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View Full Version : When you run out of room...MAKE ROOM!



Goodwill Hunter
07-02-2003, 02:05 AM
My favorite vacation of the year is the week of July 4th. My family and I stay home, enjoy our house, backyard pool (sized up to 12' this year!), and go to Summerfest and a few parades. I also take the opportunity to make any furniture or shelving we need in the house. This year I made 2 shelving units for my gameroom. I'm starting to run out of space, but the units pictured below have given me at least a few months of breathing space.

The first is a replacement for the ancient cabinet I had holding some systems next to my entertainment center. As you can see, it couldn't hold a 5200, and left a lot of wasted wall space above it:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/515/consolet.jpg

I actually built 2 parts, a set of NES shelves out of 1" x 6" pine and a console rack out of plywood, and bolted them together to make the unit. In addition to the scads of NES games I was able to unbox and display...there's now room for my 5200, Gamecube, TG-16 w/ CD expansion and a system to be named later.

The second unit was needed to house my growing Genesis collection. It had long since outgrown the custom unit (on the left) I had built 2 years ago, and also had (awkwardly) filled a pressboard bookshelf as well. The games had to be stacked vertically to fit in the bookshelf, and were a pain to get to. So I duplicated the spacing of the first unit, and extended some shelves to hold the other junk in my room (most notably the custom-made neon I picked up at a rummage last month for $5.00!)

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/977/newshelves.jpg

I'm now storing my PS2 & GC games in the bottom of the original unit, with room to further expand my Genesis collection. Some of my McFarlane figures will soon be joining Mr. Moon (Buzz Lightyear's days may be numbered though).

Using stain, hardware and backing boards I already had around the house, both projects cost about $80.00 total in new wood, and took about 16 hours of total construction time over 4 days. In terms of efficiently using available space, it's hard to beat shelving you make to your own specifications. That makes 8 custom units in my gameroom now (if you count the closet I converted to shelving). I guess it's tiime to update my gameroom photos as well!

Measuring twice and cutting once (Thanks, Dad!),
Rich

Videogamerdaryll
07-02-2003, 03:02 AM
Sweet..I need to make something like that myself....nice Job,Nice collection..

Arqueologia_Digital
07-02-2003, 05:52 AM
Hey, i love the neon moon...and also your big collection...

digitalpress
07-02-2003, 06:08 AM
Nice work, Rich!

Hey, that neon moon... doesn't get HOT, does it?

Goodwill Hunter
07-02-2003, 09:49 AM
Nice work, Rich!

Hey, that neon moon... doesn't get HOT, does it?

No...since the sunglasses are built right in, it's always very COOL! ;)

Rich

Keir
07-02-2003, 11:35 AM
since the sunglasses are built right in, it's always very COOL!
LOL

Nice work. That's actually the same thing I have planned for this weekend.

slapdash
07-02-2003, 11:59 AM
Nice work, Rich!

Hey, that neon moon... doesn't get HOT, does it?

No...since the sunglasses are built right in, it's always very COOL! ;)


Heh... But just be sure it isn't melting those boxes!

(I witnessed how an LCD projector can put out enough heat to melt keys on the laptop that's driving it just last night, which is why I follow up Joe's thought...)

Arrrhalomynn
07-02-2003, 12:20 PM
High shelves are cool. Way better than a close that only has 3 or 4 shelves.

Goodwill Hunter
07-03-2003, 04:19 PM
Nice work, Rich!

Hey, that neon moon... doesn't get HOT, does it?

No...since the sunglasses are built right in, it's always very COOL! ;)


Heh... But just be sure it isn't melting those boxes!

(I witnessed how an LCD projector can put out enough heat to melt keys on the laptop that's driving it just last night, which is why I follow up Joe's thought...)

The neon tubing stays cool, and the transformer is surrounded by the base, which is a 4" PVC pipe cap on a rectangle of clear plastic. My Lava Lamp will likely pose the greatest threat to my games, but I'll be putting it far enough away to be safe. Thanks though, your concern for my games' well-being is touching...(sniff);)

Rich

davidbrit2
07-04-2003, 12:54 AM
Hmm... Do those fluorescent tubes generate any kind of light that can fade color printing? I'm not sure how much UV they put out, if any. I'd look into that before your entire collection is devoid of yellow pigment. ;-) That thing is in very close proximity, after all.

Keir
07-10-2003, 10:16 PM
Well, I did make some last weekend, and I finally got around to taking some pictures of them...
http://www.themightyradish.com/Images/Keir/100_0247.jpg
http://www.themightyradish.com/Images/Keir/100_0248.jpg

Not as nice as Rich's, but they do the trick!. 8-) Didn't stay empty long, though. :/

Goodwill Hunter
07-11-2003, 01:42 AM
Not as nice as Rich's, but they do the trick!. 8-) Didn't stay empty long, though. :/

Just a bit of water-based stain and you're there man! Nothing better than floor-to-ceiling game stuff. And nothing's truer than your not empty for long statement. With the current Gamestop sale, I just went over 500 for the Genesis and those shelves are already filling up.

There must be some sort of equivalent to the old saying about hard disk space...

"Get double the game shelving you could ever use, and you'll only run out half as fast!"

Rich