When we moved into our current house, one of our first projects was to update the oak built in bookshelf unit, which had a TV hole that would not fit our TV. The house was built by a local developer and is consistent with other houses in our neighborhood, but some of the rooms (including this one) seemed to be off-balance and asymmetrical to us. Here’s a before:
We precariously perched our TV on the edge of the bookcase and planned our attack. We thought about replacing the unit with another wall to floor built-in against the main wall and not having a wrap around, but I preferred to have more of a blank space and an option to change our approach later down the road. Ryan ripped out the bookcase, which left places in the room without carpet, and needed replacing. It also revealed that there was not trim baseboard along the walls where the built-ins were, so Ryan had to cut and install some trim. We then got this media unit, which is modular and fit our needs.
A few months later, while I was on maternity leave with our second Little, I sat on the sofa and watched TV and stared at the blank wall to the left of the fireplace where the bookshelf had wrapped around. I stared and stared and stared, until I took the plunge and called a window company to install another window to brighten the room and make it more symmetrical.
We most recently repainted the room, updated our curtains, pillows and vases, and Ryan made a new mid-century mantle. The room is complete for now, but I plan to replace carpet in the next year. After a few years of wear and tear, and to my surprise the wearing of the carpet square patterns, we have a new carpet picked out but aren’t committed. As I’ve mentioned before, my ultimate plan is to replace our brown furniture with brighter and lighter colored furniture. Maybe after our wild and crazy kitten finishes destroying things through her kitten phase we can start saving up.
Here’s the after of our family room:
White built-ins would be beautiful, and maybe next on Ryan’s wood making list, but for now having something we can move and that doesn’t take the entire wall is nice. We went with this printers media console from Pottery Barn. We completed our paint update to move this room from a white cream color to brighter light grey. We also decided with TV watching and gaming happening often here, we needed blackout curtains. After buying and trying several different curtains, we landed on these, which are silk with an opulent light backing.
Here is a closer look at the media corner.
This white built-in may be on our short honey-do list, maybe after we tackle the backyard and kitchen refresh.
Until then, stay tuned!
