I am back in love with IKEA. Okay not really, but I do find some of their stuff quite useful.
A few weeks ago, I moved my furniture from the front living room to the back family room to take advantage of the fireplace for the winter. I was also looking forward to having the TV just off the kitchen so I could watch it while cooking.
I forgot, however, the TV sits on a built-in bookcase in the living room and I do not have an adequate stand for the 42” plasma. Here is how it looked after the furniture move:
Very college dorm room. Not only is the cart way too small for the TV, but it only holds two electronic components. Notice the VCR to the right and behind the TV. The Wii is back there, too.
I had a few specific IKEA TV stands in mind but when I got to the store and saw them in person, they simply would not do: too low, too tall, too flimsy, too wide, etc. Then, down in the bowels of the warehouse part of the store after I had given up finding the perfect TV stand, I found it. Not only did it have a fake TV perched atop it announcing it as a TV stand but it was only 80 bucks. Perfect!
Here it is in its new home:
Note the four – count ‘em, FOUR – shelves for components. In theory, you could purchase two additional shelves and get eight components in there but I like having a larger bottom shelf area for storing exercise DVD’s and Wii accessories in baskets.
I toyed with putting all of the components down one side and dividing the other side with a single shelf, which would still accommodate both baskets (one on the bottom and one on the shelf) but I am a fan of symmetry. Even if I do part my hair on the side.
Had the IKEA floor model I saw in the warehouse not had the legs attached, it would not have occurred to me to get them. They were $5 per 2-pack, so an additional $15, but totally worth it. They make the cabinet look more finished and provide a bonus area for storing the Wii Balance Board.
It was not all tea and roses once I got it home, however. Assembly was not the problem. It was quite easy until I was about to attach the final top piece and realized there were no holes in the back for the cables.
What the hell?
I called up the IKEA website and discovered I bought a Besta Shelf Unit / Height Extension Unit, which was never intended to hold components with cables. Even though they had a fake TV perched on top of it on display at the IKEA warehouse.
Apparently they only have TV’s in Sweden: no cable boxes, DVD players, VCR’s, or surround sound components. How sad for them.
I did wonder why I did not have this item on the list of potential TV stands I created by combing through the IKEA catalog before my shopping trip. I mean, it was so PERFECT. How could I have missed it? I was so excited by my find – and the price – it did not occur to me to examine it for cable cutouts. OF COURSE it is a TV stand. It has a fake TV perched on top of it and everything!
So. Back at the ranch.
Because the unit has a center panel divider and there would be components on both sides due to my previously mentioned obsession with symmetry, I had to make at least one hole in each of the two back panels. I toyed with several size, shape and placement options and finally decided to go with one large hole in each panel, placed so the top shelf bisects it thus allowing cables from both shelves to use the same hole.
Had the unit been designed to accommodate electronics, the shelves would have left half an inch or so at the rear for cables to traverse the back of the shelf on their way to a single exit hole in the back panel. As a standard shelf unit, however, the shelves fit snugly against the back of the unit. Just something to keep in mind should you ever decide to repurpose a shelving unit to accommodate electronic components. (See “Alternatives” at the end of this post for another option.)
Here is what it looks like from the back after I made 3” holes with a hole saw:
I love that I don’t have to care how messy the cables get back there because the unit hides the chaos.
I opted for this somewhat taller than normal unit as a TV stand so that when I move the big TV back into the front room, I can repurpose the stand as a sideboard in the dining room.
Though I do have a smaller TV I can move back in to the family room when the time comes. Hm…
Meanwhile, I am going to enjoy having the TV up high enough that I can see it from the kitchen without the chair getting in the way and components not so low I have to be so very precise when I aim the remote.
The Blu-ray player I bought along with the new Star Trek movie may ever so slightly enhance my enjoyment of the new setup but I am pretty sure I would like it just as much without it.
But seriously, do you not have a Blu-Ray player? GET ONE. It plays your old DVD’s and makes them look better. It’s magic. And with the holiday shopping season upon us, you can get one for cheap.
I don’t think I’m ever going to leave this room now. All I need is a toilet in the corner and I’m set.
ALTERNATIVE FOR HACKING THE BESTA SHELF UNIT
Shelf depth. Though the shelves extend all the way to the rear panel, leaving no gap back there for cables, they are recessed 1/2 inch from the front so there is room for adjustment.
The shelf brackets are L-shaped and fit into a groove in the shelf, which prevents the shelf from sliding around:
Note the 1/2 inch area on the left above. The simplest way to move the shelf forward and create a gap at the back for the cables is to rotate the shelf bracket so the flat side faces up instead of down. You can then place the shelf on the rotated brackets, slightly forward of its previous location:
The down side to this method is twofold:
- Since the bracket is no longer seated in a groove, nothing prevents the shelf from sliding around;
- There is not much room to work with at the back of the shelf so, once you reposition the shelf forward, the smallest additional slide forward can knock the shelf off the rear bracket.
If you are super handy, you can leave the brackets facing the normal way and make new grooves in the shelf to keep it from sliding around.
If you are not super handy, you may be able to find rubber thingy’s to slide onto the upside down shelf brackets to prevent the shelf from sliding too much.
Either way, all this does is allow you to have components on multiple shelves without having to drill multiple holes for the cables (or a big hole spanning two shelves, like I did.) You will still have to drill at least one hole to get the cable out the back of the unit.
EDIT 11/29/09: Well DUH. A much simpler way to reposition the shelves just occurred to me: drill new holes in the sides of the unit for the shelf pins to poke into. MUCH easier than the above scenario. All you need is an electric drill and a drill bit the same size as the shelf pin pokey end. Much, much simpler.
