maple tray suitable for two laptops an junk ) and file drawer open 
h)	The TV Stand
i)	What I called the Hanging Tee ( horizontal Maple cupboard with up opening doors and a small upper and large lower Oak cabinet hanging above TV stand.
j)	Hanging Tee with Horizontal Maple doors open ( upward )
k)	Oak cabinets with solid Oak board doors open
l)	TV mounted ( Note ! room for bigger TV ! )
m)	My son-in-law mounting hanger bracket - Z hanger and surrounded by LEDs the hanger frame is 1 ¼” smaller than the Tee unit and also holds the whole unit ½” off the wall to allows the LED to spread indirect light outward. 
n)	My son-in-law making sure we are into every stud with Two 3” #10 screws.
o)	I get to hookup the power and dimmer Note the name plate routed by our member Barb ( outofthewoodwork ) for me is actually the light switch when pushed on / pushed off.
p)	With the lights off ( lousy picture ) the indirect lighting - low to bright to suit the user’s taste.
q)	The top shelf of the shelf unit has an LED pot light over the desk area controlled by a switch on the right hand vertical portion of the shelf unit. 


UP 7:00 am Saturday morning, load up the son-in-laws minivan ( it was loaded but it all fit ) drive 450 k ( wife and I following in our car ), packed my wife, daughter and grand kids off to Toronto Zoo for the afternoon and started installing, Mostly done by the time wives and kiddies got back ( another hour or so ) sat down to eat at about 9:00 pm enjoyed a little catch up talking and crashed at about 11:00 drove home Sunday to look at an empty workshop in need of a good cleaning.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Well done Richard!


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Oustanding Richard! Looks fabulous. Nice touch with the lighting as well.


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## Harrison67 (May 30, 2012)

Very nice design work.


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

My photography is not the greatest and what is really a nice touch is Barb’s ( outofthewoodwork ) handy work making name plates for me. She cut them into maple which it partially inlaid leaving them raised about 1/16” and the contrast between the Maple and Oak is great. The colour contrast shows better in the attached shop picture of the right hand end of the TV stand and it is the same for the light switch ( push ON / push OFF ) located on the bottom right of the vertical Oak section of the hanging Tee.


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## darrink (Sep 7, 2009)

That looks great! The contrast in wood and the wall, the lights, the hidden drawers. Everything, design and execution gets an A+ from me.

Is that your son-in-law helping with the install?

Darrin


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Love the design Richard, and it was executed well.

Darryl


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## gwizz (Mar 3, 2012)

darrink said:


> That looks great! The contrast in wood and the wall, the lights, the hidden drawers. Everything, design and execution gets an A+ from me.
> 
> Is that your son-in-law helping with the install?
> 
> Darrin


Yes that’s my son-in-law who starting to get into wood working doing some needed building of garage shelves and closet organizer arrangements etc. around the house. He needed to be involved so he could figure out how to deal with the wall mounted pieces in the future or the electrical if and when a transformer goes etc.


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