Use Kitchen Cabinets as TV Cabinet or Computer Armoire Without Custom Cabinet Prices

TV Cabinets, or Armoires, are fast becoming the norm in American homes.  Coming in all shapes and sizes, these pieces of furniture are popular ways to store television sets and related video and sound equipment.

Getting exactly what you want may be difficult though, since manufacturers only make a set amount of models; you need to shop around extensively for just the right one.  What if even then you can't find a setup you like?

Custom TV cabinets are another option.  These tend to be on the pricey side, and can cost several thousand dollars.  It is possible though, with creative use of kitchen cabinetry, to create a customized tv cabinet at a price you can live with.

There are no rules anywhere stating that a wall cabinet must go on the kitchen wall, or that kitchen cabinets need to go in the kitchen at all.  What prevents you from putting them in a living room and using them as a tv stand?  Nothing!  Have at it, we say.

We've come up with a pretty simple example as a test, one that allows for a fairly good sized television and provides ample space for sound equipment and CD/DVD storage.  Everything in the design depends on what you have for equipment; it's easy enough to change though since it's not one gigantic piece of furniture.  Using kitchen cabinets means that it's modular and customizable.

On either side of the television are stacked wall cabinets, 30"H x 24"W x 18"D, each with two adjustable shelves. On the floor in between them is a subwoofer with a block to either side.  These blocks can be more cabinets, or some sort of framed in piece strong enough to hold up the television.

Above these is the television itself, and above that is another wall cabinet.  We used a 12"H x 42"W x 12"D, which you'd have to bump out a bit to be flush with the rest of the cabinets, but you could get a cabinet with the same depth of 18" and figure out which height will look best.  Certain cabinet companies might have the exact size you need here.

The idea is that you can get a totally customized television cabinet with kitchen cabinets for a fraction of what you would pay someone to build a comparable piece of furniture.  We priced this one in Birch in a higher-end semi-custom cabinet company.  With solid doors, it weighs in around $1900.  With the glass pictured the price is in the $2500 range.  Again though, this could change easily, depending on what you need.

Remember too that tv cabinets are not the only application for kitchen cabinets.  Using similar ideas, it's possible to make office desks, board room multimedia presentation centers, computer armoires, and many more.

For more information about using kitchen cabinets as tv cabinets, visit
www.thecabinetfolks.com.  To see the 3D rendering of the design mentioned here, just follow the articles link from our home page.