Now we have a new (and better proportioned) TV above our fireplace in the living room, we had to figure out a way to move the electronics – and all their associated cables and wires – across the room. That meant rerouting the wires behind the drywall – up the TV wall, across the ceiling and down to the soon-to-be DVD nook.

One big advantage of not having flooring down yet is it is still relatively easy to pry up the subfloor for wiring projects such as this.  The room directly above the living room is the master bedroom.  A little clear out of the (minimal) furniture we have in the bedroom and adjacent changing area and the floors came up…

The corner of wall (with the drywall cut out) is the chimney flue from the fireplace below.  So the electrical, co-ax and HDMI cables popped out there from below, then were run along the floor joists.

Taking up the flooring gave us the chance to take up a few of the remaining carpet tack strips (and sweep under the bed – gross!)

In short, our bedroom was a complete disaster zone for about 24 hours…

But the upheaval was only temporary and totally worth it.  The DVD/DVR and other electronics are all now sitting nicely over in the new DVD nook.  The wires will still look a little unsightly until we get a better media cabinet than the old glass table we’re currently using…

I am liking this cabinet from Ikea.  It has glass doors so that the remote controls for the DVD/DVR will work.  Those small drawers will also come in handy for stashing PS3 controllers and other small electronics.  But of course the main thing is that the cabinet will hide all those ugly wires.

Ikea actually sells this as a linen cabinet, but the proportions are perfect for media storage.  At 20 inches deep, it is deep enough to hold the DVD/DVR (with a little extra room for wires at the back).  It’s about 50 inches tall  – higher than most TV or media cabinets.  The extra height works perfectly for us as we want to be able to use the remote control across the room without the sofas getting in the line of sight. A little photoshop magic shows how the cabinet might look in the space.

Picture the cabinet with some cool art above it, maybe a lamp or a plant or two.  And best of all, no wires in sight.  I’m really liking how we’re going to be able to have the TV on one wall and the electronics on a different wall 15 feet away with no ugly electrical wires in view.  So I guess we’re not going to need this wireless media extender after all.  What ways do you use to hide or reroute wires in your house?

At the end of last year, I lamented about the size of our television in relation to the fireplace.  Don’t even get me started on all those electronics and wires showing…

The fireplace is a whopping 85 inches across, and the 32″ television we bought several years ago was just not right for the space.  Plus,  the fireplace wall is on an angle to the rest of the room, so there really is no place near for the electronics equipment to be stashed. So we’ve been living with this less-than-ideal TV setup  for a few months now.  Sexy.

As part of Rick’s birthday present, we decided to break down and buy a larger TV.  A 55 inch one no less. We had to get a new bracket to support the larger TV – a few screws later and it was easily installed.

Rick also removed a little bit of the drywall behind the TV to set the plugs into the wall.  And voila!

Much better.  The TV is a better proportion to the fireplace.  Not to mention that extra viewing space in HD   I havent completely figured out how to correctly dress the mantle … hence the measly looking small blue vases from Ikea (which I love).  I think we might eventually install light sconces either side of the television, but nothing is set in stone.

Next, we had to figure out a plan for moving all those pesky DVD/DVR cables away from the fireplace to the nook by the dining room…

The wires will be routed through the walls, so we won’t have any of those ugly cables showing again.  Stay tuned for the those details, coming Wednesday.

How cool is this eco-friendly alarm clock?

The clock is powered by water.  Yep, H2O only.  And it also has a thermometer and calendar. You simply add water to the cell to activate, and enjoy free energy to run your clock.  I could see having one of these in each of the guest bedrooms, not to mention the office  and the front rooms.

In addition to being good for the planet and pleasing on the eye, it’s a steal at only £14.99 GBP (approx. $25 USD).  Want one (or five)? Check ’em out here!

It is a common sight in many modernized households to see flat screen TV’s mounted above the fireplace.  Technology has progressed so much in the last decade making TV’s thinner and thinner (could someone find a way to apply that technology to me, please? Pretty please?!?).  In many homes, the mounted television has replaced the omnipresent mirror as the go-to accessory over the fireplace. Our house is no exception:

I’ve talked before about wanting to get a larger TV to replace our modestly-sized older model.  I know for a fact that Rick would love any TV over the 50″ mark. Whilst that is a whopping-sized television, I have to admit that it would fit the space above the fireplace much better than our current one.  Here’s a mock-up of what the fireplace might look like if we invest in a larger TV:

But here’s the problem.  When the television is not in use, it can become a big black eyesore.  So what are some of the options out there for covering the TV? A quick googley  and a common solution pops up.  Turn the television into a piece of art!  The simplest option is to frame the TV in, making it look more placed and grounded, rather than randomly floating above the fireplace.  Or you can go a step further and cover the TV with artwork of your choice.  It can simply be hung in front of the TV, or you can invest in a mechanized system that, at the a touch of a button, rolls out the artwork when the TV needs hiding, then rolls back in place when the footy comes on.

These systems can be expensive, but there should be a way to DIY this set-up for less moolah.  Another fab (but expensive) option is to cover the TV with a two-way mirror:

Advanced beam splitter mirror technology (which I don’t pretend to understand!) enables you to watch the TV as normal when it is turned on, but when you turn off your TV, it is transformed into a decorative mirror.  I’m not sure if it would be possible to DIY this set-up given the speciality glass, but this solution definitely combines function and style well.

What solutions are you using / have you come across that hide the TV?  Do you prefer the artwork idea, or the mirror one?  Or something else? Or maybe you’re not bothered that the TV is on display when not in use.  Spill it.

