My Wall Cabinet Has Limited Space for a New Television
Maybe you have experienced the frustration of being limited in the size of television that you can purchase because of the opening in your wall cabinet. While wall cabinets still are functional and add value to the home, there is a growing problem with how to fit a new television into a small opening.
We once moved into a home that had cabinets in which we could fit a large 35” television into the opening. When I say that it fit, I had to use a belt sander to take an eighth of an inch off the top. It did fit but it took up all of the opening. The heat that the big unit generated probably shortened the life of the television, but we would be limited in the size of our new TV.
The prices on new televisions were dropping and the sizes were getting bigger, thinner, and lighter but where would we put it. I considered taking out the cabinets but there was no reason, except for the TV issue, to do this. We were hosting a get together with some friends and I shared my dilemma with a contractor friend. He suggested changing the existing cabinet.
The project didn’t take a lot of time, required little additional material, and turned out beautifully. This is not a “how-to alter your cabinet” post. This is just to show how simple the solution was. Here is what we did.
The cabinet decks were removed and two side walls moved apart to allow a larger television to fit. The adjoining shelves and trim were salvaged and cut to fit. The original 
decking was three pieces; a new single piece was installed. Since the opening was now greater than before; new trim at the top was needed.
This is my favorite part. Two of the four cabinet doors that were removed were installed above the television and installed sideways and hinged up. We used special locking hinges so that it could stay up if necessary. The center of each cabinet door was easily removed and filled with speaker cloth. Why? Well, if you put all of you 
remote controlled DVD player, satellite boxes, TiVo recorder, and Playstaion accessories in this cabinet, you can now control them with the cabinet door closed. How cool is that! Speaking of cool, the cloth allows air to circulate and keep the components running cooler.
That’s it! So if you are having problems deciding how to get a new television that you want into a smaller cabinet box, consider changing the wall cabinet a little for a whole new experience.
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