When designing your room’s decor, the stand or cabinet you choose to place your TV or other electronics on will be the centerpiece of the room. There are several ways to incorporate the traditional building material of wood into this design depending on how much you are willing to invest in the piece of furniture. The weight of your electronic equipment will have a critical affect on the final construction. A lightweight TV should cause no problems but a new, heavy, plasma TV will require stronger than average construction on the stand that it sits upon.
Clearly the strongest and most elegant look for your TV stand will be real solid wood construction. Such furniture is usually made to custom order or at least by professional woodworkers. The types of wood used for this construction are quality woods such as oak, maple, mahogany, and the like. The wood grain patterns will add an elegant appearance to the finished furniture. The joints will be better and the overall structure more sturdy. It will also be expensive.
The same look can be very nearly matched by dropping down to the next quality level. By adhering wood veneer to less expensive but also less strong woods will still give that natural wood look without all the cost. Avoid moisture and water around these pieces as the veneer may crack loose under excessive moisture conditions.
Another strong option for heavy-duty corner TV stands and cabinets is to use laminate material. Whether it be plastics, wood, or metal, the process of fusing layers of a material together under heat and pressure then covered by a weather resistant resin coating, provides a sleek modern look. Laminates rarely fade and can give good service for decades to come.
The cheapest material you can find is medium density fiberboard (MDF). This engineered wood is made from heat compressing and gluing wood chips and fragments into a flat board. Since the MDF does not have a grain, it is easier to saw, nail, or drill than solid wood. The MDF TV stand or cabinet can still be veneered for a solid wood look and is much less expensive. Being lighter weight it ships easier as well. The one big drawback is that it is weaker than wood and can sag across long stretches if too much weight is placed on them.
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