Prototyping

"It's Perfect!" Is what my wife says for almost everything. For the most part she is right. Then there are the other times when it's perfect at the store or online and horrible at home.

We bought outdoor furniture (a few times online), bath mats for the master bathroom, mirrors, console tables, etc. 

Even when we saw the measurements online and thought it would work, we would get it home and think that it was absolutely perfect......for Keebler Elfs. 

To combat this, we now hold off on buying things the first time we see it. We take down the measurements, go home, find the spot we want it in, and take blue painters tape to tape out the furniture.

Taping the height and the depth gave us a better picture of how far out the table would be. We needed to make sure that it did not take up too much hallway space.

We also had a mirror from Ikea that we brought with us. We needed to figure out how to put this mirror up in a way that worked with the room.  

Mirror from Ikea ($99) 75"X37"

Blue Tape of the Ikea Mirror Off Center of the Couch

The couch was not center of the room, nor could we move the rug and the opposite couch into the middle. We thought of having the mirror off center but did know what it would look like. By taping it out, we were able to visualize it and realize that it would look fine that way. 

Off Center Mirror

Not only did this make sure that the furniture's measurements fit the spot we wanted it, but we could better visualize what it would look like.

I hope this helps you in your furniture buying adventures.

Rugs, Rugs, and Even More Rugs

There are things that I am good at and like to share (or my wife likes to say, brag/pontificate about/etc), but then there are things that others are good at and can explain much better.

Rugs are one of those instances. I know we need rugs in our house, because it sounds like a warehouse, but I don't know where to start.

What to do? Google. My best friend. However, Google showed me a lot of dead ends until I found this gem of a site. She laid out all of the things one would need to know to get a rug. As an added bonus, she added a video to show the various sizes and mistakes.

So rather than steal/regurgitate what she put, how about I send her some of you readers to her.

Style By Emily Henderson

Just be sure to come back here every once in a while.

What we decided on was an 8x8 for the gamily room, a 9x12 for the dinning room, a 6x9 for the living room. All wool and all from Overstock.com. In all, we spent about $800 dollars on rugs that will help give the room depth and reduce the warehouse effect in our home.

Photobomb by Our Dog Chewy

Oh, be sure to buy rug pads to prevent slipping. I did a combination of Amazon.com and Overstock.com to get the best price.

Hope this helps you choose the right rug for you once bare and cold room!

Clean Mounts

For men like me, mounting a TV is like grilling, and similar to grilling, everyone mounts differently. Some do it right and use charcoal and others are lazy and use propane, but I digress.

What does this have anything to do with mounting a TV? EVERYTHING.

When it comes to mounting a TV, understand that you will be judged on three categories. Appearance, Execution, and Ingenuity. There are a lot of factors that go into the judging. The type of mount, where you mounted it, the height you mounted it, how you hid the cables, where's the cable box, etc.

You cannot, simply, mount your TV and call it quits. There has to be much thought into how you will execute the art of dark magic.

First step is figure out where to put your TV. In the corner? Over the fireplace (never do this, since most of the time it is too high and you have "Front Row of the Movie Theater" effect), flat against the wall? in the corner? Do I need to have it swivel? All of this goes into picking out your mount. 

Perfect transition into picking out your mount. I like Amazon.com since its much cheaper than going to Best Buy (how this store is still around baffles me). But you can always try Google to find the best price. Make sure the mount can withstand the weight of your TV. Just because the mount can hold a 55-inch, it might not be able to hold yours since your 55-inch is much heavier than the normal 55-inch. I bought a single arm mount but if I were to do it all over again, I'd go with a dual arm to distribute weight.

Recommended TV Mount from Amazon.com

Once you have your position and mount identified, you need to find the right viewing height. As I mentioned before, above the fireplace usually is a bad option since it sits too high. Even with angling it downwards, it is a strain on your neck. 

What I usually say is sit on the couch, cut out cardboard as big as your TV. Have someone hold it in various heights until you feel it looks good from the couch and from a standing position.

I like 37 inches off the ground to the bottom of the TV. But do what works best for you.

Once you have the right measurements, mount your mount! Make sure you take into account the fact that the mount may not be the middle of the TV so do your measurements of where the mount should be placed on the wall. Use a stud finder, my wife found one on October 2, 2010 (our anniversary).

In all seriousness, use a stud finder from any hardware store or do the ol' knock test. Either way, all studs will be 16 to 24 inches apart. Also most electrical boxes (outlets) are screwed into a stud.

