"Get Out of the Way of the TV" Console


 I am a stalker.  Cyber-space stalker, that is.  I am completely infatuated with Ana White and all that she is.  You see, she is a stay at home mom in Alaska (brrrrrrrr) who builds furniture, offers the plans for free (yes I said it, free), and encourages other people to do the same.  She is the b.o.m.b!!  I came across her website when I was looking for furniture plans over a year ago.  Her site is one of the few that offer them for free and they are sooooooooo do-able.  If you a person who desires to build, even on a very small scale, but are afraid to pick up a hammer, please check out her site.  She has a whole section on getting startedwhich will give you peace of mind.  I knew her when she had only 20,000 people liking her on Facebook (only!!) and now she's creeping into the 70,000 range.  You go girl!!

Anyway, I've been in discussions with Ana about building a new TV console (if she knew I stalked her, perhaps she wouldn't be in discussions with me).  You see, my son Jack (who has Down syndrome), stands in front of the TV.  He doesn't understand the, "You'll ruin your eyes", or "You make a better door than a window" remarks.  We stopped fighting it -- you know, picking you battles.  So, we moved the TV to the wall with all the lovely cords falling behind it.  Since the TV is on an exterior wall, we had to keep the cords inside and purchased a cover plate to hide the ugliness.  As I'm a little OCD when things are out of their place, cords are an issue for me.  But I thought problem solved.

But it really wasn't.  Now we had this  TV console that just collected dust (perhaps others could place lovely decor items on top, but Jack would have none of that and just brush them all to the floor).  The whole thing looked out of place to me.  

Sorry for the terrible iPhone photo  :(
Ana is all about building what you need and she didn't already have plans for a tall TV console.  After emailing her a picture of my space, she decided on a corner unit that would stand about 4 feet tall.  There would be space for components and open shelves for home decor.  The best part is TONS of storage underneath.  You can find the plans here.

Hmmm . . . do you think she delivered?  I guess I should give myself a little credit for building the damn thing.



Just grabbed different baskets I had hanging around to organize the junk

I added extra white wash to the door moulding to make them 'pop'
When re-creating this space, I wanted to bring in some personal touches.  With that in mind, I had VintageSkye make some custom door pulls for the new cabinet. 

Edges were sanded down to give it a bit of a shabby feel

Just a close-up of my birdies and the vintage blocks snagged at a flea market

I wish I had taken more pictures of the build, but remembering to grab my camera while running the nailer is just not my forte. 
 
The Kreg Jig is where it's at








Before adding the back

After filling in the holes with wood filler, before sanding
If you notice that the decor surrounding the console is completely different, well this build was the impetus for the change.  (More to come at a later post).  I needed new life breathed into the room and started with this statement piece.  Thank you Ana.  ;)

As for redecorating our living room, I wanted to go with greys and teals.  As for the finishing part of this piece, I found a lovely shade of grey and teal courtesy of Behr paints.  By the way, I went with the Duo paint/primer combo.  Why not save a step?   I knew I wanted the open cabinets to have a different color than the rest of the piece so I applied the teal paint first.  When that was completed, the rest of the unit, including the inside of the cabinet, got a coat of grey.  The grey is a very deep color, and I wanted to highlight the piece with a wash.  So I mixed a little bit of water with a very faint grey paint (practically white) and brushed this mixture sparingly onto the console.  I didn't want the whole thing covered in white, so I was sure to have a rag nearby to wipe excess away.  I made sure to let the white sit in the crevices in the doors.

After I finished, I stepped back and decided I didn't like it.  Yup, didn't like it.  I wanted more dark grey in the picture.  So I dry brushed some on.  Dry brushing is where you dip the brush is a little paint and basically wipe most of it off before you use it.  After playing around with it for, like, FOREVER, I finally pulled the brush from my hand and got out the wax.  I love to use wax on furniture.  Unless it's going to see a lot of moisture, wax will do the job.

I guess I don't have to worry about Jack standing in front of the TV anymore.  Until he turns 16 and is 5' 11".  I might be emailing you back, Ana. 

Debbie 

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