TV Storage Stand Tutorial

Is it possible to have DIY exhaustion? I have been working my bum off for the past two weeks on some upcoming projects and it's killing me! lol It's hard when I have been doing so much but can't share it with you all yet. But, amidst all those projects, I have one that I can show you :) This one came to mind out complete necessity. I was tired of the babe putting her little face right up to the TV. I know studies say that looking at the TV close won't ruin your eyes, but I swear it will...if anything, it'll at least give you a good headache. Plus, she likes hitting the TV with things. So, I knew I needed to raise the TV higher.

I found a couple of unused crate boxes I had made awhile ago and shoved them under the TV. Worked wonderful! But was a complete eyesore.

So, this idea has been in my head for awhile, and I finally got around to making it. I didn't want it to just be a box, I wanted some sort of function so I decided to make at least one of the doors working so we can hide the remotes and what not in it. Although as of late, it has been storage for the babe's sippy. :) I was going to make all of the doors working, but I was trying to make this as easy as possible since my DIY exhaustion was sneaking in again :) Plus, it's easy to put your hand in there and move things around to both ends so I didn't think extra holes for doors really mattered for me.

Here are the supplies you'll need. I made my measurements based on my TV so you'll need to tinker with the measurements to get them just right for your needs.
2 1x8 @ 35 inches
1 1x8 @ 36.5 inches
2 1x8 @ 7.5 inches ( make these square, so if your 1x8 measures 7.25" in reality, then cut at 7.25" etc.)
3 1x6 cut square also.
Wood glue/Nail gun/screws
Drill
Jigsaw
Paint
knobs
hinge (s)
Screwdriver

FYI, the pictures show a smaller stand than what I ended up using. On that note, make sure you measure the stand your TV sits on and have the width of this TV stand be wider than that so you don't have a teetering TV :) I had to make mine twice cuz I guessed. Not fun. So, these are the measurements for the smaller TV Stand. Mine ended up being the same length just 3.5" wider.

Step 1: Cut all your wood to size

 Step 2: Take one of the 35" pieces and find the middle. You'll then get your 6" square piece and line that up in the middle. Trace. Now draw a square in the middle of the line you just traced. This will be your cut out.

 Drill a hole in the middle big enough to fit your jigsaw blade.

 Use your jigsaw to cut out the square. If you look closely, you can see that I go in swerved lines from the middle to the straight lines. Once I'm at the end of the straight line, I'll turn the jigsaw around and complete the line to the other corner. Then start from the middle again to the next side, etc. I hope that makes sense, if not, you're on your own :)
Sand the edges.

If you want more than just one working door, this is where you'll repeat step 2 on the other doors. Just make sure they are equidistant from the middle hole.

 Step 3: Use wood glue and your nail gun, or screws, to secure the to shorter 1x8 pieces to the end of the piece you just cut out.

 Step 4: Now secure the other 35" piece to the backside.

 Step 5: Now secure the top!

 Step 6: If you are making faux doors, secure the two squares equidistant from where the middle one will be. For ease, I just measured 5" in on each side. Make sure they are in the middle. You can secure these with wood glue, screws, or nails (sorry no picture, just imagine ;) )

Step 7: Paint. Make sure you paint the real door squares before putting any hardware on them and securing them to the rest of the piece.

 Step 8: Now place the hardware on the doors. Both knobs and hinges. If you really care, you can use a hidden hinge. I didn't care that much. You can also place the hinge on top or even on the bottom if you want. It just depends on which way you want it to open.

 See. Functioning! I love this extra little place to store the remotes. You can even make these big enough if you make the doors wider to fit DVDs.

 A little better than the before, no? lol. Anything was better than the before :) It is sad that I lived with it that way for that long. I just couldn't stand the babe continuing to hit the TV with things, and that completely solved the problem...so at least now, this solved that problem and that eyesore :)

I was going to build some shelves on this side just like I did on the other side, but I'm worried about being two matchy matchy so I'm thinking this works just as well...maybe even better :) 

The total cost of this should come under $20 if you already have the paint on hand.