How to Build a DIY TV Stand

 

Want to know how to build a DIY TV stand? If you’re looking for a woodworking project to try this weekend, this would be it. Make a cool TV stand from reclaimed wood and add a rustic feel to your living room.

 

How to Build a TV Stand | DIY TV Stand

 

Do you love the look of found objects used as furniture? I love finding rare treasures, but sometimes a short cut is nice. 🙂

I found this awesome old crate and used it as a TV stand. Here is the how-to on making your own old looking crate TV stand made from typical pine boards found at any lumber yard!

When selecting boards to use for a old distressed project, try to find ones that already come with some character to them. It’s hard, but leave the perfectly blemish free boards for a different project. After all, you will be taking a chain and wood file to it later to beat the crap out of it, sounds like fun, right?!

This TV stand is 40” L, 40” H, 22” D.

 

What you’ll need for your DIY TV stand:

• (2) 1×12’s  @ 8’ L
• (2) 1×3 @ 8’ L
• (2) 1×4 @ 8’ L
• (2) 2×4’s @ 8’ L

 

 

Step 1

Begin by making the top. Make 2 1×12” cuts to 40” L. and a 1×4” cut at 40”L. Put pocket holes in the 1×4” going to both sides. Using 1 ¼” PH screws and wood glue, attached the boards together to form one top.

Repeat all those steps to make the shelf, but make all the cuts to 37” instead.

 

Step 2

To make the sides: cut a 1×12” board into four 21 ¾” chunks. and a 1×3” into four 18 ¼” pieces.

Take 2 boards and clamp 2 1×3”s one the ends, pre drill and wood glue, and attach with 1 ¼” wood screws. Repeat for the other side pannel. You should now have 4 pieces that look like the photo above.

 

Step 3

Cut four legs from 2×4”s at 25 ¼” and 37” from a 1×4”.

Now that everything is cut out, it’s time to distress all the boards. The amount of distressing depends on your personal taste. I use a wood file for most of my distressing, and also use other tools like a hammer, paint can opener, chains, bag of rocks, etc. Anything to create dents and marks in the boards.

DISTRESSING TIP: Use full range of motion strokes when distressing. Keep moving all over the boards for even and realistic weathering. You can view how to distress wood on my other post.

 

Step 4

Once you are happy with the amount of distressing, take the 40”L top and place to face down on your work table. Drill pocket holes in the top and back of the side panels:

Attach the side panels to the top with 1 ¼” PH screws. measure 3 ½” down from the ends of the side panels and attach the shelf with 1 ¼” PH screws from the under side. Once you flip it up right, you should have something that looks like this:

 

Step 5

Pick which side you like for the front of the piece, and attach the 1×4” board right under the shelf with 1 ¼” PH screws.

 

Step 6

Now its time for the legs: Begin by clamping a leg to the base using the edge of the TV stand as your guide for making it square. (I also used my square tool to make sure it stayed in place) Use wood glue and wood screws to attach. Repeat for the other 3 legs.

Flip the piece up right and make sure you are level and square, and that it doesn’t wobble.

Measure 6” up from the ground and attached the 1×3” boards with wood screws. Pre-drill so the wood does not split.

 

You’re done! Its built!

Now lets have some fun staining it:

I oxidized mine. This is a process that takes tea, vinegar and steel wool to create a reaction that causes the wood to turn shades of brown and grey. The more Tannic the wood contains, the darker the color will be. For a complete tutorial on how to oxidize wood, click here!

If you would like to stain your TV stand, sand the whole piece after distressing it with up to 220 grit sand paper. It is often easier to stain the separate pieces of the TV stand before assembling if you are using a stain the requires you to wipe off the excess stain. That way you can get to the inside corners of the shelf portion without having the stain gather. The oxidizing solution is thin enough that you can do everything after and it won’t be a problem.

 

Painting the TV stand: for a DIY chalk paint look, mix in unsanded tile grout to the paint of your choice. (I recommend an eggshell finish or duller) Sift 2T of the tile grout into 1C of paint, mix well, and paint right away. The longer it sits the clumpier it gets, so work in small batches to get the smoothest application.

 

If you are going for the old weathered look, using a satin polyurethane or a wax will keep the sheen down and keep it from looking too polished.

 

 

 

Did you enjoy our tutorial on how to make a DIY TV stand? Let us know in the comments section below what your thoughts are on this homemade TV stand. Do you have any other craft projects you’d like to share? Share it with us and we’ll give it a try. We love doing cool DIY projects by making craft projects, home decor projects, upcycling ideas, recipes, tutorials and anything you can do yourself. That’s why we created this site, we want people to be more in touch with their creative side and realize that there’s a lot of things that they can do themselves. We’d love to hear from you and create a community of DIY enthusiasts where any project is just a click away. Stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterestand Instagram!

 

Want more cool DIY projects to try? Check out more of our posts:

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