television stand

Television/Hallway Stand Plans

This piece is definitely a beginner’s project. How do I know? Because I am a beginner of course. It’s also a great beginner project because you will get plenty of reps with your pocket hole jig. The pocket hole jig is a great tool for beginner projects because you don't have to use expert joinery techniques but you still are able to hide your screws so you end up with a real clean looking piece of furniture.


This was something I intended to build over a weekend, however, due to a few critical errors on my part, it lasted about 6 months. The client (my girlfriend) was less than happy about it. Especially considering we did not have a TV stand in our bedroom since we moved into the new house for all those months. We were using a combination of a stool and a laundry basket to support our bedroom television, which may be more impressive than this TV stand I put together.


Now I am calling this piece a TV stand, but that’s only because that’s its current use in my home. I also think this is a great design for a stand/table to be used in a hallway or another high traffic area of your home. The long and narrow design allows for a lot of table area while only taking up space on the outskirts of the room.

What tools will you need?


To get started you’re going to need the following tools to build your TV stand:


  • Circular saw

  • Hand saw and/or coping saw

  • Drill/driver

  • Pocket hole jig

  • 1-¼” Pocket screws (for ¾” material)

  • Wood glue

  • Clamps


What materials will you need?


For my build, I went with all white pine for the frame. For the surface boards, I chose to use poplar to give it a slightly denser and heavier feel - to make it feel less cheap, but also actually less cheap on my wallet… So, it will be up to you what kind of wood you choose for this project, but whatever the choice, you will need the following:


  • (2) - 6’ 2x2-inch boards

  • (2) - 8’ 1x3-inch boards

  • (1) - 6’ 1x3-inch board

  • (2) - 4’long, ¾” thick boards for the top and bottom shelf, minimum width of 11-½ inches, or smaller width boards paneled together along their side grains.


Once you get your raw materials, you are going to want to make the cuts shown here.

Most of your cuts are going to be simple cross cuts you can hit with a miter saw or circular saw. However, if your shelf boards are wider than 11-½ inches you will need to rip them down to width with a table saw (alternatively you could just make your TV stand wider, in which case your 8-½” 1x3’s will need to be longer).


And then there is the hardest cut of the project. The four notches which need to be cut in the bottom are going to take patience. I would hold off on cutting these notches until the frame is entirely assembled so you can check the fit-up along the way. The best way to do these, in my unprofessional opinion, is just a classic hand saw. Take your time. GO SLOW. If you try to rush it (like I did), you are going to end up with some ugly looking cuts, but nothing we can’t hide. If you didn’t take off enough material with your hand saw because you started going at an angle, use a coping saw to get in there and clean it up. As you take off material, keep checking the fit-up.

The Assembly Process


The first step of the assembly is to construct the frame. So grab your pocket hole jig and double check that you have the correct size and type (hardwood vs. softwood) of pocket screws for the material thickness and type you’ll be screwing into. The screws I specified in this guide are based off of my Kreg jig. A different jig may require a different size.


In hindsight, I probably went a little overboard with the pocket screws and used way too many, so in this guide, I cut back in the recommended number. You can see all my pocket holes in the frame here. Looks like swiss cheese... I know. Another thing you may notice in the picture is my use of rags and scrap wood to help distribute the clamp pressure over a larger area, reducing the chances of leaving clamp marks on the finished piece. I'd recommend placing a rag or scrap wood in between your clamps and work piece for this very reason.


We are working with relatively long and flimsy pieces here, so it is going to be very important that you glue, clamp, and wait before you put in any screws. If you don’t, these pieces are going to shift and twist on you and you aren’t going to end up with a clean fit-up. However, you will need to drill your pocket holes before you glue/clamp. So the procedure will be: Drill pocket holes, apply glue, clamp, wait for glue to cure, drive pocket screws.


Check out the diagrams below for the 3 step assembly. Remember, don’t cut the notches in the bottom shelf until you finish step 2 so you can verify the fit-up.

Finishing Touches


Depending on your choice of wood, you may go a different route on painting/staining, but I’ll share my choice here. Again, I used pine for the frame, and poplar for the top and shelf. On the frame I used just basic white furniture spray paint (I was feeling lazy and didn’t want to hand paint). For the top and shelf boards, I used two coats of Minwax’s “Aged Barrel” stain and finished with 3 coats of spar urethane. Before staining I used my nice new orbital sander to sand with 150 grit. After the first and second coat of spar urethane, I sanded with 220 grit and by the third coat I had a nice smooth finish I was happy with. Do not sand after the final coat.


I should add that I painted the frame and stained and finished the top/shelf prior to attaching the top/shelf to the frame (so before step 3 in this assembly guide). It's not ideal, but for me it was well worth the headache of accidentally getting paint on my freshly stained boards and visa versa.