A Very Gold Console

More Family Room updates.  To review, first we got rid of the big huge TV and replaced it with a flat screen, then we mounted the flat screen on the wall, hid the wires, and lastly we got a new-to-us console.  Its actually a dresser.  A fake blond wood veener dresser. 

I had a few criteria while looking for this piece.  It had to have specific dimensions, something wide enough to fit on this little diagonal wall, and not too deep because the room is small.  I wanted something that didn't have open shelving because I know I can't keep open shelving looking nice.  And I didn't want to spend too much money when I wasn't sure how well my painting skills would actually work to transform something.

 So here is the "beauty" I found on Craigslist.  $50---sold.  Then I stared reading all of the 'painting veneer' tutorials I could find.  I decided to try using only spray paint, hoping for a smooth finish.

I went back and forth trying to figure out what color to use, and settled on a light gold color, Carmel Latte, by Krylon.

I primed first, using various spray-on primers.  I first made the mistake of using a grey color primer.  Whoops.  I had to sand those 2 drawers down and redo them with the white primer.

 The final pictures aren't very good--sorry.  The end results looks nice.  The hardware is the original that I put on until I can find something better, but it kind of blends right in with the gold.

I still have to add some accessories.

Eventually we'll also paint this room.

---Adrienne

Wires, What Wires?

More progress on the family room.  Let me recap.  First, we got rid of the big, huge TV.  For the past 2 years, the TV wall looked like this.

After hanging the flat screen, it looked like this.  Some lovely wires and a table I put there temporarily to hold the cable box.

And today, it looks like this:

Gosh, my pictures suck!  Anyway, it really looks a ton better.  Really. 

So, here is what we did.  1.  Hid the wires.  2.  Purchased craigslist dresser.  3.  Painted dresser a light gold color.  I still have to add some stuff accessories to the console and we're still working through technical difficulties with the TV but its coming along.

Here is how we did it. 

Hiding the wires.  I read a FABULOUS tutorial on how to hide the flatscreen wires in the wall here.  This tutorial gave me the courage to at least try to do this.  Then I had to convince Alex to help me try.  Anyway.  Here is my version of a tutorial, or at least what we did.

Find a space on the wall between the studs and cut 2 holes with a drywall saw, one behind the TV and one low enough to be covered by the console.

Drop a heavy cord through the top hole and hold the top of the rope while pulling through the bottom hole.  So the rope ends are showing through both the top and bottom holes.

Tie your first wire onto the end of the rope at the bottom hole and pull through.  Untie the cord and drop the rope again to get the next wire.

It wasn't so bad, and looks so much better without 3 heavy black wires hanging out of the TV.  Here are the problems we had:

*  Our 6 foot cable wires weren't long enough to go through both holes and then back up to plug into the cable box.  I ended up cutting a second lower hole that was still low enough to be hidden by the console.  I have to patch the original bottom hole you see in these pictures.  Another option would be buying a longer cable wire.

*  Plugging the power cord in to the rear of the TV after hanging the TV on the wall wasn't easy.  Alex had to hold the TV out while it was partially hanging on the wall mount while I was trying to quickly find the plug with only my hands.

*  Threading the 3rd wire through the small hole was tough because of the first 2 wires taking up most of the room.

Another shot of the wireless flat screen:

I'll talk about the console in a follow-up post.

---Adrienne 

Happy Anniversary



We got some beautiful flowers for our 2nd Anniverary from my inlaws.  Alex also got me some beautiful purple roses.  After the original boquets started to wilt, I had some fun with the fish.

The big one, I forget his name. I call him "big fishie".

Here is the little one, didn't get a good shot of him.

 

Hi fishies!