# TV Room Transformation - Nearly finished



## BradNaylor (11 Apr 2010)

My clients had a very dull little room at the front of the the house which had obviously been converted from an integral garage by a previous owner.







This rather ugly cupboard contains the gas and electricity meters, not to mention a lot of booze!






They wanted to use the room as a TV den for the kids, and comissioned me to build some fitted oak units. I decided to use the existing cupboard instead of ripping it out and replacing it; cladding it in oak veneered panels and adding new doors.

I reckoned on 10 days making and 2 days fitting; yesterday was my 11th day overall and this is how far I got...






Just the last two doors and all the shelves to fit on Monday, together with the usual caulk gun magic!


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## Petiegolfer (11 Apr 2010)

Brad

Great...tooo good for the kids...kids these days are to pampered for their own good!!  

I also like the fact that you didnt junk the old cupboard. It looked perfectly well made and keeping it saved time and materials.

Where do you get your veenered board from and how much did it cost a sheet?

Piers


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## petermillard (11 Apr 2010)

Very tidy. You planning on doing anything with the 'dead' space to the right of the tall cupboard - or is that where the shelves will be?

Nice to have customers prepared to stump up the necessary for a kids TV room, instead of heading off to Ikea, lol 

Cheers, Pete.


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## mailee (11 Apr 2010)

Excellent job as usual Brad. I like the idea of utilising the original cupboard too. Too good for kids though. :wink:


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## DeanN (11 Apr 2010)

V. Nice - plenty of space for the xbox/PS3 etc.

I assume the "wall" the TV is mounted on is hiding a cavity for the cables and power - is this being left removable for future access?


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## BradNaylor (12 Apr 2010)

DeanN":1iyx3d9z said:


> I assume the "wall" the TV is mounted on is hiding a cavity for the cables and power - is this being left removable for future access?



The 'wall' is a sheet of 18mm MDF on 50mm battens leaving a void behind the telly down into the lower cupboards. Cables and scart leads etc can simply be dropped down through a big hole behind the telly and into the cupoard below, where the mains and ariel/cable sockets are.

No need for the MDF panel to be removable.


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## TrimTheKing (12 Apr 2010)

Nice looking work Brad.

Looks very much like a 'normal' house to me too, rather than a rich mans mansion. Nice to see the man on the street having bespoke work done.


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## BradNaylor (13 Apr 2010)

TrimTheKing":pnxanb9z said:


> Nice looking work Brad.
> 
> Looks very much like a 'normal' house to me too, rather than a rich mans mansion. Nice to see the man on the street having bespoke work done.



Yeah, just a normal 4-bed detatched in Alderley Edge. I'm not sure that they have 'streets' in Alderley Edge, but compared to Trimble Towers this place *is *pretty 'normal'. 

You make a good point, though. Most of my clients are average folk who just happen to have good taste. I don't really operate amongst the wealthy Cheshire set or the hundreds of footballers who live on my doorstep, and have no great desire to do so.

While I was finishing this job yesterday a load of the client's friends turned up with their young children for the afternoon; apparantly this is a regular event on a Monday. One of them turned out to be another client of mine from Wilmslow for whom I did several jobs last year, including a pair of oak alcove units, a computer desk, and a fitted shoe chest in the hall. Before I knew where I was, I had half the young mothers of the area cooing over my work and clammering for business cards.

Ever seen 'Desperate Housewives'? Well, it was a bit like that!

:lol:


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## TrimTheKing (13 Apr 2010)

BradNaylor":2605pnwh said:


> TrimTheKing":2605pnwh said:
> 
> 
> > Nice looking work Brad.
> ...


Haha, how did you know I call it Trimble Towers? 

Don't mistake the house for wealth though, we sank all our cash into a big house just after the market crashed. Yet to see whether that was a good gamble or not...

You've mentioned before how that's a much nicer way to work, with normal people rather than the egotistical WAGS and rich Cheshire @rses. I still laugh at your post about Miss Bel-Ami


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## BradNaylor (14 Apr 2010)

TrimTheKing":2nf51sq0 said:


> Haha, how did you know I call it Trimble Towers?



Well it does have a certain obvious alliterative quality...


