Trivial TV Stand Done

My neighbor wanted a trivial stand to put on his low entertainment center to prop up his new ginormous TV above his powered center speaker.  I wasn't gonna blog about it, cuz it is so trivial, but the end result looks pretty good in its setting.

My part is the part immediately below the TV around the center speaker (the bottom cabinet was purchased previously).

Initially, they just wanted a shelf that would stand precisely around the speaker, but I pointed out it would look silly to me to have a shelf narrower than the TV.  From there, we got the width the same, but then what to do with the open areas on the side.  They wanted just something flat to plug the hole.  I suggested making doors that matched the style of the other doors so everything looked like it was intended to go together; the doors could hide remotes, the iPod dock, and access to the side jacks of the speaker.

The doors on the purchased cabinet look like louvers.  To make mine, I cut Poplar into 1"x1" stock then put a 10° bevel on one side.  I pre-dyed and pre-stained these pieces before gluing them up into the door since those inside edges would be a female dog to stain :)

Once glued, I just had to square them up and put a bevel ("finger grip") on the inside door edge.

The awkward part was getting a color match.  I used Poplar then dyed it stark yellow with TransTint Amber Additive.  Then stained it with a pad using General Finishes' Brown Mahogany water-based stain.  I thought it came out pretty good; it is a hair darker than the main cabinet, but I thought that was better since it is set back and surrounds something black.  Topcoat was Arm-R-Seal Satin.