Looking to Get Rid of Your Outdated TV Cabinet in Your RV?

Do you have old school CRT TV or a spot where one used to be in your RV? These cabinets which housed the monster sized TVs are no longer useful with today's flat screen TVs and waste a lot of space.  There are ways to modernize the housing by installing plywood and mounting a TV outside the cabinet (what the past owner of Wanda did) but the problem is, the TV placement isn’t great for watching TV and the cabinet blocks the view out the front windows. Our solution was to move the TV in front of the couch for better viewing and make additional usable storage space by turning the TV cabinet into an open shelf. ​

Step 1: Remove the Old TV, Label all the wires that run into TV and reroute them to the new TV location
The new location was 10 feet away from the existing location. We extended the coaxial cables to reach the new location. 

​Step 2: Carefully Remove the Old Trim, Leather and Carpeting. 
 You will be reusing these pieces later on.

Step 3: Using a Reciprocating Saw Cut Out The Metal Bracket That Held The Existing TV
The bracket is welded in so the only way to remove it was to use a saw and cut it out. I only cut out the portions of the bracket that would obstruct with the new cabinet. I left the rest in for some additional support for the new cabinet. 

Step 4: Frame  In The New Cabinet with MDF to create a box
Carefully measure and cut out each side of the cabinet. 

Step 5: Use the Old Trim, Leather and Carpeting to Finish the Box
I reused the wood for face trim, glued down the carpet on the bottom and wrapped leather around scrap wood and screwed it in underneath the box for continuous coverage to match the existing dash.

Step 6: Sand and Paint

Step 7: (Optional) Make a Cabinet Door
We opted to skip this as we liked the feel of the open shelf, but you can certainly close it in if you prefer.

Does your RV still have an old school tv? Let Us know how you removed it in the comments below? 

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