A Television Cabinet for a Proposal

Dave Richards

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Here's a little something I've been working on.


This is for a client of one of my clients. I was lazy and left out the hardware. I'm thinking of some sort of low, low profile pulls. Maybe something custom made.
 
Darren, thank you. It looks like this:

My intent is there'd be audio equipment below so I'll put in a box behind one of the drawers for cables to be routed down. I'm thinking of spec-ing one of those infrared repeater setups for remote control.

Larry, the final client is in Breckenridge, CO so I use a photo taken there. I thought about putting up an image for Prairie Dog Week. :D
 
Thanks Vaughn.

I figured the double hinged doors were a requirement because the case is more than twice as wide as it is deep. I did another version for the proposal that has bifold doors which slide in on flipper hardware but that takes up an awful lot of internal space.
 
Well i could jump on the bandwagon and say yeah looks great, but i dont believe that offers any alternative thought. No question as to it being a great drawing and cabinet.
My question is how fitting is it for current times and technology. Cabinets in my view were "in" when the tv itself was a big ugly crt.
Today we have great mechanisms and flar panel tv's that can be raised or lowered into a surface.
I saw one of these in a mobile home and it sure make a cool feature and at same time you would not have known the room had a tv.
I ask the question how often will the doors on the cabinet actually be closed.
Now i know its a client and hey they get what they want. So i am only playing devils advocate to discuss design appropriate with the times. :)


sent from s4
 
Rob, I understand your point. There are a lot of design options I have in mind for things like TV cabinets. Many of them don't get used for my client and his clients. They all seem to tend toward more traditional looking pieces of furniture. I keep trying to push the envelope a little at a time. I figure it's like blowing up a balloon. You can make it bigger if you fill it more slowly. :D

We have done some lower cases with the TV lift built in. They don't work so well if you need to keep the case fairly shallow and get A/V equipment inside it, too.

I agree with you on closing the doors. In our house they'd be closed most of the time because we turn on the TV once or twice a month. Most folks would probably never close it. I'd just as soon leave the top half of the case off and put the TV on top.

It's too bad that most flat screen TVs are so ugly.

Here's an example of a piece in which I got to play a bit more with the design. The client in this case is a potter who makes sculptural pieces and these large sink basins. He wanted to feature one of his basins in the foyer of his new house. He also wanted a bench for his guests to use when tying their shoes. And he wanted it made from an oak tree that was harvested on his land to make room for the house. I was able to get away from traditional looking pieces such as a vanity and stand alone bench which was the original idea. This worked out pretty well and the client really liked the way it turned out.



 
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We have done some lower cases with the TV lift built in. They don't work so well if you need to keep the case fairly shallow and get A/V equipment inside it, too.

I agree with you on closing the doors. In our house they'd be closed most of the time because we turn on the TV once or twice a month. Most folks would probably never close it. I'd just as soon leave the top half of the case off and put the TV on top.

It's too bad that most flat screen TVs are so ugly.

Excellent points. I'm looking at our current TV stand (bought not made, sigh - she got tired of waiting :D) and it would have to be set out a fair bit further into the room to accommodate the TV sliding down behind it. It would also set the TV back quite a bit from the front edge which seems disadvantageous for viewing from the front (or the tv has to protrude somewhat further to achieve the same angle of relief from the front edge of the cabinet).

I'm also not super fond of the "tv in a box" design (I like yours as far as it goes.. but yeah). Not sure what the better design is.. interesting to think about though.
 
at first light when i saw your vanity shelf dave it didnt strike me as being intersting but after dealing with a few more people looking for things i have found out i cant use my desires or design ideas to make there minds up:) and i have grown to like your approach on this vanity shelf.. took a few months but i am gettun there:) now how do you make a square box look purty??:)
 
Ryan, depending upon how much you watch TV and what you think of the appearance of the television as an object in the room, I think the best thing might be to hang it on the wall. Maybe built a sort of picture frame around it. Run the wires down inside the wall and out to a cabinet placed below for the A/V equipment.

Thanks Larry.
 