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## BradNaylor (28 Apr 2010)

Here are some photos of the finished job which the client has just emailed me;











Cheers
Brad


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## clewlowm (28 Apr 2010)

looks smart, just a bit to much colour variation though. it seems like you did not try and get the best from the wood you had?


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## WoodAddict (28 Apr 2010)

Nice work. The room looks great, bags of storage too


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## Steve Maskery (28 Apr 2010)

Excellent Brad, and I notice that all the panels are nicely symmetrical. You don't get that from the sheds. Very nice.
S


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## woodbloke (28 Apr 2010)

clewlowm":3iny2wgl said:


> looks smart, just a bit to much colour variation though. it seems like you did not try and get the best from the wood you had?


Not sure I agree with that, looks good to me. Grain patterning is more important, which Brad has got right, if the colours match then that's a bonus - Rob


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## Mattty (29 Apr 2010)

That looks great mate. How much? Bout £2.5k?


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## Alex (29 Apr 2010)

woodbloke":3f0610rh said:


> clewlowm":3f0610rh said:
> 
> 
> > looks smart, just a bit to much colour variation though. it seems like you did not try and get the best from the wood you had?
> ...


Exactly! Plus digital cameras with flash seem to produce this phenomena of grain and colour variation on rail and style doors. I'll bet they bang on. 
I've had this problem before when photographing a job.
Oh fantastic job there Duncan as usual. 
8) 8) 8)


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## BradNaylor (29 Apr 2010)

Alex":n8l1bzuz said:


> woodbloke":n8l1bzuz said:
> 
> 
> > clewlowm":n8l1bzuz said:
> ...



You're right, Alex.

In the flesh it was fine - it's the flash that has exaggerated the grain & colour difference. I now always take photos with and without flash and use the best - you never know which one it is going to be.





Mattty":n8l1bzuz said:


> That looks great mate. How much? Bout £2.5k?




3.5 actually.

Well, it was Alderley Edge. Think Ilkley but with money!


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## Karl (29 Apr 2010)

Nice job Brad - good money too!

Cheers

Karl


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## BradNaylor (29 Apr 2010)

Karl":2x98sen7 said:


> Nice job Brad - good money too!



It was alright.

This job took me 2 weeks in the workshop and 3 days fitting - which on this occasion I deigned to do myself!

Add a couple of days discussing the plans with the client etc and working things out and you can reckon on three weeks.

£500 materials and I'm making a grand a week. Take off my overheads and it's down to £850 or so.

I really don't know why I bother...


:wink:



PS I sold three kitchens last week which involve no actual work at all - just ordering stuff up and organising things.

Now that's good money!

:lol:


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## head clansman (29 Apr 2010)

hi brad 

nice job by the way , but some people have no sense at all cupboard full of booze with gas and electrics in the same space , one spark , time bomb waiting , is the booze still in the same cupboard, now its the kids space ? hc


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## Doctor (29 Apr 2010)

BradNaylor":1a15yrie said:


> PS I sold three kitchens last week which involve no actual work at all - just ordering stuff up and organising things.
> 
> Now that's good money!
> 
> :lol:



:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: You must be minted.
Keep this up and you'll get that inside toilet


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## chippy1970 (3 May 2010)

BradNaylor":36wfq3un said:


> Karl":36wfq3un said:
> 
> 
> > Nice job Brad - good money too!
> ...



I know exactly how you feel I am having the same thought's lately. I do all types of carpentry but used to enjoy making built in's, last week I had to build a small office in a school. some stud work, plasterboard, suspended ceiling, doors etc etc no faffing around and I probably earnt more than double what I would doing a built in


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## newt (3 May 2010)

Very nice Brad, I like a little colour variation Makes it look bespoke rather than some of the production factory stuff, I imagine they are well pleased.


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## chipz (26 Oct 2010)

BradNaylor":3gd3ctmp said:


> Here are some photos of the finished job which the client has just emailed me;
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Hello dunc, what hinges did you use for the electric cupboard doors ,are they special concealed hinges fixed to the face frame.


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## The Weegie (26 Oct 2010)

Really nice work.

A question slightly off topic.

Are you allowed to have a consumer unit so close to the gas in the same cupboard.????

I know that in pre 1960 houses this was not unusual. I thought that the two services have to be a certain space apart.


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