To make sure I hung the shelves right, and to help decide what size TV to get I made an AutoCAD sketch of the built-in area. 
To compare, here is a shot of the area before the renovation.
The framing and drywall of the area is complete, with an electrical outlet added behind the TV space, and a wireway created to the entertainment unit. Also, speaker wire has been run behind the TV to allow speakers to go unobtrusively on the shelves. Thus far, there should be no way to see any wires.
The shelves will most likely (read, if they work) be a white Ikea Lack, modified to fit. I bought a couple shelves to play with; hopefully I can make them work, as I really like the frameless look and I can only use the framing wall behind the shelves for bracing as a couple of the side walls are not structurally sound. The max load per shelf is listed as 18-44 lbs, but I am decreasing the depth of them by about 20%, and trimming down the length 15-25%. This should increase the load capacity, especially since I'll be stiffening up the frame too.
The television will be a 46-50" TV, wall mounted on a tiltable mount. The lines on the drawing show both sizes, which I'm town between. While I'm all for a nice big TV after living with a 20" TV for the last 10 years, I don't want to get too big from a height perspective. While the width is nice, the couch sits across from the TV about 10' away, so going too high means you are looking up at it. The bigger the screen, the more you have to look up. Gotta love the limited design trade space due to having a small space.
For the electronics storage we purchased the Ikea Tobo. We needed something to fit the electronics and had a way for the IR signals of the remote to get into the cabinet. The 19" depth and glass front accomplish these goals. While I would have preferred a more mid-century modern wood piece, the width of this indented area really limited us. If something nicer comes along we'll get it, but this will work for now. 
The tile area in front of the faux fireplace will be tiled over with white subway tile (yay for $1.50 sq/ft tile from HD), and the mantel painted white. The hardie-board is laid down and I'm waiting to borrow a tile saw to get this project done. The ceiling fan in the above picture is also no longer. The light would have shone onto the TV and the width it gone and can lights put in the 9' ceilings are definitely more noticeable.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Built-In Bookshelves Drawing
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7 comments:
Has anyone heard of Ruff & Ready in DC? http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&q=Ruff+%26+Ready&near=Washington,+DC&fb=1&view=text&latlng=38915894,-77031960,3638298984247598691
Found it on Apartment Therapy, supposed to be pretty neat.
Pretty!
My feeling on the TVs is to get the largest one that will fit and that you can afford. Never heard of Ruff & Ready, but sounds fun. C-Mart is closing their DC area store so they may have some closeout deals worth looking at.
We're off to Florida, keep up the good work and Stay Safe!!
As long as you have the tilt mount, you can do the big tv. I wasn't quite sure how the 50" would work in our living room, but it's great, and I barely notice how huge it is. It just seems "right". I'd originally wanted a 42" but was talked up to the 50" and now I'm glad. You'll adjust to it quickly. Mine isn't mounted as high as yours will be, but the tilt mount helps a lot. We have ours at eye level if you're standing up, which means I can still watch it from across the room.
Looks like the consensus is bigger is better when it comes to TV's!
I know I'm coming late to this party and I haven't heard of Ruff & Ready but I am wondering about all this Ikea stuff? It strikes me that dadolescent is up here in my shop learning to build top notch furniture and, given the quality of the work he's doing, he certainly could replace that Ikea stuff (and I'm being overly kind in my choice of pronouns)with something exotic and exceptionally well built. I'm finding out, even without reading the St. Patty's Day posts, he works rather efficiently for beer.
The blog is great and it looks like you're doing a fine job on the place. Keep up the good work.
Chuck Bender, Period Furniture Maker
Hey Chuck - Thanks for stopping by! Dadolescent told the Queen that you'd be stopping by. Keep up on his training so he can eventually build us some pretty furniture. How about the next project you teach him is a nice mid century walnut credenza? :-)
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