Fireplace TV Cutout Turned Storage

Our house was only built 6 years ago and yet the builder put in a cut out above the fireplace that would be much more applicable to 15 years ago when tube TVs were all the rage. Needless to say our TV didn't come close to fitting in that space. Our realtor told us about how many people decorate the space or seal it off. My cute friend Rachel filled her space with salvaged wood.

I wanted to be able to use the space behind for storage so I explained what I wanted to my husband and he went to work. He had quite the busy schedule so it took him longer than he wanted but I love it and it works great!                                      

I know you can't really tell the scale in the picture but this thing is huge. The hole was more than 4' tall and wide so it was a lot to cover. To make this we:

1. Measured the area and found out how many boards we would need. We used click together panel boards that were bare wood. (I don't think those are the technical terms...). We also got a piece of trim for the top and bottom, 2x4s for the cross bars, and hinges. Because of poor planning and mismeasurement this step took us 3 trips to the store...

2. My husband cut down each board to equal lengths, glued them together in between the interlocking pieces, and let them dry. He screwed the cross bars on to keep it all together.

3. He then sanded down any extra glue and stained the piece. The back has one coat of stain and the front has two. 

4. He used four hinges and screwed them into studs on the wall. This was a hard steps because we had to stand on ladders and it was too heavy for me to hold. We carefully measured, took the hinges apart, and screwed one side to the wall and the other to the piece. He then held it in place as I put the pins back into the hinges. 

5. (NOT YET COMPLETED) We will be adding shelves for DVDs and our board games. I'm so happy with how this turned out and for now it can just house that eagle :)