Monday, February 6, 2012

Entertainment Center Complete!

Ben and I are so happy with how our new entertainment center for the living room turned out. The photo above is the before...

And this is the after!

The ceilings on the first floor are so high and with a regular store bought (or in our case, craigslist bought) entertainment center, there was so much wasted space above it. So we decided to do like I did in the dining room and construct a built in floor to ceiling shelving unit. This one is a bit different than the dining room in that it has a cabinet base (I've yet to work on the doors...those will be coming soon). The cabinet comes out from the wall just under two feet and houses Ben's fancy electronics and my vintage Nintendo system. The top shelves come out just over 11" from the wall and fit the TV, a pair of speakers and fun decorative doodads all around.

For us it's a functional way to house the "necessities" and then have room left over for lots and lots of display space. The shelves are all adjustable too, which is very nice.

Having a partner to help me build this made things go sooooo much faster. We actually finished the unit itself in a week...or really the equivalent of three days. I worked on the crown molding in the rest of the room for a few evenings in a row after that. It was a bit challenging because we really didn't want to move the couch since it's so big and might scratch the floor...so I had to balance on a chair I put on the couch and reach over my head to try and drill the screws in. Ughhh...I think moving the couch would have been easier...

I didn't waste any time before adding fun doodads to the shelves. Ben wanted a less "girly" look and more industrial type things. So I obliged...

...mostly. I added my collection shell encrusted boxes. I used to make them before I started spinning cotton. I actually decided to lighten my collection and bit and listed two of them in my Vintage from Crystal Etsy shop. The rest add some charming natural elements to the wall unit.

This is one of the first shell things I made...when I was in college. That ooh-la-la photo of Ben and I is permanently glued in, lol.

This little stool (I forget where I got it from) will be useful for arranging items on the upper shelves.

Since the living room was getting something new, I decided to spruce up the pillows a bit too. I sewed covers for all huge square pillows we had on the couch and I love how the white accent pillow I made year and years ago (it has a fabric covered snapple bottle cap button, lol) contrasts with the gold.

My horse barn window shadow box coffee table was cleared of it's empty old picture frames and is ready for something new. I have a collection of weird rock formations my cousin found near his house...I think they'll look great in there. If/when I arrange them, I'll share a photo with you.

The collage of frames and pictures isn't getting old yet.

And neither is my favorite golden chair in the corner.

This old mirror was a few dollars at an antiques shop in the middle of nowhere New York State.

Our happy little living room! But of course it's still not finished...we would like to replace the ugly fan/light fixture with something more Victorian appropriate...in time!

I hope you like it as much as we do! :)

2 comments:

Tammy said...

That is one beautiful room you have made there! The cabinet is fantastic and I adore the colour combination you have used.

A Rose Without A Thorn said...

Crystal your room has really come together and looks wonderful. Everything fits perfectly and the entertainment centre is truly amazing, what a great job! Maureen.