apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The steel thing has got to go.

The wire tube, while a good idea is poorly executed. It should be strait vertical (no bends) and centered...

I give this a sound... "meh..."

Ok, so I totally realize that I'm not going to win, but hey it was a shot in the dark!

I'd now like to replace the chest/stack combo, and I'm thinking of building something like Kelly and Gregory's Entry (http://hometech.apartmenttherapy.com/hometech/small-cool-2007-entries/13-kelly-gregorys-media-wall-021673), but not wall mounted.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Julian, If the tube is centered, where would the center speaker go?

Also, most TVs have their inputs on the side, not the bottom, so short of using tape or something, that doesn't seem like it'd work at all.

As for the the steel thing, well, I already covered that in my first post.

The off center tube doesn't bother me so much, but I agree that the steel thing has got to go. The chest also appears uneven. Is there any rule about how high the LCD should be on the wall? I find most people hang them way too high for neck comfort.

Mat-

My feeling is that if you are able to mount a flat panel onto the wall you can easily hide the cables inside the wall. A 1" hole will allow you to stuff all the cables behind the drywall and run them to the soon-to-be-built media unit thus hiding them permanently. Patching a 1" hole is not any harder than patching several smaller holes...

That being said I really don't care too much about cables...

I also wonder in general wy everyone seems to mount the tv's to the wall- it's almost as if "I can so I should" In my opinion this tv wouldn't look half bad sitting on that red chest with all of the media components inside the chest...

I chose the mounting height based on what was nicely viewable from the couch while still not being too easily obstructed. I mounted the TV because I didn't want it resting on the furniture: in my opinion, it just looks nicer. I'd also add that height is PERFECT for jamming on Guitar Hero.

The wires in the wall thing is something that I can understand works for some people, but I don't feel like it does for me. The reason being that I move my video game systems around, hook up new ones, etc, etc, so I need more mobility, and dropping them in the wall limits that substantially. I suppose I could extend ALL of the TVs a/v hookups, but I'm not sure how I feel about doing that.

Oh, and the chest is level, it's just my picture taking that isn't :)

I don't mind the wire tube, and I like how the red chest is set off against the celadon wall. But the steel chest completely ruins the whole effect.

One thing you could do is run the tube inside the wall- that way you could just feed wires and cables through the tube for ease of flexibility yet still keeping the look clean...

Perhaps if it was a square pipe or something akin... it jsut looks too vaccuum-tube to me...

-1 for steel box, 10 for guitar hero

ps wireless 360 guitar!

There's one other thing you can do, which I've done to conceal the wires in my own system at home.

Since it is against code to run power cables in the wall unless you are using the special shielded runs (and terminating them in a clock outlet behind the tv) and I am not too excited about doing that myself, I decided to put the wires in front. However, I didn't really like the look of a tube or a loom so I built a cover out of a piece of wood and two battens. In the cavity behind this cover I fastened the wires, then screwed the cover to the wall. I think it looks a little more built in than a loom, especially if you choose to paint it the same color as the wall.

That said, I like your idea of using the chest as media storage. Looks great, but would be even nicer if it was just a little larger somehow so you could squeeze the consoles in there as well, eliminating the metal boxes. :)

I forgot to mention -- the wooden cover also allows you to mount your center speaker right on the cover. You can drill a hole in the cover to pass the speaker cable through.

Thanks a b, that's a good idea!

The chest actually is big enough for my consoles and I'd use it for that, but there isn't anyplace to run the cables out of (besides the door). It's supposedly an actual antique so I'd feel pretty bad drilling it just for the sake of my video game fix.

That would definitely be a good reason to stay your drill bit!

I did think of another alternative for the metal boxes. Perhaps a wooden shelf (painted or stained to closely match the antique) that rests on top of the chest.. the consoles would go under and the center speaker could rest on top. With the right height and a solid back (with holes for wires) to the shelf, you could even just hide all the connection wires right behind that.

Of course if you like the metal boxes then nevermind; I just have this urge to see stuff "centered". :)

I agree, that steel chest has got to go. Asian furniture is traditionally designed to be placed symetrically in a space, (Feng Shui). That antique chest is being dishonored by having to sit off center and share a wall with with that ugly steel thing.

Here's my suggestions:

Banish the steel monster from the room, center your chest on the wall below the television, and lower your television to about 12-18" above the top of the chest. You tv appears to be mounted uncomfortably high on the wall. Remove the base moulding at the bottom of the wall and drill a hole through to the apparent closet behind, then run your wires up through the closet instead of the wall and dispatch with that distracting wire tube. Install a replacement base moulding to accommodate the new hole and save the original for replacement when you move. Behind the TV drill another hole for the wires to come back through the closet and connect to the rear of the tv/audio. If that center speaker produces base, place that on the floor under the chest toward the front.

House your game console in a small painted wood box or other complementary container placed on top of your antique chest. The box could have a front door which drops down for game play and can be closed when not in use, concealing the electronics. Wires for the game can be routed through the rear of the box, down the back of the chest, then through the base moulding hole into the closet.

If the games you play work better with the tv at this height, install a tv bracket that allows you to move the tv up and down or permits the top of the tv to tilt down. This will provide you with comfortable viewing whether you're playing a game standing up, or watching tv sitting on the sofa.