In our old home our media equipment was stored in the basement – everything gloriously exposed, reveling in its awkward electrical hodg-podg-ery. Our new home, though, doesn’t have space for that. We decided to keep it in the living room and the mess of cables and flashing lights and game controllers was both a dust- and baby-magnet. To make it worse, we didn’t have furniture to accommodate it all. We used a sideboard with a folding table on top, and a homemade counter/table with landscaping fabric wrapped around the base. We also used old boxes and sleeping bags shoved along sides and in spaces to keep our danger-baby from climbing up onto the rickety tables. Mmmm – attractive! (Which explains why there is no photograph.)
I couldn’t stand it any more and measured all of the things we wanted to be with the media and I started shopping. We don’t have lots of money, so I needed to be careful with my funds. I started haunting the Habitat for Humanit ReStore and finally found something to work…
measurements and fantasy
Ooo! A sale at the ReStore!
Hmmm … A two-piece desk, but they are priced separately and the top one seems very promising.
Ooo – totally acceptable price!
Before shopping, I wrote the measurements for each media component on its own post-it note to help me experiment with placement.
If I add a second shelf inside the cupboard, everything would fit! I bought it and sent my hubby back to bring it home.
I still had some changes to maximize the space and minimize the visibility of things or the possibility for kids to play with it.
First, we added a second shelf and holes in the back for ventilation.
A lock for one side and a latch for the other keeps the kids out.
But the trickiest part was cutting and finishing a hole in the cabinet door to put the center speaker inside. With some scrap wood behind the speaker, it rests directly against the door but little hands can’t push it out of the way to reach in.
I think it looks pretty nice now! We still have the cable box out and another component that needs to be exposed for remote control use, but eventually I’d like to install glass doors in the far right opening to put them in. For now, we keep toys there!