"A TV cabinet -- in all its bachelor-pad, 'Monday Night Football' glory -- is often the scariest thing in a living room," says deputy style and home editor Shane Powers. Making a smarter media unit is about as easy as playing Tetris: Combine inexpensive, unfinished cubes to create a larger structure, and then treat it to a dose of style. Here, circular knobs, curvy feet, and two tones of sage-green paint evoke cool elegance. The open-and-closed construction showcases knickknacks and books while concealing electronics (and your shame-inducing "O.C." box set).
Media Cabinet How-To
1. Select basic storage cubes according to your needs and space. Then pick out some decorative knobs (anthropologie.com, restorationhardware.com, and ebay.com are great places to start). If you want decorative feet, try premierwood.com or osbornewood.com.
2. Remove all existing knobs and paint the cubes, inside and out. Experiment with colors to add visual interest. Let dry.
3. Install knobs.
4. If desired, drill holes in the corners of the base of the bottom-most unit and screw on the decorative feet.
5. Stack the cubes to form one piece, placing lighter units on top of heavier ones.
6. To hide unsightly wires, drill a hole in the back of any cubes that will hold electronic equipment. Run the wires through the opening to an electrical outlet.
Credits
Double cube, double cube (one door, two drawers), double cube (two doors), and TV stand cube, all at gothiccabinetcraft.com. Painted in Cambridge Green (No. 468), and trimmed in High Park (No. 467), both benjaminmoore.com for stores. Home on the Range knobs, anthropologie.com. Queen Anne Bun feet, premierwood.com. Cole and Son New Contemporary Two Alpana wallpaper, leejofa.com for stores. Oscar de la Renta Tibetan Collection Watercolor Celadon rug, elsoncompany.com for stores. Hans J. Wegner Shell chair, roomandboard.com. LCD 26-inch HD television, lgusa.com for stores. Kiki van Eijk Soft clock, the Future Perfect, 718-599-6278.
Awesome tutorial Martha, the parts are a little expensive though!
Albert Lafarge writes that one of the first American flea markets was the Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas, which began in 1873 as a place where people would go to buy horses; later, they brought their own goods to sell or trade. Home Page Other towns quickly adopted this pattern of trade, but the modern flea market was supposedly the brainchild of Russell Carrell, an east-coast antique show organizer.
Nice share Martha, can we renovate our kitchen similarly? i have seen couple of Cherry Kitchen Cabinets here, they are really good.
Most media consoles don't look "right" with a big plasma tv. I couldn't be happier with the new media console I got from High Fashion Home (http://www.highfashionhome.com/dylan-entertainment-console.html). It functions very well and looks great!
Wheaton, it's not illegal to state one's opinion. Not every critique has to be a ray of sunshine. I find all the comments here to be good input. We're all adults here.
I guess, like anything else, if you don't like it, don't do it. This is a look that is popular with a lot of people right now. If it is too expensive, figure out how you can do it on your budget. Thanks to those that are positive in their comments.
When I read the prices of the items used to create this look I was very surprised. This looks dorm-room cheap. No offense to dorm decor, it's just not sophisticated. It doesn't even look quirky-chic.
:) Great ideas though, from the other member replies, doing this for less than $50 would be worth it.
When I read the prices of the items used to create this look I was very surprised. This looks dorm-room cheap. No offense to dorm decor, it's just not sophisticated. It doesn't even look quirky-chic.
:) Great ideas though, from the other member replies, doing this for less than $50 would be worth it.
I agree with Jesse Piester - this is way too expensive, but there is a cheaper way to do this: go to Ikea. They sell individual wooden cubes for $10 not $85. You can paint or stain them and it isn't hard to make a door for them.
I know my husband could whip me up some of these in a hurry. It sure would be cheaper!
Sorry, Martha, this is ridiculously expensive. For this kind of green you could buy real furniture.