Materials: Expedit shelving unit, Capita legs, Signum cable organizer, backing board, left-over wood from the As-Is section
Description: My husband and I live in a cozy apartment that doesn't have a lot of space. The walls are so thin and brittle we can't hang anything on them. That means everything has to sit on the floor. I hate things sitting on the floor because it means dust collects and hides in nooks and crannies and before you know it you have random rat-sized dust bunnies that randomly appear in your apartment. What's a girl with OCD to do?!
Inspired by the hack "Expedit bookshelves to fabulous TV Stand!" we went to IKEA and bought:
1 - Expedit 5x1 shelving unit
1 - set of 6 inch Capita legs
2 - Signum cable organizers
We also headed to Home Depot and bought some white backing board cut to the dimensions of the shelving unit.
Tools you'll need include screws, a drill, nails, a hammer, and a holesaw attachment for your drill.
To create the clean look you see in the photo we affixed the Capita legs to the underside of the shelving unit, nailed the backing board to it, and cut holes out for cables with a drill and a 1.5 inch holesaw attachment.
We had taken apart our old Billy TV entertainment unit and screwed some of the leftover smaller pieces of wood to the back of the shelving unit to anchor a surge protector and the Signum cable organizers to it. If you don't have any spare wood laying around you can pick up some random pieces from the As-Is section at IKEA. The cable organizers are supposed to hang from things like the underside of desks but we took the actual 'basket' portion and drill it directly to the back of the shelving unit.
Put it all together and you have a clean looking TV stand, cables that are off the ground, and an entertainment unit that takes all of three seconds to vacuum.
~ Stephenie, Toronto
The cable management solution in this post could use some cable management.
ReplyDeleteSo that box in the "behind" photo in the middle just hangs there putting pressure on the cables it's hanging from?
This also looks like it sits far from the wall due to the shape/depth of the Signum being situated in a direction the Ikeagod ("Great Giver of Meatballs") had never intended.
I'm really curious about exactly how thin the walls are and why things can't be hung from them. Hopefully it's not a noisy apartment.
Oops, I replied to you but neglected to actually hit reply (see below)!
DeleteThe bench stands two inches back from the wall - I pulled it forward to be able to take a pic.
ReplyDeleteThe surge protector weighs one pound and is anchored to solid wood and isn't putting any pressure on the bench. I wish we could bundle the wires a little better but we're constantly switching out our electronic equipment so that's the best we can manage for now.
The walls are awful! They're made of this slag material that crumbles if you drill into it. We've tried everything and not even industrial tapcon screws can make it work. They're super thin too so we can hear our neighbors on either side when they're doing simple things like turning on their tap to wash dishes (we can hear their cups clanging too). Thankfully the ones to the left of us are seniors and they're quiet and literally half deaf, and the guy to the right of us is a single guy that's never home and when he is home he listens to classical music. We can even hear the ceiling fan of the people under us. It's not an ideal location.
What about toggle bolts? Will those work to hold stuff on the thin walls? I personally prefer the plastic kind (http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00gBKQabsqbVch/Plastic-Toggle-Bolt.jpg) because the metal kind require drilling a larger hole, but they both work. This might also be a good place to ask about what might work: http://diy.stackexchange.com/ (Uploading pictures of the material will also help - the peeps over there usually have some good ideas.
DeleteDoes it seem to be fairly stable on top? This seems perfect for fitting my bulky stereo equipment in, but I have a 42", 65lb plasma television, and I'd hate to come home from work to find it laying on the floor.
ReplyDeleteIf you buy an extra set of Capita legs and put two of them in the middle (so you'd have six legs total) it would definitely support your TV.
DeleteHave you considered doors? I too am OCD about the equipment, especially since we have cats, and I found the single easiest thing to do was buy three Bestas, drill holes between them so cables could pass through, and put rubber gaskets to prevent dust from doing so as well.
ReplyDeleteI would love to put doors on them but I can't figure out how to allow enough airflow so that our electronic equipment doesn't overheat. We both work from home quite often so the TV and sound system and mini PC are on almost the entire day. Then there's the marathon xbox sessions on the weekend... Any ideas are welcome!
DeleteDrill more holes in the back. Paint the inside back of the unit to match the wall behind it, and also paint the inside groove of the holes themselves to match.
DeleteHi! I love the look of your lack TV stand and am considering making one myself. I wanted to know if, after a couple of months, you had noticed any sagging in the middle of the stand? Thanks!
ReplyDelete