Entertainment Armoire Functional, Stylish And Inexpensive To Build

An armoire-style entertainment center can be a handsome, stylish piece of furniture for the den, living room or family room and a neat place to keep - and hide, when necessary - the television, VCR and other electronic components.

It’s usually an expensive piece of furniture, too. Do-it-yourselfers who build their own armoires can save a lot of money, and they won’t need more than two or three Saturday afternoons to do it.

The entertainment armoire shown here holds up to a 27-inch television in the main upper cabinet, a VCR on the upper interior shelf, compact stereo equipment or other components in the lower compartment and video game cartridges, CDs and tapes in the drawer.

To keep costs down, plywood makes up the armoire’s less visible parts, including the sides, back, top and inner drawer. Pine is used for all facing. The project requires one 8-foot piece of 1 x 12 pine, pine molding, five sheets of plywood and hardware, glue, stain and finish.

The finished unit measures 70 inches tall by 39 inches long by 23 inches deep.

The Entertainment Armoire plan, No. 847, is $6.50 and includes step-by-step instructions with 23 photos, full-size traceable patterns, exploded diagrams and a complete shopping list and cutting schedule.

In addition, a catalog picturing hundreds of other do-it-yourself projects for indoors and out is available for $3.95. Prices include sales tax, postage and handling.

To order, clip this article and send it with a check or money order to U-Bild Features, c/o The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2383, Van Nuys, CA 91409-2383. Specify plan number and allow three to four weeks for delivery (for first-class mail, add $1 per item).