We’ve been making good headway with our renovation goals for 2010 (read about the goals here and how we are progressing here).  Lately, I noticed that the photo header that sits at the top of the blog is a little outdated and no longer reflects the changes we’ve been making throughout the house.  Here is the original header from when we bought the house and started the blog last year:

In the 3rd photo above we no longer have the outdated brass chandelier in the foyer, having swapped it  for a more modern chrome one last summer.  Similarly, in the 2nd photo above the fireplace in the front room is no longer brown, as it was primed and painted to within an inch of its life during one of our paint partays.  Plus, all that brown chair rail has been removed from the premises.

In short, it’s time for a header makeover.

The new photo banner shows a few of the changes we’ve been making round here lately.  The first photo gives a more comprehensive view of the entire house (taken on a blisteringly hot and stunningly clear blue-sky day).  The 2nd photo gives a view from below of the new foyer chandelier. The third photo shows our most recent acquisition – a steal of a deal found at Home Goods – this mirrored clock currently sits atop of the formerly brown fireplace in the front room.  And lastly, the vessel sink and waterfall faucet are an integral part of our downstairs bathroom makeover. The bathroom reveal will be made shortly – I promise (I know, I know.  I’ve been saying that for months, but I promise it’s coming s.o.o.n).

So there you have it.  A little blog makeover to represent our renovation progress.  I’ll be back with more posts next week. I’m back in the UK again visiting family, so although I am not at the house in the midst of projects, I’ve got a bunch of reveals to show you: the long awaited downstairs bathroom makeover, the dining room and its new trim boxes and the office reorganization. It’s going to be a before-and-after extravaganza.

Rick is usually the teccie geek in our family. Any kind of new gadget (especially computer related) piques his interest. He was the one who wanted to upgrade our camera from a little point-and-shoot to a DSLR.  At the time I wasn’t convinced – especially as DSLR’s tend to be more expensive than their little cousins. But once we got the camera, I was hooked. So much so that photography is now considered my domain in our household.  I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised then that lately I have started thinking about moving photography.

I’ve seen a couple of fab videos taken with the pocket-sized Flip video camera on one of the Home Design blogs I read (check out YHL). The reviews for this camera are nearly all fantastic.  People report that it is easy-to-use, with its one touch recording system, built in 8GB memory and flip-out USB drive.  Plus, the FlipShare software lets you easily email videos, edit individual clips, make custom movies, capture still photos from video, and upload video to YouTube. You can learn more about the Flip features on this video.

Currently, Amazon is offering three (yes 3!) special promotions if you buy this baby by October 10th.  When you purchase the video camera, you get 1) a free accessory, such as a carrying case or rechargeable battery pack and 2) 55 free prints (including 50 4 x 6-inch, four 5 x 7-inch, and one 8 x 10-inch, valued at $15.45) from Shutterfly. In addition to these freebies, the best deal is being offered in conjunction with Audible - an online marketplace for digital audiobooks. If you sign up for their AudibleListener® Gold program for 12 months ($14.95 per month), then you get $100.00 off the camera.  100 notes!  So, you’re getting the video camera for around 60 bucks – that is an amazing deal!  Rick listens to audiobooks all the time on his 90 minute commute to and from work everyday, so this might be a very good deal for us.  In fact, I might have just talked myself into getting one!

How cool is this?  Benjamin Moore have launched a new iPhone app called Color Capture. The app  lets you take a photo of anything you’re around, and then shows the closest matching colors in the Benjamin Moore catalog — there are over 3,300, so it should be easy to get a pretty dead-on match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But wait! The coolness does not end there! Shake the phone when your matches come up, and it’ll give you coordinating colors for your new palette, and once you’re convinced these are your home’s new hue, it’ll use the phone’s GPS to find the nearest retailers with the Moore paint.  How’s that for decorating on the go?

Whether your answer to the question is a resounding “yes”, an absolute “no” (even an “I don’t know” or “I don’t really care!”), you can now use this blog to help you decide for yourselves. Week by week, day by day, our regular readers (all three of you ;o) have read the blog posts about the progress of our house renovation. Although there is the odd picture scattered in here and there, some of you readers  might prefer my witty (?) verbal meanderings. However, to cater for the more visually inclined reader, I wanted to augment the mainly textual blog with a cornucopia of before and after photos. Yay!

A while back, I posted images of the floor plans, in order to give people an overview of the house and our renovations. Over the Memorial weekend, my amazing teccie-geek hubbie pimped the plans with php (say that three times fast).  That is to say, he made the floorplans interactive!

Check ‘em out! If you click on the little camera icon in certain areas of the house floor plan, you are transported to a slideshow of before and after photos. Of course, most of the areas in the house are still in the “before” phase. But you can still a variety of pics of what the house looked like when we bought it to where we are now. We will keep the slideshow updated with “after” pics as we progress with our renovations. 

So, let us know what you think! About the house, the slideshow, and/or about my multi-talented husband.  It amazes me how he found time to do the web coding in addition to completing the lights, dining and door projects over Memorial weekend (of course, it has taken me much longer to upload all the pics to the snazzy interactive floorplan – but hey, we got there in the end).

And of course, any definitive answers to the pictures vs. words debate, let me know! I’d be happy to publish the answer to this elusive philosophical debate, become famous and earn meeellions of dollars (muu haaa haaaa haaa).

What with starting the blog and all, I thought I’d take the next step and try out Twitter as well.  You can follow me @rucknumy on Twitter, or read my tweets on the left sidebar below the photo gallery.  Go on, you know you want to…