An entertainment center plan should be flexible enough to accept additional equipment.
Entertainment centers are often the centerpiece of living or family room furniture. Television, audio, video, gaming and Internet entertainment services are converging, and as a result homeowners want to have the equipment for all these activities in once place. When you decide to build your entertainment center from scratch, picking a plan is only one of many important decisions.
Choosing a Design
An entertainment center can be as simple as a small cabinet for a television with a couple drawers for DVD storage underneath. Larger entertainment centers can span an entire wall. When selecting an entertainment center plan, the first and possibly most important step is identifying the equipment that will reside in the furniture. Televisions, gaming systems, computer CPU towers, DVD players, DVRs and satellite TV receivers will find their home in an entertainment center. Larger furniture also makes room for family pictures, books and decorative nick knacks.
Choosing a Wood Species
Wood species has a significant impact on the project's cost, the tools needed to complete the project, and the overall appearance of completed entertainment center. Birch and maple woods are lightly colored, while cherry and walnut woods are dark. The color of oak wood grain is somewhere between these categories. When deciding on an entertainment center and plans, consider the room's decor, and how the entertainment center's finish color will affect the room. Wood selection will also affect the project's total cost. Solid hardwood is much more expensive than plywood, or wood veneered particle board, and close grain woods like walnut and cherry are more expensive than oak, poplar or birch.
Flexibility
Electronic technology is changing constantly. Just a few years ago, VCRs were rendered obsolete by DVD players, and the latter is at risk of disappearing because of upcoming digital video streaming technology. So when designing an entertainment center, consider future expansion, and what devices you may want to add or remove. A beautiful entertainment center that you spent hundreds of hours building and finishing is suddenly outdated if you upgrade your television to a larger size that doesn't fit into your cabinet.
Free Plan Sources
Once you make decisions regarding the size, style, and construction of the entertainment center, free plans are available across the internet. Free Woodworking (freeww.com) features many free plans, which include pictures of the finished cabinet, and lists of tools and materials needed to complete the project. The Canadian Plywood Manufacturers Association (canply.org) also has a number of plans available online. One of the nation's oldest woodworking catalogs, located at Rockler.com, has beautiful entertainment center plans and the specialty hardware needed to build them. The plans are available for around $10, but include the advantage of sourcing all your hardware and fasteners needs from one location.
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