Free standing cabinet

[gkeas]

I started this project over a year ago when I built the doors, but lost interest.  I helped a buddy of mine build some bookcases for his wife for Christmas, so my wife asked when hers would be done, so it is.  To give an indicaiton of scale, that is a 65" TV mounted above it.  It's 5' wide and about 34 1/2" tall.  Only 20" deep.  Sorry for the low quality iphone pictures.

 

[Tim Sproul]

Looks nice.

The first critique that comes to mind is the case edges appear out of proportion to the door rails, stiles, mullions etc.

Did you spray the white finish?  And what is it?

 

[Top Knot]

Sorry for the low quality iphone pictures.

Get yourself a Blackberry  [tongue]

First Tim says:

Looks nice.

Then he says:

The first critique that comes to mind is the case edges appear out of proportion to the door rails, stiles, mullions etc.

The whole unit revolves around these proportions  [eek]

I would have to disagree...
I like this unit and I can appreciate it's look being all white, with lines and patterns, making up the detail even though I prefer the use of richer contrasts for details such as that.

Garry how did you construct the doors?

edit: fixed some of my bad grammer...

 

[gkeas]

The paint was applied by hand (by my wife).  We knew it was going to be painted so the door frames are poplar.

The inset is also poplar that I milled down to 1/2" x 1 1/8".  The individual pieces of the grid were dominoed with the 4mm setup.  The panel is 1/4" ply and sits in a rabbet routed in the back of the doors.

The skirt was designed to reflect the width of the inset grid, and to be honest was a bit of an afterthough.  We originally planned for block feet with no skirt, but my wife wanted more interesting feet, so this is what we came up with.  I had a finite height to work with, as this was designed to go under my TV, which is mounted at 36" above the floor, and I wasn't going to move it up, so the feet couldn't have been much taller.

This is the first time I've attempted something like this, and I am mostly pleased with the results.  I appreciate the comments.

 

[tiralie]

The paint was applied by hand (by my wife). 

Gary
What kind of paint did she use. The finish looks like it is a pearl color.

I had a finite height to work with, as this was designed to go under my TV, which is mounted at 36" above the floor, and I wasn't going to move it up, so the feet couldn't have been much taller.

That's a big TV, is it comfortable watching it at 36"? Just curious, why did you decide on 36" as the height. I am designing a unit now for a 48" TV and I have put TV height at 21".
I have a 42" TV sitting with the bottom of the screen measuring about 30" from the floor and it is too high to .
I originally thought your TV was sitting on top of the cabinet but now that you have explained it, the TV is hanging on the wall. Do you angle the TV down slightly?

This is the first time I've attempted something like this, and I am mostly pleased with the results. 

I think it looks good. The hardware suits the design. Those doors must be fairly wide almost 2.5 feet.
Thanks for posting.
Tim

 

[gkeas]

The paint was applied by hand (by my wife). 

Gary
What kind of paint did she use. The finish looks like it is a pearl color.

I had a finite height to work with, as this was designed to go under my TV, which is mounted at 36" above the floor, and I wasn't going to move it up, so the feet couldn't have been much taller.

That's a big TV, is it comfortable watching it at 36"? Just curious, why did you decide on 36" as the height. I am designing a unit now for a 48" TV and I have put TV height at 21".
I have a 42" TV sitting with the bottom of the screen measuring about 30" from the floor and it is too high to .
I originally thought your TV was sitting on top of the cabinet but now that you have explained it, the TV is hanging on the wall. Do you angle the TV down slightly?

This is the first time I've attempted something like this, and I am mostly pleased with the results. 

I think it looks good. The hardware suits the design. Those doors must be fairly wide almost 2.5 feet.
Thanks for posting.
Tim

I'll check with her on the paint, I'm not sure.  It was applied over a coat of Kilz primer.

Generally speaking, you want your eyes to be centered at the bottom 1/3 of your TV.  Mine is a little high, but we have a big room, so the angles aren't too bad.  I don't tilt it down, but I could with the mount I have. 

I decided on the 36" height because i knew I'd be building this cabinet.  My wife saw a similar design in a catalog, and it had square doors.  I knew I wanted the cabinet width to match the TV width, so that dictated the width of the doors, which in turn, dictated  the height.

 

[Tim Sproul]

The whole unit revolves around these proportions  [eek]

I would have to disagree...
I like this unit and I can appreciate it's look being all white, with lines and patterns, making up the detail even though I prefer the use of richer contrasts for details such as that.

My minor critique is the proportion of case edge to door rails/stiles.  I am speculating that this piece might have benefitted aesthetically by being built like a euro frameless cabinet.  The benefit, if any, would be small.

And to me, one can offer critiques in the same breath with praise.  For myself, I appreciate others offering opinions on how they might improve a design much more than a "great job."  Critiques help me improve future work.  And yes, I don't post much of my work .

 

[Top Knot]

@ Tim:
Perhaps I read a bit much into your original posting  [embarassed]
I guess a full overlay door would reduce the amount of lines on the front and bring more attention to the layout of the doors.