As for what's been going on around the abode... a lot. I have quite a list of projects that I need to share with all of you. I know there's been a bit of a drought from me lately of inspiring images- sorry about that! Maybe it's because it's summer and there's still a part of me that feels like I should be allowed to sit around and be lazy like when I was a kid!?!
Anyway, on to the project! Quite a while ago, General Dad came over and helped me with a little project that I've wanted to tackle for quite some time. As some of you long time followers know, my little living room used to be pretty sad....
See, I told you.
I'm also not sure why we're so pixelated, sorry about that!
That's Mister Husband and I before I even lived in the abode! (Back when it was a Mister Pad) The shutters over the fireplace came with the abode when we moved in they were just not our style and they didn't function well at all. For a million reasons, those skank suckers had to go....
Which leads us to this gorgeous view. Wow. Not much better, right!?!
Most of you will probably recognize this photo taken almost a year ago... General Dad came over and helped Mister Husband and I with filling in that skank hole in the wall and covering it so that we could hang our tv on the wall. We left an opening for those pesky components that I wish didn't exist altogether... But I think it looks great, especially from where we started!
Then Mister Hubbs and I ran into a problem. The tv just stopped working one day. I mean, mid-show. I was none to happy... it was time for a new tv. I was also NEVER a fan of the tv that we had in the first place. I HATED those dang speakers that hung off either side of the tv. It makes our tv look like Dumbo, no offense to Dumbo. Mister Husband purchased that tv pre-marriage... so I didn't have much of a say. Anyway, before football season started (I know, that's a LONG time ago), we forked out the cash for a new tv and we LOVE it. It's got a super thin frame and is really light. It looks so much more streamlined in the space thank goodness.
And now for those pesky components. I still wasn't too fond of being able to see all the components... so I put my thinking cap on, for a while. I talked a lot with General Dad about how to cover up the space for the components and came up with a great solution for our space. Below you can see that we took off the decorative trim that was covering the rough edges between the wall and the component box.
Once we took off the frame, we applied decorative sheet metal (that I found at Lowes for $25) with gorilla glue to the back side of the frame. General Dad cut the frame in a super fancy way so that the metal would sit inside a thin channel on the backside of the frame so that when it was hung on the wall, it would be flush against the wall.
We then took high powered magnets and wanted to place them on the wall, as well as on the back of the frame sot that we could take off our custom screen whenever we wanted to pop in a movie or adjust our components. General Dad is seen below drilling the perfect hole for the magnet to sit inside so that the entire frame would be flush with the wall.
AND.... ta-da!
I thought seriously about spraying the screen gold, or maybe even black, but I like the look of the silver screen next to the silver urns that flank the tv.
So what do you think?
Anyone else hate their components hanging out like a floozy? Mine are nicely tucked away behind a privacy screen, but I would LOVE to know if any of you abode lovers have had a similar issue and tackled it another way. I hope all of you have a wonderful hump day!
I used baskets to hide our cable box and PS3. We have a media console with the two openings similiar to yours. I found baskets from Marshall's ($15 each) that fit the space perfectly (didn't expect to find such a perfect fit so that was awesome). I HATE the look of those devices showing!
ReplyDeleteYour solution looks awesome and so chic! :)
The TV in our bedroom is hung on the wall over a high boy dresser. I had the back of the top drawer of the dresser removed and the components placed inside. We then installed a peep hole in the front of the drawer where the keyhole used to be. When the remote is aimed at the hole, it can control the cable box. No components to be seen. My first idea was to hinge the front of the drawer so that it could be opened to use the controls but a friend of mine said the peephole worked.
ReplyDeleteIn the living room, we mounted the TV over the fireplace, ran the cables through the wall to a nearby cabinet, and hooked up one of those infra-red sensors to the components. Then, we taped the sensor eye, which is attached to a cord, discretely on the top of the cabinet, in between accessories, so it doesn't show unless you know where it is. We aim the remote in the general direction of the eye, and it works! In the bedroom, we mounted the TV over the dresser, and ran the cords through the wall to a component cabinet in my husband's office. Once again, we attached an infra-red sensor to the components, and placed the eye on the dresser, where it hides in a piece of coral. Once again, nothing ugly shows!
ReplyDeleteI love your fireplace so much!! Great idea hiding those aweful cords! We bought a wireless set up a few months ago and it was our best investment yet! No ugly cords and we can hide all the rest of the junk as well.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about the stone on your fireplace - did you do it yourself?? It's so so pretty and I have been looking to do something similar to my fireplace/mantel. Any advice?
I HATE tv components with a passion. This is a great solution- I want to borrow your dad!
ReplyDeleteNancy
Powellbrowerhome.com
I love this post (and the comments!) because this is something we have dealt with too.
ReplyDeleteIn our den, we have the TV mounted above the fireplace. Right off of the room is our laundry room, where we have the components mounted on shelves. If we have the door to this laundry room cracked just right, we can bounce the remote signal off of the door and it will reach the components (think: billiards). It works about 60% of the time. The other 40% of the time, we are going batty. We are looking for a different solution!
Best solution, which we have had installed with all of our TVs, is the infrared remote setup with components tucked away in a closet, another room, etc. as Ann described in an earlier comment. But with your current setup, I would probably want to paint the metal screen & frame, etc. to match your wall color, so that it blends into the wall and attention is drawn away from it and to your TV and your accessories on the mantel. Just my two cents... love your blog, btw!
ReplyDeleteWow, great idea. Filling in the hole over my fireplace is definitely something I need to consider. Right now I'm limited to a 42" tv.
ReplyDeleteI cant even believe this makeover! What a beautiful upgrade! And I love the screens that you used to hide the receivers and DVD players- LOVE1
ReplyDeletexx
holly foxen wells
www.ThreeLayerCake.blogspot.com
Laurel-Dawn,
ReplyDeleteOne 'trick' that we use alot is to paint air registers and otherwise unsightlies the same color as the wall. If you wanted, you could paint all of the trim and grill the wall color and it would completely blend in! Just a thought!
Whitney @ www.whitneybrock.blogspot.com
Wow - Great idea! Love your fireplace!!
ReplyDeleteI like the after pictures and I really like the design of the new place now. You did some things that I haven't seen before and that's unusual today!
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