One of our “really want to do” projects around the house last year went uncompleted. It wasn’t until this past week that we finally completed the modification of our built in entertainment center from a 4:3 (i.e. “old school”) TV shape to the more modern 16:9 widescreen layout. Ever since we purchased our 1st widescreen TV several years ago, the entertainment center no longer functioned as it was originally intended. The opening that was meant to hold the tube-style televisions (4:3 aspect ratio) wasn’t shaped to hold the newer screen. It wasn’t wide enough and it was a lot more deep than necessary. In order to make things work, we set the LCD TV on top of the built in and stacked the components (along with the subwoofer) inside where the TV would have normally been placed.
For a while that worked, but over time Connie grew restless with the less than ideal arrangement of the electronics and it’s unsightly look. I wasn’t happy with the electronics being stacked in there and to a lesser degree the looks of it (typical guy). Not only were the electronic components stacked in the big opening below, the TV now blocked a good portion of the shelves in the hutch area. We thought about just replacing it with a new piece of furniture, but that would require that we deal with the carpeting as well since it up to and around the built-in. Without a simple way to fix the problems, we kept talking and wishing with little action.
After Christmas time, we contacted a carpenter that would (for a fee), modify the built-in to add the shelving and some drawers. So even though we the job wasn’t perfect, it was adequate and did provide us with a very workable solution. Some changes:
Nice arrangement of shelves – Each electronic component has its own slot and there is plenty of room around each of the pieces of equipment.
Six drawers provide better space management - In one of the pictures, you can see the large open areas on both the left and right of the large opening. For each one of those big shelf areas, we now have two drawers that let us store so much more than before. There is now plenty of room in the drawers to store movies, games, controllers, remotes, etc.
Improved air flow – There are two wide slots cut in the top of it behind the television that let the hot air flow up out of the entertainment center (shelves also allow this air flow). This also draws cool air in from the front to cool the electronics.
The estimate for re-staining the modified entertainment to a darker color came in way too high, so we decided to go it alone. The product that they suggested we use (even with them doing it) was a product called Polyshades. Its a combination of stain and polyurethane that doesn’t require you to sand everything down to the bare wood. It’s also covers up the different wood types and qualities. Given the varied woods, it seemed like the best option and was highly recommended by several contractors. We figured if all else failed, we would prime it and paint it white.
I would estimate that it took about 8-10 hours of effort to lightly sand and put on two coats of Polyshades. Of course there was some additional prep and clean-up time. It isn’t perfect, but it’s probably as good as if we would have paid someone else. We also refinished the fireplace mantle while we were at it. The wall was also unpainted where the hutch originally was, so I had to paint a couple coats of latex paint to cover the wall. I didn’t have to paint the entire room, so that was a good thing.
With regard to the equipment, I moved some equipment to the wiring closet and reduced the amount of wiring behind the electronics. It took about 4 hours to hook everything back up and tested out. You just forget how many things need to be connected. Amazing.
We are very happy with the new look of the furniture. The design worked out extremely well. It really solved several issues that had been bugging us with the previous arrangement. The bottom line: Connie seems very pleased with it. That’ll work.
