John and I had an abundance of time together at home over the holidays (rare, and always nice). We decided our living room and TV situation needed some love. There was nothing wrong with it per se, we just wanted something that matched better, looked sleeker, and was decluttered. The Before setup always looked a bit slapdash to me with random, mismatched pieces. Also the wall is so big and blank, the arrangement here was so dwarfed against it.
Before:
(Yup, it’s What Not To Wear)
John decided about a month ago he wanted a new TV and had done some research. We had a small surplus of cash from holiday gifts and with the post-holiday sales, we thought it was the right time to buy. We ended up with a 51″ Samsung Plasma TV. We also bought two new shelving units from IKEA so we could unify the whole setup.
The Makeover In Progress:
We couldn’t be happier with the results. The shelving spans the whole wall and interrupts the room much less than the previous setup. The room looks wider and longer, and the space feels open now. The arrangement now looks proportional to the wall behind it. I’m a big fan of linear and the whole makeover is exactly that.
I really like the decluttered look we were able to achieve. As much as I love our DVDs and stuff, I didn’t feel like that needed to be on display. Something about that just screamed College Dorm to me. So now we have baskets to hold our DVDs, video games, etc. and we can actually put books and pictures on display. It’s a lot more Grown Up looking, I think.
After:
This project is a reminder of our approach to home buying which is to buy a place you are in love with and make it your own over time. Many people spend so much money up front to buy their property, go through the closing, and make necessary purchases like repairs, fixtures, and appliances. We were lucky in that our condo was brand new so we were able to tuck a lot of our excess cash away. We knew we’d want furniture and aesthetic upgrades over time but I’m glad we didn’t go crazy doing that all up front. It’s been extremely satisfying to watch our home grow with us as we get more comfortable in it.
Plus, since we moved almost 5 months ago, our cash reserves have been growing a little bit. One of our resolutions this year is to make a few big principal-only payments to our mortgage and we are in a good position to make one this month. That is a really rewarding feeling!
Domestocrat 
it looked fine before, but seeing the side-by-side pictures here, it really does look even better now. Nicely done.
That’s exactly what we said too! You never know about these kinds of things until you try them I guess.
As strange as it sounds, there is a sick joy that comes from sending more money to your lender (or more accurately, seeing your balance go down by exactly that amount). Love the new setup!
Yeah, it feels awesome! Thanks!
We’ve been looking for a new TV stand type thing to makeover our living room with, but I kind of like this idea to use these types of shelving units.
It’s functional, simple, and pretty!
Looks really good. Very streamlined. Of course, I do love your decor style. Hope your time off was good. Certainly was productive. I think I am the only one working in higher ed that has chosen two places that don’t get the week between Christmas and New Years off :(
Thank you! I work in higher ed too but we got a lot of time off this year.