{Family Room} No More Wire Nest!

The Christmas decor is slowly going up around here, but I find I'm leaving more in the boxes than putting out for display. You know, my whole Minimize & Simplify mantra. But I was thrilled to have our Family Room mantel back for decorating!

The Family Room is just one of the spaces we're currently working on, and we recently crossed off a major project on the list. Remember the jumbo TV we accidentally bought at Costco on Memorial Day weekend (that incidentally led to the entire room's makeover plan!) It was so heavy, we were afraid the mantel couldn't support the weight...so Mr. Sugarplum rigged up a sweet solution to give it extra stability until we could get the TV mounted on the wall. And by sweet I mean ridiculous eye-sore.

And of course with a TV comes components and a mass of wires and cords to hide. Sigh. And that's how this corner of the Family Room sat since Memorial Day. That's SIX MONTHS! We had the TV mounting system and all the cables necessary, but we just couldn't get up the nerve to tackle it ourselves. Well, scratch that. Mr. Sugarplum thought he could hang and mount a 100lb TV on drywall, and feed wires through self-made holes in the wall.....but I wasn't so sure. And by not sure, I mean, Oh Haaaaiiiiilllll No!

So I kept putting Mr. Sugarplum off until I could get my trusty rockstar contractor over. After a single afternoon of drilling, swearing and heavy-lifting (the drilling and heavy-lifting was done by them, the swearing was all me)....we were left with a clean and seamless corner!

And thank goodness we didn't DIY this one....in addition to feeding all the cords through the wall, he actually installed a new power outlet on the top shelf for the components, one behind the TV, and another one under the desk top. And I don't ~~want to~~ know what kind of bolts and reinforcements he had to use to get the TV safely on the wall. I'm just thrilled he did.

He even drilled a little hole in my Distressed Desk for the lamp and computer cords to feed through, to the new outlet below.

So no tangle of cords on the desk either!

The cords you see are from the Christmas lights. There's no escaping them completely.

I'm still working on the shelf styling....trying to mix the necessary electronics, CDs, and DVDs, with some stylish accessories. The plan is to move a computer here, too....really test the house's electrical boundaries!

He lengthened the speaker wires, and fed them up through the fireplace.

Since the TV is so high, we opted for a mount that allows us to tilt it down. It really helps cut the glare and improves the picture. A giant TV and two big, black speakers aren't aesthetically pleasing to a room....but this is real life, and just how it is.

And to refresh your memory....here's how the corner used to look! Man I miss that Wet Bar. And by miss I mean click my heels every time I see it's gone.

I totally apologize if this image just burned your retina.

Something needs to happen with the mantel too....I'm open for suggestions? And a better chair is in order if we're actually going to use that Desk Nook.

Crossing off another one on the list! Are you still working on projects around the house, or are things already on hold for the holiday? I may get one or two more projects done in here before the end of the year. And by end of the year, I mean 2013.

FAMILY ROOM TO-DO LIST

(click links to see project)

Before Shots

~~Cover Up the Orange!~~

~~Create a Floorplan~~

~~Place a Larger TV Over the Fireplace~~

~~Enclose the Pass-Thru & Take Out the Wet Bar~~

~~Build Distressed Shelves for TV Components~~

~~Build Desktop~~
~~Buy a Sectional~~

~~Mount TV & Hide Cords~~

Paint Mantle

Find Desk Chair