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This is a Pottery Barn–inspired media console: a wide plywood carcass with a central open shelf bay flanked by two door cabinets, plus two drawers sized to hold DVDs behind framed faces. The doors carry in-door storage racks (shallow shelves on the back of each door), and the whole thing sits on a jigsaw-cut decorative footer. It's real casework — face-fitted doors, drawer slides, drawer faces shimmed to even gaps — and squaring the carcass is the make-or-break step.
The cut list is built around three plywood widths the plan calls 1x20, 1x12, and 1x8 (3/4" plywood ripped to 20", 11-1/4", and 7-1/4"). Measure your actual plywood — if your 1x12 boards aren't a true 11-1/4", rip them down, because the door and drawer clearances are cut to those exact widths. The plan is blunt that if you don't square the box carefully, the drawers and doors won't fit.
The doors and drawer faces use the same easy method: a 1/2" plywood center panel framed in 1x3, with the Kreg jig reset between 1/2" stock (panel-to-frame) and 3/4" stock (frame-to-frame). Two fit rules recur: inset the drawer boxes 3/4" from the front to leave room for the faces, and give doors and faces a consistent 1/8" gap all around. The builder's trick for perfect drawer faces — center the face on the closed drawer box, tack it with a couple of 1/4" nails through the front, then open the drawer and screw it solidly from the back. Finish or paint.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| Plywood or MDF, 3/4 in, 4x8 sheet1.5 sheets — carcass, partitions, shelves. | 2 each |
| Plywood or MDF, 1/2 in, quarter sheetDoor and drawer-face center panels. | 1 each |
| Plywood or MDF, 1/4 in, 4x8 sheetBack and drawer bottoms. | 1 each |
| 1x12, 6 ftCabinet sides. | 1 each |
| 1x4, 8 ftBase. | 2 each |
| 2x2, 8 ftBase cleats. | 2 each |
| 1x3, 8 ftDoor and drawer-face frames. | 3 each |
| 1x2, 8 ftIn-door storage ledges. | 1 each |
| 1x8, 8 ftDoor storage boxes and drawer sides. | 3 each |
| Drawer slides, 16 in | 2 pair |
| Narrow-profile hinges | 2 set |
| Knobs or pulls | 4 each |
| Pocket-hole screws, 1-1/4 in | 1 box |
| Wood screws, 2 in | 1 box |
| Finish nails, 1-1/4 in and 1/4 in brads | 1 box |
| Wood glue | 1 bottle |
| Finish or paint | 1 quart |
Overall cost: $$$$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Vertical partitionsPlywood or MDF, 3/4 in, 4x8 sheet | 2 | 3/4" × 20" × 20" |
| Drawer partitionPlywood or MDF, 3/4 in, 4x8 sheet | 1 | 3/4" × 20" × 10" |
| Open shelf bottomPlywood or MDF, 3/4 in, 4x8 sheet | 1 | 3/4" × 20" × 34 3/4" |
| Top and bottomPlywood or MDF, 3/4 in, 4x8 sheet | 2 | 3/4" × 20" × 65 1/2" |
| Sides1x12 | 2 | 3/4" × 11 1/4" × 20" |
| Cabinet shelves1x12 | 2 | 3/4" × 11 1/4" × 13 1/4" |
| BackPlywood or MDF, 1/4 in, 4x8 sheet | 1 | 1/4" × 21 1/2" × 64 1/2" |
| Base 2x2s2x2 | 2 | 1 1/2" × 1 1/2" × 63" |
| Base side (1x4)1x4 | 2 | 3/4" × 3 1/2" × 17 3/4" |
| Base front/back (1x4)1x4Jigsaw the footer profile. | 2 | 3/4" × 3 1/2" × 64 1/2" |
| Door storage sides1x8 | 4 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 19 3/4" |
| Door storage tops/bottoms1x8 | 4 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 12 1/2" |
| Door storage ledges1x2 | 4 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 12 1/2" |
| Door stiles1x3 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 14 3/4" |
| Door rails1x3 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 14" |
| Door center panelsPlywood or MDF, 1/2 in, quarter sheet | 2 | 1/2" × 9" × 14 3/4" |
| Drawer sides1x8 | 4 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 14 1/2" |
| Drawer fronts/backs1x8 | 4 | 3/4" × 7 1/4" × 16 1/2" |
| Drawer bottomsPlywood or MDF, 1/4 in, 4x8 sheet | 2 | 1/4" × 16" × 16 1/2" |
| Drawer-face stiles1x3 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 16 3/4" |
| Drawer-face rails1x3 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 4 3/4" |
| Drawer-face panelsPlywood or MDF, 1/2 in, quarter sheet | 2 | 1/2" × 4 3/4" × 11 3/4" |
Buy 19 boards at 8 ft.
2 boards
3 boards
1 board
Attach the vertical partitions with pocket holes set for 3/4" stock and 1-1/4" screws, or 2" countersunk screws, with glue. Take extra care to square the project up here — the drawers and doors won't fit if the box isn't square.
Add the top and bottom to the partitions with pocket holes. The center drawer divider may be hard to reach with pocket holes due to drill clearance, so fasten it from the bottom of the cabinet instead. Adjust for square.
The sides are 1x12s and the plan expects a true 11-1/4" width — measure yours and rip down if wider. Attach them with a 1/2" gap on the outsides as shown.
Add a shelf in each side cabinet. Fix them by screwing in place, or drill holes for shelf pins if you want them adjustable.
Mark and cut the decorative footer with a jigsaw, then sand the cut edges smooth to match — a circular saw is better for the long straight portions. The front footer is slightly different from the sides but shares the pattern. Attach the side footers to the 2x2s, then the front and back footers to the side footers and cleats. Attach the whole base to the cabinet with 2" screws and glue.
Build two door-storage boxes from 1x8, very square, checking that your 1x8 stock is a true 7-1/4" wide. Add the optional 1x2 ledges to keep contents from falling out when the door swings.
Build each door from a 1/2" plywood center panel framed in 1x3 — set the Kreg jig for 1/2" stock to fasten the panel to the frame, then for 3/4" stock to join the frame boards. Attach each door to its storage box, outside edges flush, with pocket holes from inside or finish nails from outside. Hang the doors with narrow-profile hinges, giving 1/8" clearance top and bottom, and adjust the hinges until each closes smoothly.
Build the two drawer boxes from 1x8, nail the plywood bottoms on with glue and 1-1/4" nails, and keep them very square. Install the 16" slides, remembering to inset the drawer box 3/4" from the front to leave room for the face.
Build the drawer faces like the doors (1/2" panel framed in 1x3), sized for a 1/8" gap all around. With the drawer box fully inserted, center the face over the opening, tack it with a few 1/4" nails through the face frame, then open the drawer and screw the face on solidly from the backside — mind where the pulls will go. Add pulls, fill holes, sand, and finish or paint.
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3 boards
2 boards
3 boards
1 board
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Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →