Thread: Project Plan - Kitchen Island/Entertainment Piece

First thing I dont see anything obviously wrong with your drawings, i would probably assemble the unit using cam and metal dowells to pull the joints together with sufficent wooden dowells as wel.
Im not sure what the stock sizes are in the USA but in Aus we get 2400 * 1200mm, 2400 * 1800mm these are also available in the same width but with lengths of 2700 & 3600mm in either MDF or Particle Board.
If there is a decent supplier near you take your drawings along to them and they should be able to optimise the cut list and give you the best material to limit wastage.
I would probaly make a unit like that in Tas Oak veneered particle board for around the Aus$2000 mark but shipping there would be the killer.
Are you intending to use veneered timber surfaces or paint the unit?
A good place to find a good cabinet maker is to look on this old house web site, they have a list of suppliers for each house they worked on. eg http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tvpr...rdware,00.html

Also add at least 1 powerpoint to where each pigeon hole is for av gear

would probably assemble the unit using cam and metal dowells to pull the joints together with sufficent wooden dowells as wel.

Ala Ikea? Thats what I was thinking as well - especially since it's going in a high-rise condo and has to fit in an elevator.

I would probaly make a unit like that in Tas Oak veneered particle board for around the Aus$2000 mark but shipping there would be the killer.

Ok, so that runs around $1500 US. Thanks for the ballpark figure, first one I got. Tas Oak - I assume that would be on the higher end? How about Maple? I was planning on using Maple and doing a charcoal stain, actually. I would probably request the unit as unfinished wood and then stain it myself - I'm doing this with the kitchen cabinets. What kind of pricing would this see?

Also add at least 1 powerpoint to where each pigeon hole is for av gear

Interesting terms you use. We call them outlets in the US. I was planning on having two outlets, one for each side of the AV bottom shelf, accomodating the computer and audio receiver on one side, and the TV and XBox on the other.

I have a few suggestions for you.

Change your material thickness to 3/4". 1" is overkill and is going to do nothing but cost you more $.

Have your boxes made from 3/4" Maple MDF with a 3/4" thick maple face frame. It will save you money and still be very sturdy.

Forget about the cam and dowel junk. If you want a Home Depot cabinet, go to Home Depot and buy one. What I recommend, is that you have the cases preassembled in sections. (3 upper, one lower) This doesn't have to be one gigantic cabinet, you can make it several managable cabinets. If you want a thing of beauty, trust me on this one. What you should be looking for is blind dado construction if you want this to last more than just a few years.

Make the doors in front of the TV pocket doors. IIRC this requires about 3 or 4" from the television width to the opening width. I am partial to the rack and pinion, but the cable systems are good too. Stay away from the Blum systems. Blech! Check with HAFELE for this.

Use drawer slides on your drawers. Check K&V's line, or Accuride 3832 Full Extensions slides. I would also recommend Baltic Birch drawer boxes. It's good stuff, and won't cost you as much as solid wood.

Use either Blum or Salice concealed self closing hinges.

What kind of floor is this going on? You might want to consider scribing your base to the floor, this makes for a real "built-in" appearance, but it will require some tools.

Make your counter tops from 3/4" Maple MDF built up with particle board or MDF to 1 1/2" and have it edged with a mitred 3/4 X 1 1/2" solid maple. That makes for a good counter top that won't break the bank.

Too bad I don't live 700 miles closer, I'd be just the guy you would want to build this for you. Do a search in the 'Woodworking pictures' section to see some of the things I have made. I would be happy to work with you with your design if you'd like though.

Change your material thickness to 3/4". 1" is overkill and is going to do nothing but cost you more $.

Done. The new pictures are posted up in the original URL - along with a new idea for the TV doors at the very bottom.

This doesn't have to be one gigantic cabinet, you can make it several managable cabinets. If you want a thing of beauty, trust me on this one.

I've looked at several ways of doing this, but I can't figure out how to get it to work - since I want euro-style cabinets (frameless).

(3 upper, one lower)

Again, I can't really see how you'd partition this. Perhaps you can download the images and just draw flat lines where you'd do it? With all the specialized dimensions it seems to be quite difficult.

Make the doors in front of the TV pocket doors. IIRC this requires about 3 or 4" from the television width to the opening width.

Since the depth of the now 46" living room counter is only 18" on the interior, with pocket doors, the largest glides I could accomodate would be 16" glides. This means the doors would only retract about 12", meaning 6" would protrude from the cabinet - quite undesirable (the pocket doors I found retracted the glide length minus 4"). I came up with another solution, allowing for folding doors to retract into the recess of the TV cabinet. Again, I don't have experience w/furniture building, but my engineering background says this will work. I'm just not sure what kind of gliding system would work with the design. Would it work? (see the bottom of the original link).

Accuride 3832 Full Extensions slides

I've always liked full extension drawers - how much more do these cost?

What kind of floor is this going on? You might want to consider scribing your base to the floor, this makes for a real "built-in" appearance, but it will require some tools.

Right now, the kitchen is divided by a wall, on the living room side it's hardwood, on the kitchen side its granite tile. I'd end up ripping up the granite tile and then match the hardwood to give it a more open feel. I also would have to run electrical and audio under the flooring (its solid concrete so I can dig out a small channel) to provide power to the island. As such, scribing it into the floor isn't a problem and what I was planning.

Make your counter tops from 3/4" Maple MDF built up with particle board or MDF to 1 1/2" and have it edged with a mitred 3/4 X 1 1/2" solid maple. That makes for a good counter top that won't break the bank.

Actually we're gonna do a full kitchen remodel all at once - including the island, so we'll probably put a nice stone countertop on it. I'd still just use the 3/4" maple base right?

Too bad I don't live 700 miles closer, I'd be just the guy you would want to build this for you. Do a search in the 'Woodworking pictures' section to see some of the things I have made. I would be happy to work with you with your design if you'd like though.

Beautiful work. Wish ya lived closer too. My wife and I were both impressed. I'd definately love some professional aid on the design, thanks. I won't be building it/having it built for a little bit of time (still saving up for the kitchen overhaul), but I had the idea and just couldn't stay away from designing it - probably goes back to my days growing up with legos and lincoln logs.

UPDATE: I was also planning on adding a couple of small vents to the side to help air circulate around the electronics - how hard is this?