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.
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.
