Equipment+Tower

I was relatively happy with the home theater equipment tower I bought at Walmart (odd that I found a good one there IMHO), I outgrew it, and having a baby made it desirable to hide things behind a door rather have things hanging out in the open. Finding a perfect equipment cabinet proved to be as arduous a task as finding the perfect tower. I thought I'd found the perfect item at Ikea, but after assembling the two Besto units, an 8" deep CD/DVD shelf and a 15" deep shelf, it became apparent that some of my equipment won't fit, they need greater depth than that. So woe is me, what to do? I spent another two hours at Ikea going back and forth between the storage, office and bedroom areas of their showroom, getting more and more frustrated as I went.

The Pax bedroom wardrome units have a perfect depth option, but are not available in the 24" width that I liked in the Besto. OK, 19" is good enough I think, better than 30" or 36" wide anyway. Also, we'd already bought some Beech colored Besta bookshelves, and Pax does not come in a matching color. Here is a small table of Ikea products and colors that I briefly noted last time I was there. I did not fully research all colors, only a couple.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish this, the ikea.com website no longer lists Besta in the beech wood coloring we have so far. :( But they still had plenty on display yesterday and now today, and their 2011 catalog does list beech coloring. They're of course out of stock of the shelving unit I want, they say to call back in 2 weeks. :/ Should grab some extra shelves etc. while I can.

Parts list

 * Quantity || Part || Price || Description ||
 * 2 || Ikea 901.021.03 || $60 @ || Besta 23 5/8" x 7 7/8" bookshelf unit, 75 5/8" tall ||
 * 1 || Ikea 801.021.27 || $90 || Besta 23" x 15" bookshelf unit, 75 5/8" tall ||
 * 6 || Ikea 801.341.90 || $10 @ || Besta legs 2 pack. (need 2 of these per unit) These fit around my baseboard saving some work redoing that. Legs also provide opportunbity to adjust standing angle, which will be useful to me as nothing in my house is square, plumb, flat, or any other desirable measurement. Sure, the bookshelves come with little feet for similar adjustment, but they don't get above my baseboard. ||
 * n || Ikea 001.034.75 || $5 @ || additional shelves for Besta 23" x 8" unit ||
 * n || Ikea 501.034.73 || $10 @ || additional shelves for Besta 23" x 15" unit ||
 * 2 || Ikea 501.342.38 || $50 @ || Tombo glass doors 11 3/4"wide x 75 5/8" tall ||
 * || Deckmate ||  || tan decking screws, 2" length ||
 * 8 ||  || ~$1 @ || binding posts, 1.5" length ||
 * 4 to 8 ||  ||   || Scrap drywall pieces, 5/8 inch thick. These are used as spacers behind the back panel of the side 8 inch shelf, so the binding posts holding pieces together won't pull back. ||
 * 1 || Home Depot || forget || 8inch by 24 inch steel plate. Cut this into smaller pieces (I made 4x4 inch squares) to help hold the rear 8 inch shelf to the front 15 inch shelf. ||

Tools
Everything recommended by Ikea Pencil Measuring tape Blue painters tape (easy removal) Drill Drill bit Drill bit 1/8" with #10 countersink cutter Drill bit for metal Drill bit for metal RotoZip with metal cutting blade or comparable metal cutter Screwdriver with modular bit (handy regardless, and Deckmate screws tend to come with their own torx bit in the box) Hammer 5/8" thick drywall scraps (will be used as spacers behind the side DVD shelf)
 * 1) 12 drywall screw anchors for tip over prevention, if needed
 * 2) 12 screws, sufficient length to go from back panel into wall for tip over prevention

There are three Besta bookshelves that will becombined into a single unit. You might only use two, if you do not want a DVD holder on one side.

Countersink holes at front of main cabinet to attach front end of the side DVD shelf for the tan Deckmate screws. The side DVD shelf side wall board is 3/4 inch thick, so plan your screw hole to go into the center of that. Do not put this side wal absolutely flat with teh front of the main cabinet wall edge, the back face of these boards are unfinished fiberboard, and you do not want the back edge of the side DVD shelf exposing this to view. I put my side DVD shelf slightly back of flush to hide this unfinished edge, you only need about 1/16 inch or less to hide this. I'll show this in another picture.

Countersinking holes at he rear of the main cabinet to attach the rear side of the side DVD shelf. The orange strap is a ratcheting cargo strap often used with pickup trucks to tie down items. I do not have lumber clamps large enough for these bookshelves, and these straps worked well to hold things tight and in alignment to work on these screw holes. This shows the rear section of the main cabinet and the rear face of the side DVD shelf. You can see a bit of the front section of the main cabinet as well.