Entertainment Center Pinterest Hack

I have slowly morphed into a bargain/outlet/market shopper.  I’m not sure exactly how it happened but the follow the rules at any cost chick has found her mojo in cutting the deal.  Just like that flippin’ Kenny Rogers poker song that is currently playing ad nauseum in a GEICO TV commercial, you really do need to know when to hold and when to fold, and definitely when to walk away.  And with my EEGS design esthetic (Early Eclectic Garage Sale), the art of the deal means finding nice pieces at a great price.

Hubby is a Master of the Universe in business, with 11 patents in medical device technology to his name, but he’s usually the one poking me in the back and whispering “See if you can get them to take $half_that_amount”.  Jeesh.  All they could say is no, right?

Now, I’m not one of the ‘extreme cheapskate’ types who insultingly haggle over everything or dumpster dive for food or returns clothing they wore while the tags were still attached.  Nah, I’m talking about finding that item, say on consignment or at an open market fair, and cutting the deal.  Though admittedly, I’ve been known to wheel and deal on slightly defective clearance items at department stores that I know I can clean or repair (drives my kids batty).

So, on to my first real Pinterest hack.  One of the items you can find a lot now on consignment are entertainment centers, and if you’re patient, you can find the really nice ones, brand name, solid wood, with interior lighting that sold for thousands originally.  You might ask yourself, why are these units suddenly available?  And the answer is pretty simple – most flat screen TVs have outgrown the center console space, usually 37 or 42 inches – as people upgrade the TV, the unit no longer works.

So then you’re asking, well, if your TV won’t fit there, why buy it?  For us, the answer is again, pretty simple.  We have an open concept first floor home.  With the big screen Sports Center monstrosity, sorry, TV firmly ensconced in the Kitchen/Great Room/Men’s Domain area, the Living Room/Dining Room cannot have a TV, as the sound of cooking shows or TMC movies could disrupt whatever sporting event happens to be blaring at any given time – but that’s another blog.

Katie's Bridal Shower

OK, we had a large, open wall space (what you might call a hallway, except there’s only a wall on one side) that was just screaming for a unit (the picture is from my daughter’s bridal shower, with said wall newly painted and looking very empty).  I checked into having a wall unit custom made, but the $7,000 price tag (you read that right) killed that idea in its tracks.  (Peeps I paid less for my first two cars, combined. Ouch.) So the hunt for the bargain was on. 

And I found it at one of my favorite consignment shops, This N That in Mason, Ohio.  Don’t let the grainy picture fool you.  This Havertys 3 piece entertainment center is gorgeous, solid wood (it weighs a ton), lighted, with no scratches or gouges, and only some broken door pulls.  It was priced at $499.00, but because I prowl around their store regularly, I knew it had been on the floor for a while, so maybe a deal could be struck.  While hubby loved the piece, he still hemmed and hawed over the price.  I asked what his bottom dollar was, he said $400, I started at $350 and settled at $375, earning his wide-eyed respect and admiration. It broke the backs of my son-in-law and all his young gun friends to get it into the truck and into the house, but the minute it was in, I knew we’d made a good pick.

Now you might be asking, if I’m not using the center console as an additional Sports Center portal, then what?  Well this is where Pinterest comes in.  Entertainment center ‘hacks’ abound. 

A couple of my personal favorites are:

            Coffee Station – if you’re seriously into entertaining, this idea is a cute one.
            http://www.pinterest.com/pin/10133167887285407/
            Bar – I really loved this idea.  The makeover truly could be a show piece like the post below, 

and if the entertainment center has doors, all the goodies could be locked away from the kiddos.  Seriously, there are loads of entertainment center ‘wet bar’ hacks on Pinterest.
            http://www.pinterest.com/pin/10133167887285445/
            China Cabinet – I don’t need one as I inherited my Grandmother’s set, but I thought some of these repurposed pieces were nicely done.
            http://www.pinterest.com/pin/427842033324012339/

But, hubby prefers practical ideas over the whimsical ones and so we settled on a computer work station, similar (in theory) to this - http://www.pinterest.com/pin/10133167887285500/.

 Right away, you might recognize that there are challenges to this idea that need to be addressed:

            1) Where do you put your legs? 

2) How do you create a desk feature for the keyboard and mouse?

3) Is the entire inside base shelf too high, meaning you crane your neck upwards to look at a monitor?  The Pinterest picture shows a lap top, but some people still have desktops with monitors (meaning us).

These are all valid concerns, and we addressed them this way:

            

The ‘where do you put your legs/desk solution’ was sort of a two for one.  We had an old standalone computer desk that had a slide out tray for the keyboard and mouse.  We (meaning hubby) disassembled the piece and salvaged the tray/slide runners.  But this created another dilemma – the runners needed to be side mounted – and our center console unit has doors.  Hubby’s solution was to ditch the doors which I was loathe to do (and to be honest I have no idea why, as I’ve never closed them once.)  Instead we came up with another two for one solution.  We (once again meaning hubby) took the inside shelf (check out the sample picture below) which was probably used for a DVD player or cable box, unscrewed it from the top of the center unit, turned it upside down and screwed it to the bottom of the unit.  Voila’.  It created a space for the keyboard tray to be screwed in, a place for the mouse and other computer paraphernalia, and last but not least, we plunked the monitor on top.  Done.  Except…

Refer to problem #3.  The monitor was simply too high for mere mortals too look at, unless they’re an NBA basketball player.  After a day or two, neck strain was a real problem.  It looked as if the entire hack might be doomed. 

Solution #3 caused real consternation.  My idea was to cut the top shelf off, creating two shelves (not three) and dropping the monitor down at least 7 inches.  Hubby now was loathe to cut – but there really wasn’t any other option (well, there was, but we didn’t think of it at that time).  Following the old measure twice, cut once rule, hubby sliced off the top shelf, we stained it with some matching wood stain, screwed it in place, reassembled the computer, and problem solved. 

Well, here’s the annoyance? Problem? Issue? with this inside console hack…you’re left with a lot of

This isn't our unit, but you can see their shelf at the top inside console.

dead space above the monitor.  By removing the hanging shelf to use as the base shelf, we have about 22 inches of unused space between the monitor and the inside top of the center console.  Mind you, we have a small 21” monitor, and have space to go much larger, both in width and height.  We could have found a different way to hack in the bottom shelf, leaving the top shelf in place – and that probably would have been the way to go.  Mind you though, the top shelves had about a 5 inch opening, which is perfect for electronics, but not much else.

 

So, why not screw shelves into the back of the unit, you ask?  Well, like almost all entertainment centers, the back inside wall is made of press board (which is very thin); usually these are removed completely so that the back of your electronic devices (TV/DVD/Monitor/Cable box) where the fans are located have a place to vent, otherwise you’d burn everything up in an expensive version of an easy bake oven.  So, to do any type of back wall mounting for a hack you’d have to remove the press board and install or reinforce with real wood. 

Recap?  The hack works nicely and cost us nothing, except the cost of the unit, and some beers for the young studs who moved it.  Who knows though, there might be some additional upgrades in the future that try and make use of that dead space, and if they work out I’ll share them accordingly.  Right now though, we’re pretty happy with the results!  Next post, design arranging the side book shelves.  Yikes.