For all of us gamers we understand that organization and display can be a bit of a handful at times. Achieving the ultimate display/collection is an ongoing battle.

My goal was to create a console gaming shelf that displays my favourite and most used consoles, with LED lights!

To begin, you must draw up a plan with measurements based on the room you have and the size of your consoles, my largest console measures 11 3/4", so you might want to go 16 inches wide on every shelf (although a 12" wide shelf makes measurements a lot easier)

I wanted my shelves 9" high by 12" wide (to make sure my Gamecube had tray opening clearance).

I took a trip to Home Depot and purchased the following:

1. 1 complete sheet of 5/8" MDF - You can go 3/4" for rigidity and ease of measurements but this will make the unit heavy, will definitely require 2 people to move it around

2. 1 sheet of masonite/backerboard - I chose a white glossy finish so the LED lights really shine

3. 3 - 8' lengths of Lattice style pine trim (11/16th's)

4. 1 bottle of carpenters glue - Construction grade is always a good option!

5. 1 pack of sandpaper - I bought 200 grit but an additional 80 grit for your sander might help if you cut your wood a 16th too long

6. 1 box of black drywall screws - Great for MDF and only if you choose not to use biscuit joints, biscuits are understandably cumbersome and time consuming to install but will ensure a nice clean job without having to countersink the drywall screws and use wood filler

7. 1 box of finishing nails - just like you wood get from Ikea to nail the backerboard on

8. 1 paint roller with rolling brushes (buy a few as you will be priming then painting, more if you use multiple colours on your project)

9. 1 can of Kilz primer, 1 can of high gloss white paint and 1 can of high gloss black paint

10. 1 paint brush with some nice edging brushes to get into tight corners (foam brushes are also good)

11. 1 tube of woodfiller - Again, construction grade with 3x the bonding and quick dry time will always help

12. 1 brain with patience and a few days to make cuts, piece together, paint and finish

13. I didn't include my valence cuts as I found them around the house. Feel free to buy a few feet of painted 3/4" trim from home depot

I made these cuts with my 5/8" MDF

2 cuts at 38.5" by 14" deep (Top piece and Bottom piece)

4 cuts at 28.5" by 14" deep (4 vertical pieces you see in the picture)

6 cuts at 12" by 14" deep (these will be the shelves)

The pine lattice I used for trimming off the front of my unit with mitred cuts (will require a mitre saw to cut 45 degree angles for the corners)

I can't remember the purchase measurements of the backerboard but if you cut it in 3 equal lengths, you will get that inch gap you see in the pictures to run wires and provide more than adequate ventilation for your consoles. The backerboard, amazingly, was the exact length of my final measurements for this console shelf.