DIY DVD rack

[BaggedLancer]

Well, I counted a rough total of about 240 dvds laying around my apartment and on the floor and in drawers, etc. I have decided to jump on the DIY project trend and I am going to make my own DVD shelf system.

I have already drawn the entire shelf on paper(transferring it to autocad soon). It holds roughly about 275 dvds. I have decided to use a 1/2" thick wood board, finished edges and 6 inches wide.

My question is wood choice, I went to the local Lowes and found choices like Pine, Oak, Maple, Poplar, variants of those, and some others I cannot remember. For anyone who has taken on a small project like this, what is the suggested wood of choice? I plan to either stain it or paint it, have not decdied yet.

Mark

[janmike]

I guess it depends on how much $ you want to spend. My CD holders are solid Oak.
PS - I could never paint nice wood. Just my opinion.

[BaggedLancer]

I will probably end up painting it black, since all my speakers are black, my sofa is black leather, my tv stand and audio rack is black metal.

So I guess cheaper is better since the wood probably won't be exposed, but I do want something quality for sturdiness.

[janmike]

Add some colour to the room. You would be surprised how different wood colours blend together. Old school thinking is that all wood in one room should be the same. Beautiful wood naturally blends together. I am no interior decorator, just what I have been told and experienced. DVD's are light, so the type of joints and how it is constructed will be key. If you are going to paint and if it were me, I would select a moderately priced wood. In other words, I would stay away from Oak, Mahogany, Cherry.... Good luck.

[del44]

I recently build some dvd storage. I decided to go with poplar for the shelving. It's a little more durable that pine, and It's the kind of wood that looks good stained or painted. And it won't break the bank. I went with 1X6 (Actual size 3/4 by 5 1/2). I think that Lowes and HD carry 1/2" thick stuff but it may be even more money than the 3/4". Not sure though.

[Gaara]

I personally just junked all the cases to save space. I used 3 of these (http://www.slappa.com/site/90.html) to hold all of my dvds and games. I built a simple flexy in black and red to hold the cases and saved a ton of space over the 2 cases I originally had. I also use my flexy to hold my 360cd case, and the top is the perfect height of my loveseat for a table. I have pics in my signature.

Jared

[Grimster74]

DO NOT PAINT a finish grade wood. If you want your shelves black, go to Lowes and buy the EBONY stain

[StinkyDog]

Another option if you are set on painting it, and may save you a little money, is to go with MDF.

[BaggedLancer]

problem with MDF is unfinished rough edges, they never sand totally smooth.

I am not totally set on painting the rack, it's just that the rest of my living room area furniture is all black, my sofa is black, and my speakers are black, i figured might as well keep the black flowing. I wish i had a good digital cam to take some pics to show, but thats on the christmas list.

[Grimster74]

Hey BaggedLancer, check out my showcase. All of the furniture I built in that room is stained with Ebony.

[BaggedLancer]

Nice, you can really see the grain, I like it alot. I'll have to look for that tomorrow when I fire up the clunker pickup and go to home depot for my wood.

[StinkyDog]

problem with MDF is unfinished rough edges, they never sand totally smooth.

I am not totally set on painting the rack, it's just that the rest of my living room area furniture is all black, my sofa is black, and my speakers are black, i figured might as well keep the black flowing. I wish i had a good digital cam to take some pics to show, but thats on the christmas list.

Yeah, I hear you about the rough edges. Another option (sticking with painting) is to get a textured spray paint. This would help to conceal any roughness in the wood. Hell, depending on the type of texture in the paint you may not even need to sand. I'm in the same type of situation you are since all of my components are silver and we have grey metal and tile tables. I just built some speaker stands and since my wife wanted them to match we found this spray paint that looks like grey stone. It looks way cool, like real stone, and even covered up a lot of my mistakes ;-). Anyway, just wanted to mention that as another option.

[slush]

Are there any plans out there for good home audio/dvd racks?