 |
| This was the first major wood project I did in our house. This
system is comprised of three sections: the central fireplace mantle and
the towers on either side. |
|
|
| The entertainment system spans the entire 12-foot wall, and is 92-inches
tall. The top sections of the towers are fixed, with the outside
section for speakers, and the smaller inside section for display(s).
The base units with a heavy shelf provides ample storage for our assorted
books. The base units have access to electrical wall outlets, but
I opted not to recess an electrical outlet on the mantle. I felt
a better option would be for a hole with a blank,
wooden outlet cover on one side to pass through any corded accessory
on the mantle. |
|
| The left tower houses the stereo and has display shelves. This
was the first unit constructed. It was constructed in it's entirety
in the garage and just hand trucked into place with a perfect fit.
What's the wood leaning against the wall for, you ask? That's for
Michelle's
bed base unit...but that's another page. |
|
|
|
| The left tower is divided into thirds, with the central section for
the stereo components. The individual shelfs are adjustable should
components need to be replaced. |
|
|
| The door on the stereo section is a tempered glass door with a small
wooden frame. The top of the frame carries the curved theme as does
the large drawer and other components. |
|
|
 |
| The left and right sections of the left tower are of equal size and
have adjustable shelves for our various Southwestern pots we collect on
our too infrequent trips to New Mexico. |
|
 |
|
| The central unit is the fireplace mantle. It has the pilasters
on either side, with a 10-inch mantle shelf. This was the last unit
built, and there again it was built as a single unit and slid into place
with no adjustment necessary. |
|
 |
| The design of the mantle is a basic gallery or colonial design, with
simple coves and quarter rounds in order to keep with the simplicity of
the entire system. |
|
|
 |
| With a close up, you can see some of the detail in the breast plate
of the mantle--also known by it's more formal name "entablature."
It has three inserts to offer some highlights to the piece in a relatively
dark room. The layered finishs I chose gives it the unusual highlights. |
|
|
| The right tower houses the television set and the accessories.
The television bay, which can accomendate up to a 32-inch television has
a rather large tampour door on the front. This unit was the most
difficult as the walls and floor were not square in this corner.
So instead of building the unit and sliding it into place as I did with
the other two units, I had to "stick build" it in place. Needless
to say, this unit took the longest to build. |
|
 |
|
 |
| This picture shows the tampour door partially open to display some
of the detail and the handle. It also gives a closer view of the
pilaster. |
|
|
| This additional view of the right tower gives a good shot of the tower
with the tampour door open and the fixed shelf for the cable box and VCR
player. |
|
 |
|
| As you can see, not only does alot of planning go into the design and
layout, but also the smaller details such as hiding the vast number of
cords routing between the units and up the back of the towers. The
system is also designed to be relatively easy to knock down for repairs
or removal, from the facing attached with lightly glued buscuits to construction
using screws instead of glue. |
|
| Stay tuned as I intend to be adding to this page later some pictures
of the construction process that will display a few of the details. |
|
