I built this floating entertainment center for my friend's daughter to hold her PlayStation 5, and it would fit right in a man cave too. It's made from plywood, hangs on the wall with a French cleat, and has doors with V-groove details cut with a router. It was built for a PS5, but it'll hold whatever you want to put in it: a cable box, a streaming device, game controllers, or a soundbar setup.
Watch the full build in the video above, and read on for the tools and steps.
Why build a floating unit?
A floating entertainment center gets everything off the floor, makes the room feel bigger, and is easier to clean under. It also looks a lot more custom than a store-bought TV stand, and you can size it exactly to your space and your gear.
Tools I used
Materials
Plywood for the box, shelf, doors, and French cleat
Pocket hole screws
Door hinges
Screws long enough to anchor the wall cleat into studs
How I built it
1. Break down the plywood. Full sheets are hard to handle on a table saw in a small shop, so I used guides with a circular saw instead. The Kreg Rip-Cut handles long rips, and the Accu-Cut and Straight Edge Guide make clean, straight cuts across the sheet.
2. Cut parts to final size. Smaller pieces get trimmed to length on the miter saw so everything is square.
3. Drill pocket holes. The Kreg 720 Pro makes quick work of pocket holes for the top, bottom, sides, and divider. Put the holes on the faces that won't be seen.
4. Assemble the box. Join the panels with pocket screws, checking for square as you go. Add the divider and shelf to make the open section for the console.
5. Make the doors. I cut the doors from plywood and used the router with a V-groove bit, guided by the straight edge guide, to cut the grooves across the door fronts. That simple detail is what makes the piece look custom.
6. Make the French cleat. A French cleat is two strips of plywood cut from one board with a 45° bevel down the middle. One strip mounts to the back of the cabinet with the bevel facing down, and the other screws into the wall studs with the bevel facing up. The cabinet drops onto the wall strip and the bevels lock together.
7. Hang it and load it up. Find the studs, level the wall cleat, screw it in, and lift the cabinet onto it. Then add the console, controllers, and anything else.
Why a French cleat?
It's strong, it's simple, and it's forgiving. You only have to get one strip level on the wall, the weight spreads across multiple studs, and you can lift the whole unit off later if you need to move it or get to the cables behind it.
Would I change anything?
Nope. This one came out exactly how I wanted it, and I'd build it the same way again.
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