In the case where your mount is set for 16 inch studs but yours are 24 inches apart, et 3/4inch plywood (36 inches long) and screw that into the studs then the mount into the plywood.

3/4 Plywood for 24 inch apart studs on a 16 inch mount

Next is to hide the box and cables. I've seen many people use conduit like I did. Others go behind the wall (a lot of effort) and some just put everything hidden behind something decorative like a console table.

I went with attaching the cable box to the back of the mount and used conduit to hide the coax and power cables.

Can only tell if you look behind it

This is what the end product looks like. I would give myself the following grades (leave a comment for what you would give me):
Appearance: 8 (can see the conduit for power and cable)
Execution: 7 (the single arm mount isn't the best for adding weight (cable box) to one side)
Ingenuity: 7 (mounting the box behind allows for full floating effect)
Total: 22/30

End Result:

Master Bedroom

Family Room (see other posts for how it looks from far away)

Hope this inspires you to do some magic of your own and mount your TV this weekend!

Tools needed:
- Level
- Stud Finder
- Socket Wrench
- Chromecast ($35, best investment ever. Google it and be amazed. Its Apple TV but much smaller and only $35)

More Wallpaper?!

The family room. After a long days work, and a nice home cooked meal, all you want to do is sit back, relax with a glass of vino/scotch/beer/alcohol of choice and watch some DVR'd shows.

Sounds like a great Tuesday evening, but in our fixer upper, we have one minor issue. WALLPAPER! Apparently, the half-bath had pollinated the family room and was beginning to take over the house. We knew if we didn't stop it here, that this could have been the second coming of wallpaper as a viable trend.

Sponge-like Wallpaper? (Previous Owners)

Following the same steps outlined in Bathroom of Horrors, we removed all of the wallpaper. Since this occurred over the work week, took about a week to do (which was much better mentally).

Wallpaper and Previous Crown Molding Removed

While pulling off, what I like to call "the Devil's skin", we decided to redo the crown molding. This meant  ripping out the old stuff with a crowbar, which made a nice stress reliever.

Crown Molding

Putting up crown molding is not for the faint of heart. If you are not good at geometry, I would suggest hiring a contractor. We decided to put the molding at a 45 degree angle (previous owners put baseboards flat against the wall) and also add trim underneath to make it look even bigger. All-in-all, the crown molding ran us about $1,000 dollars (also took the crown molding into the family room, foyer, sitting room in master bedroom, upstairs hallway, and dining room), but well worth it.

After some taping, patching holes, and adding in recessed lighting (contracted out at $90/light), we were ready for some paint!

After Hours Renovation (Renovation Raiders Style)

A fresh coat of paint, new sectional from Haverty's, mounted 55-inch TV, coffee and end tables from Arhaus, and some decor (Picture Wall), we were finally able to call it our family room. Which now has the added benefit of being wallpaper free since 2013.

In total, we spent the following:
- Sectional $3500
- Coffee and End Tables $800
- Paint $30
- Molding (Pro Rated) $300
- TV Mount $60
- Decor $100
- New Blinds (faux wood from Home Depot $35/each)
- TV (Had previously)

For a grand total of ~$4,850. Not the cheapest but we decided not to go cheap on the tables and the couches since we spend so much time in this room.

Hope this gives you the push to take on your family room and make it your first fixer upper.

Picture Wall Arrangements

Blank space. My wife's worst nightmare. Behind our couch is nothing but blank space. A deep abyss of nothing. A place where deep thought is lost. Where bad things happen to good people. Okay, the last one was a bit of a stretch. But I digress, back to the blank space.

What do we do? A mirror? Been there done that. A painting? Not sophisticated enough. How about an arrangement of pictures? Now we were talking.

We could fill them with pictures of us, our dog, family, and maps we used on our trips to Italy and Hawaii. We could fill them with our happiest memories and smile every time we walked into our family room. We would grab a glass of wine, and point to a picture and talk about what we did, how we felt, and how we are going to promise each other that we are going to go back again!

We started by going to the best place for picture frames.....Ikea. Where we bought, what seemed like the entire stock, for pennies (about $50 dollars in total).

Next we cut out white paper the size of the various frames and taped them onto the wall. This way we were better able to see what they would look like.

After we were satisfied with the arrangement, we put a nail in about 1 inch from the top of the paper and started to hang our memories. In total, this took us under $50 dollars (minus printing pictures) and about 20 minutes from sizing to hanging.

I hope this inspired you to dig up your favorite memories and begin to build your wall of smiles in your home!