How To Build A DIY Entertainment Center TV Stand!

Thinking about building your own DIY entertainment center? Check out this project where I built my own entertainment center tv stand! Looks awesome in my living room!

In this week’s project video, I’ll show you how I made this Entertainment Center that has plenty of shelf room to store TV equipment, but also has two side compartments that can be used for miscellaneous items (or even be utilized as a dresser). Let me show you how I did it! 

Things I Used In This DIY Entertainment Center Project:

ISOtunes Bluetooth Hearing Protection
Armor Tool Workbench
Triton Track Saw
RZ Mask
Palm ROS
Right Angle Clamp It Jigs
Titebond Original
Edge Banding
Super Jaws
Armor Tool Pocket Hole Jig
Cabinet Hinges
Titebond Thick and Quick
Brad Nailer

This entire project is made up from 3 sheets of plywood.

If you build it, you can play around with color schemes but I wanted my two end compartments to be painted white and the center shelves and internal shelving to be walnut.

I first started by breaking down my sheets of plywood on my workbench using my tracksaw.

I made up a set of plans for this project so if you’re interested in a material list and a cultist to work off of, you can find that here.

After getting the pieces down to a manageable size, I took them over to my table saw and cut them down even further. Utilizing the sliding table portion of my new saw for the first time! A built in cross cut sled??? Cooooool. 

Now, since I want most of this build to be painted, I went ahead and laid out all the parts that will end up white and prepped them to get a coat of paint. This meant running my palm ROS over all the edges and getting them nice and smooth then dusting them off and rolling on the white. 

When it came to assembling, I pulled out two of my right angle clamp it jigs and grabbed the side to attach to the top.

Since this project will be indoors, I used Titebond Original wood glue then predrilled and attached with screws. 

Next was to attach the shelves.

Personally, I thought it would look really pretty to have the shelves be made from the walnut ply instead of painted white. Since the front edge of these will be exposed I purchased some iron on walnut veneer edge banding to wrap the edges in, or at least the front and back edges. 

I started by placing the shelf in my super jaws, tearing off a strip of banding a little bit longer than the side, and ironing it on. Some people see my power tool wall and think the iron is placed there as a joke, but it’s kept in my shop just for this task.

Rockler makes a very handy edge banding trimming tool and I even have one…I just couldn’t locate it. So I used a chisel to clean up the edges instead. If you use a chisel you just need to keep it nice and flat so it doesn’t drift into the veneer of the face and gouge it. A wider chisel makes this task a lot easier as well.

I repeated the process on all the shelves for the compartments as well as the longer shelves that will be spanning between the two ends. I used my armor tool mobile workbench as not only a side workstation but also placed a stop to keep my veneer from unwinding as I was pulling off strips. 

Then when that task was done and it was time to drill a few pocket holes to attach the shelves, I cleared off the space and clamped my auto adjusting Armor Tool Pocket Hole jig in place using two scrap 2x4s as side supports. I then drilled a few pocket holes into each side of the shelves. 

Now to actually attach them.

I flipped the unit I made earlier so the open end was facing up. This will be the bottom once we’re done so I made sure to not only place the edge banded side of the shelf facing the front, but also that the pocket holes were facing the bottom.

You can see I cut four scraps to size to act as stand offs and make attaching the shelves a lot quicker and easier.  

After the shelves were in, then I attached what will be the bottom piece. By doing it this way, you won’t have to work in a tight little nook to attach the shelves.

Next I repeated with the second compartment. This one I wanted to add one more shelf to the center so there would be three total. I used the same spacers but cut them down to the needed size. The important thing on this step is to make sure the shelf is flush with the front and back so it doesn’t interfere with the door or back piece that will later be added.

To cover up the screws on the top side, I made sure to countersink the heads past the surface then I just dabbed in a little bit of joint compound on top.

I also used this to fill in any small voids in the edges of the plywood. Once dry, I sanded it down and gave all the edges a coat of paint. It would of course be easier on yourself if you remember to paint the edges at the same time as everything else : ) 

Whew, I didn’t know how I would like the walnut shelves, but I think that looks really snazzy.

Ok, lets get it up to a workable height and throw a back on it. This is just screwed directly onto the back. 

The doors are also simple, but need the hinges attached first. I’m using some concealed hinges and they come with a template to counterbore a large hole to sink the hinge cup into. I measured to make sure these hinges would be spaced equally from each other (and also made sure they wouldn’t be in the way of a shelf).

Then I used a forester bit to make the counterbore. You know you’ve gone deep enough when the hinge sits in it flush. Then I used the screws that came with the hinges to attach them.

To make sure I was attaching portion B in line with portion A on the door, I first cut a piece of scrap to the same height as my door and marked off exactly where the center of the hinges fell on it.

This way I could hold the measuring scrap up to my cabinet and transfer the marks to the inside.

This gives me an exact center line to now use the provided guide to predrill the two holes needed to attached portion B. 

Ok if I did everything right then this should attached and close easily…….success! 

After repeating to the same steps to hang the second door and get it fully adjusted, I removed both doors from their body to add a handle. If you remember the final look, this handle isn’t a standard door pull, it’s a big rectangle made from the walnut ply that certainly serves as a way to open the doors but also as an accent piece to break up the big white space of the boxes.

Since paint doesn’t bond as well to a painted surface I first marked off where these handles would need to be placed then used my palm ROS to remove the majority of the paint in that area.

To attached them, I used a quick setting wood glue by Titebond called Thick and Quick. This cuts the wait time down to about 15 mins. However it’s worth noting that Thick and Quick is unaffected by finishes so maybe removing the paint was unnecessary.

To avoid using nails that would be seen, I weighted both handles down with a few heavyish items in my shop. 

Alright and next was to move things inside the house and get things set up! Currently this room has carpet in it, but I will be ripping it up and laying down a hardwood floor. I’m leading with that because the carpet prevents the doors from easily opening and closing but I’m not worried about it right now. 

So three shelves will span in between the two units to connect them. To hang these shelves I rotated the units on their side and attached three ledges for the shelves to sit on.

Once again using Thick and Quick but also since this is an area people won’t see, I used a few brad nails to clamp them in place while it set up. You can see I’m using a square to make sure these are going on straight.

Once all six were placed, I could move the outside units roughly to their position then slide the three shelves on.

Two of these I made walnut ply, but the center one I made from a sheet of glass I picked up from a local glass supplier. The shelves can be secured from the underside, using screws to go into the ledges they are resting on. 

And that’s the unit done!

I can’t believe how simple it was and I absolutely love how great it looks. If you are needing an entertainment center, or even a dresser or additional storage, I can’t recommend this build enough.

Don’t forget I have a set of DIY modern TV stand with storage plans here if you are interested in building one of your own.

I hope you enjoyed this one. I’ll see you on whatever I am building next!