There is a wide selection of entertainment furniture available, including entertainment cabinets and consoles that can hold not just massive flat-screen TVs, but also the entire set of front speakers and the sub woofer, and all the other hi-fi and games equipment you have – including your iPod dock linked up to your TV or hi-fi speaker system.
Here is a short review of the entertainment cabinets and consoles available from a selection of American home furniture manufacturers. It is by no means comprehensive, but offers a good range of products offered by three of America’s better known cabinet makers.
Stickley Furniture
Gustav Stickley and his family were pioneers in many of the techniques used in American furniture manufacturing, and he himself was a forerunner in the American Craftsman style which developed from the British Arts and Crafts Movement. Among these techniques were the extensive use of quarter sawn oak, the unique center post construction that displayed the flecks and rays of quarter sawn oak on all four sides, and also an open type of construction that displayed the jointing methods used.
Stickley offers a number of home entertainment furniture options, ranging from a simple stand to a 68 inch TV console with space for up to 6 boxes or DVD storage areas. Some are fully open, while with other models the TV can be hidden behind closed cabinet doors. The Stickley rage of TV consoles is available in a selection of woods and finishes to match your exiting furniture.
Simply Amish
Simply Amish focuses on simple hand-crafted hardwood furniture, while also offering a high degree of customization. The Simply Amish entertainment furniture includes TV games cabinets with space for the TV, and cupboards and drawers for various components and games consoles.
The firm also offers full entertainment cabinets that extend to 128 inches, and provide space for speakers, DVDs, CDs and games consoles. They can also be designed to combine a TV console with display cabinets and ample storage cupboards and drawers.
Simply Amish furniture is solidly built with a choice of woods, finishes and colors. You are almost certain to find a wood and finish to match you existing living room furniture. The company also hand-crafts TV bureaus for your bedroom. Every piece of Simply Amish furniture is made just for you, and is tracked though manufacture with your name on it.
The Custom Shoppe
Like those above, The Custom Shoppe furniture is 100% Made in America, and hand-crafted from 100% solid wood. Both the materials and the craftsmanship are to a very high standard, and every piece is individually made for each client. Not only that, but if you cannot see what you want in the catalogue it can be made just for you to your own design.
The Custom Shoppe offers a whole section on its website to entertainment furniture. They offer a wide range, although the firm’s entertainment consoles are particularly impressive. Many of these are customer designs, so good that they were retained in the catalog. Here are just two examples of these:
The Kari Home Theater
This is fitted with what is known as the ‘Reversica’ mechanism. This TV cabinet consists of two display units either side of a TV console. The console itself consists of two doors either side of a set of shelves on which rests a flat-screen console that rotates 180 degrees to reveal another display area or bookshelves – whichever you prefer. This a fabulous-looking display unit until TV time, when the central part is rotated to reveal the TV. This is a maximum of 108W x 96H x 28.5D inches.
The Raymond Plasma Lift
This is similar to the above, with two display cabinets either side of a display unit. Only, in this case the plasma or LED TV set is raised from the lower cabinet by means of a remote controlled motor. When down, a beautiful 3-shelf display unit is visible, and when up the TV can be viewed. The dimensions of the components of this unit are variable, with a maximum of 126W x 96H x 30.5D in inches.
You can even purchase TV lifts that remotely raise a flat-screen TV set at the end of your bed. There are many other types of entertainment furniture available from American furniture manufacturers, and these are just a very small selection what is available. These were chosen to give you an idea of what is possible, and most entertainment cabinets and consoles will conform to one or other of these general designs.
However, keep in mind that if you are unable to find something that suits you, you can always have your entertainment furniture made to your own design by a firm such as The Custom Shoppe. This firm is just an example, and by no means the only American furniture manufacturer that will provide this service.