THE CAVENDER DIARY

I’m not an electronic person.

Jamie is. He always has the smartest phone, newest I-pad, satellitest radio, most universal remote…yadda, yadda, yadda. You get the picture.

I could care less.

When we first met, about 6 years ago, I had a flip phone (that I think took pictures) and a (possibly designed for children) camera that took 3 megapixel pictures. My only television had a giant picture tube that weighed (insert huge weight here)  and was connected to a rabbit-ear antenna box that I bought at Radio Shack. And yes, there were tin foil flags crushed to the ends of the antenna. I really only needed the channel that had Family Guy. When we finally did go shopping for a new slim TV for me, my only criteria was that it fit in the 17 inch distance between my bookshelves because I didn’t want it to be a focal point in my living room. Took us 8 stores to find one that small.

Because I live with a “High Tech” guy now, I know that the electronics in our house will always be the latest and greatest. I now have a towerless PC with a touchscreen, several Apple devices that I couldn’t imagine life without (God bless you Steve Jobs), a camera that takes unbelievable pictures, and a thousand plus U-verse channels for me to find Family Guy on. I know that someday our entire house will be wired with zoned speakers connected to our Itunes libraries and controlled with our Ipads. We’ve dreamt of this happening…….AAAhhhhh, Someday.

None of those modern conveniences would be available to me without Jamie. (He also patiently explains how to make them work)

So when I came home and found a television in our den big enough to be a “dramatic” headboard. I panicked.

It’s a focal point. No way around it. But Jamie lives here too, and anyone will tell you that I steamroll usually make all some of the design decisions.

So big TV it is. 55 inch high-def screen to be exact. It’s measured diagonally. (I never knew that until Jamie)

It’s hard to tell from the large black box in the middle of the picture, but there is actually art and books and other assorted goodness happening around it.

I had always planned on making the console stretch across the entire wall, but when we moved in our friend Doubting-Thomas said , “Don’t ya think that’s a little big?”

and I started doubting myself. So much in fact that I stashed the third piece in Jamie’s office……and settled on just 2 cabinets.

Here is that missing Ikea Expedit bookcase with the relocated TV from our den…..also a little big for the piece it is currently on.

SO……… I reclaimed it for the Den. Like it was always meant to be.

Don’t worry about Jamie’s office. He made a quick trip to Ikea and returned with a Besta cabinet. Harley helped him assemble it to the best-a her abilities.

Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?

Now to fix the console in the den with that monolith sitting on it. I should just slip the new piece onto the end right? Well it’s not that easy. Remember that a couple of months ago we built a base for our 2 sideways Expedit bookcases to rest on so it looks more like a piece of furniture…..and not like…..ummm, say…..2 Expedit bookcases laying on their sides. Y’all can read all about that brilliance here.

I don’t want to rebuild the entire platform, just to add this little piece…. 

Check this out. I keep all my drawings for projects on a clipboard by my workbench, and this was still there. All the measurements for the first console base.

All the 2X4 cuts , and the mitered pine trim on the outside. I didn’t need to remeasure anything. Just trim the length down to  .Sometimes hoarding = rewarding.

So I whipped up a little platform attachment to connect to my current base. Used some left over 2 X 4s and pine boards in the garage. Because I am butting it up against the bigger one I only needed to do Ebony stained pine on 2 sides..

I drilled pilot holes on the side and screwed it into the longer base with drywall screws…..

Then we slid the big bookcase over and inserted the small one into the middle, just so the whole cabinet is “balanced” looking.

Here’s what she looks like all complete…….like she was meant to look like a few years ago.

The bigger flag also helps to “size down” the look of the TV.  We certainly Love a flag tacked on the wall, but I miss the 48 star one already. Maybe it will reappear in the garage. Now there is room for even more stuff. And y’all know that we like to see organized clutter.

Note also that I finally found just the right home for the stacked ball lamp. He’s on the very end next to Cary Grant. My custom shade arrived yesterday and I couldn’t be happier with it. I’ve never had to design a shade before and I was honestly a little nervous. But it is PERFECT.  The price was pretty good too. $40. On a free lamp (Dumpster find, remember?)…that’s not really that bad.

Check this out. Fenchel Shades, where I ordered my black bad boy from, will give all you gentle readers 10% off your next custom lamp shade order if you use the code: UG86.

So give them a shot. They will make exactly what you need.