Dave, you always do exceptional work - no argument there. But I'll sit on Rob's bandwagon for this one. :D Entertainment centers are passe'. I know they're expensive, but I would love to see a shorter cabinet with a lift for the TV rather than an upper cabinet that is 17" deep and holds a 1.5" thick TV. Seems like a lot of wasted space.
 
Ryan, depending upon how much you watch TV and what you think of the appearance of the television as an object in the room, I think the best thing might be to hang it on the wall. Maybe built a sort of picture frame around it. Run the wires down inside the wall and out to a cabinet placed below for the A/V equipment.

Thanks Larry.

Yeah, I think the challenge is trying to combine the moderness of the TV design with other more traditional designs for the cabinet. I suspect that that is largely why folks end up just closing it away because it avoids the issue but imho I think that that is sidestepping the problem and introducing others.


On the vanity - how did you address the strength issue for the "hanging" bench? It seems like there would be a lot of stress at the join between the bench and the vanity cabinet. Is the backer on the vanity designed such that it mostly serves this purpose? its also probable that I'm over thinking things :D
 
Rennie, I think you missed the part about not having a choice on this one. It's to meet the design criteria of two clients. Mine and his. His client is intent on having the TV inside a case with folding doors. And besides, I don't get to have 17 inches of depth for this cabinet. Also as I said, I've done cabinets with lifts. This one just can't be one of them.
 
Yeah, I think the challenge is trying to combine the moderness of the TV design with other more traditional designs for the cabinet. I suspect that that is largely why folks end up just closing it away because it avoids the issue but imho I think that that is sidestepping the problem and introducing others.


On the vanity - how did you address the strength issue for the "hanging" bench? It seems like there would be a lot of stress at the join between the bench and the vanity cabinet. Is the backer on the vanity designed such that it mostly serves this purpose? its also probable that I'm over thinking things :D

Probably the best solution is to stop watching TV and get rid of the idiot box. :D

On the entry way bench with sink, we used a couple of pieces of 2" angle iron lagged to the wall under the seat and the top to keep the thing from moving. Then lag screws were run into the seat and top to keep it all secure. I also didn't want to worry about the waste line from the sink getting flexed. The wood panel behind the glass shelf hangs on a cleat and is secured with some rare earth magnets. If you remove the shelf you can pull the panel out at the bottom and remove it to access the drain and the shut off valves for the water supply. No tools required to get in back there that way. The bottom is open so you could probably lay on your back and reach up under there, too. I don't like doing that but even though I'll never have to work under it, I designed it so getting in there wouldn't be a problem.
 
Probably the best solution is to stop watching TV and get rid of the idiot box. :D

:clap: :clap: :clap: Agree. The main problem I have there is that "other people" like to watch it and well.. I get easily sucked in... Its a personal failing.

On the entry way bench with sink, we used a couple of pieces of 2" angle iron lagged to the wall under the seat and the top to keep the thing from moving. Then lag screws were run into the seat and top to keep it all secure. I also didn't want to worry about the waste line from the sink getting flexed. The wood panel behind the glass shelf hangs on a cleat and is secured with some rare earth magnets. If you remove the shelf you can pull the panel out at the bottom and remove it to access the drain and the shut off valves for the water supply. No tools required to get in back there that way. The bottom is open so you could probably lay on your back and reach up under there, too. I don't like doing that but even though I'll never have to work under it, I designed it so getting in there wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the extra details - that setup makes a lot of sense.
 
Rennie, I think you missed the part about not having a choice on this one. It's to meet the design criteria of two clients. Mine and his. His client is intent on having the TV inside a case with folding doors. And besides, I don't get to have 17 inches of depth for this cabinet. Also as I said, I've done cabinets with lifts. This one just can't be one of them.

I guess I did. Sorry. On the depth, if you are placing components below won't you need about 17" for the components and connections?
 
Well, despite your better judgement :D here's what the client has chosen.

13443530854_fec456dc95.jpg


The case is about 18 inches deep now. The deepest component is apparently only 12" but they wanted the drawers to be deeper front to back. No room for applied pulls so there'll be recesses on the bottoms of the drawer fronts accessed in the notches.
 
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