Building an outdoor TV cabinet

As part of our pool deck renovation I really wanted to have a cover for the television to help protect it from the elements. This is how we set about building an outdoor TV cabinet.

Constructing the walls on the TV Cabinet

The first step was to measure the size of the TV and allow additional space around the outside.

We then used pine boards to build a simple rectangle that would form the sides of the cabinet. We made our cabinet deeper than was required for the TV. Our TV is on an arm so it keeps it off the wall. The pieces were glued together as well as screwed. There was no need for a back on it as we already had the extendable arm and TV attached to the wall.

Making the Doors

To build the doors we used a large piece of MDF. Measured it as if we were making one large door and cut it to size. We would then divide it in two. This way we get a really good fit and the doors meet well without any big gaps.

We then wanted to decorate the doors with a cross pattern. Tony measured and drew the pattern on to the MDF.

The next step was to cut the piece into two doors and fit the hinges to make sure it all worked properly. You will notice that the screws came through the door slightly. This doesn’t matter as we will be covering all of that with the decorative trim.

We used very thin MDF to cut the decorative pieces. This bit was fiddly because there were some angles that needed to be cut.

After all the pieces were cut they were glued on. Then all gaps were filled with wood filler and the black knobs were attached.

After giving it a good sand the whole thing was painted white and then attached to the wall. To do this we used a piece of pine stud cut to size and attached to the wall. The cabinet was then attached to the timber from the top. This way no screwholes were showing.

The finished product was the perfect addition to our pool deck area.

This area is now an amazing space for us to spend time especially during the summer. If you would like to see the transformation of this whole space you can find all the details here.