Expert: Jamie Yocono - 11/3/2004

Question
we have a new addition almost complete. i want to build from scratch a wall unit for our tv. it is set up for a cornoer space, and near the ceiling. any ideas?

Answer
Hi Gabrielle,

Your question about building a corner TV cabinet didn't give me enough information so that I might provide an answer. Some of the questions that I have are:

- Do you have tools available, and the woodworking skills necessary to build this?
- Is the cabinet going to be built in, or freestanding?
- Solid wood or plywood?
- Size of the TV unit to be housed?
- Size of the corner of the room?

A few years ago, a client of mine came to me to design a corner cabinet for his new large screen TV.  Once I took the overall measurements of the TV and designed a corner cabinet around it, he realized that corner cabinet needed to be HUGE to accommodate the TV. And he quickly scrapped the project, because the room couldn't accommodate a cabinet that large.

So the first thing I would is make a scaled drawing of the corner, placing your TV in the area, and see if you have enough room for it. Corner cabinets are great on one hand, because they use up dead space in a room. But they are also notorious for needing to be bigger than we anticipate. So the first place I would start is to make sure that the TV will fit in whatever cabinet you envision.

Next, you need to decide what materials you intend to use in this cabinet. Most would probably choose a cabinet grade plywood, since you will need fairly large pieces of wood to span the corner distance. Making this out of solid wood would require you to glue wood into larger pieces and plane them to the desired thickness, so plywood is a good option. The only problem is that it's not that strong, and will sag unless you design the cabinet properly.

So I go back to my original question of you having the tools and skills necessary.

At any rate, without that information, I did do a search and found a few sites that offer plans for corner cabinets.  I would look at a few different designs, and see if you can't come up with something of your own to build. Once you see how these units go together, they're really pretty easy to build.

Here's a web address to one for the sites I found offering plans:
http://www.woodzone.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WOS&Product...

After building about a dozen or so entertainment units, I think there are certain things I've learned about building them. Sort of like the do's and don't of design....

There are quite a few places to find plans for corner cabinets. The hard part (I think) is locating the hardware you need to go along with the designs. So the first place I would start is Rockler.com, which is a woodworking company that not only sells plans, but a complete line of supplies like drawer glides, hinges, knobs and pulls, screws, etc. It's a retail site best known for it's "one stop" shopping. If you're near a big city, there might be a store near you.

For plans, next, I would look into the sites of the various woodworking magazines. My favorites are: Taunton.com (home of Fine Woodworking magazine), WoodSmith.com, Wood.com and Woodweb.com.....the last one is more like a wood resource site, but should give you a lot of background information.

Another good place is to "Google" the term "Free plans for corner cabinets" and see what you come up with. I just did that and came up with 330,000 possible links. It's a start.

Last thing...as a custom furniture maker, I am often asked to build pieces for which there are no plans available. I know this takes experience and an understanding of joinery, but it's possible to simplify your task by using some stock components. For example, I am currently working on a design for a local attorney who wants an entertainment center.  Since he wants the unit to blend in his house, I am using some doors that he ordered for his kitchen cabinets, which were leftover. The doors on the entertainment center will match the kitchen cabinetry, which will blend the kitchen and family rooms quite nicely.

These links and suggestions should give you some direction where to locate plans.  I can help you better once you tell me about your skills and the plan you have chosen.  Good luck, write back if you have any other questions about this project.

Jamie Yocono
Wood it Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV