BESTA is the BEST

1IKEA

I have gone through several iterations of our TV wall. I take my TV viewing seriously, and my eyes would always move from the TV to the wall behind it. I tried painting, paneling, I built a slatted wall all to no avail. I saw the BESTA panel system last year and really liked the way it looked, except for the “cardboard faux wood” panel inserts. I have always been a fan of the “wooden wall” and figured I could make my own panels and slide them in.

I went to the lumber yard and was nonplussed with the selection. Every 4X8 sheet had grain that was a little to plain. Soooo, Home Depot, LUAN (underlayment) BAM POW CHEAP!!! I had to take down half of the stack of wood to find some interesting grain and got a few sheets that I liked. Then I had to custom cut each of the 2’X4″ panels.

1PANEL

The luan I used was too thick to put in the slots/channels of the BESTA so I used a planer and removed about 1/8″-ish from the back to slide the panels in. I did the same for the drawer front, except these were a little more difficult to cut. They had to be exact, because they slip in behind glass and if it was cut wrong you could see the gap (I burned through a few pieces). I used Murphy’s Oil Soap instead of a tung oil or poly to finish. It toned the wood down enough for my liking.