If you're like me, you know what you want but can't exactly explain it to anyone else. If you're like me then you might also scour Pinterest hoping someone smarter and a few steps a head of you already did what you have in your head. Here are some of the things I loved.
Soooooo, yeah. Didn't find anyone who combined what I was going for. I mean sure, slapping a mudroom-like wall on a giant wall in your living room right next to the front door with an entertainment center in the middle of it doesn't appeal to everyone...or maybe anyone. But, my hubs and I decided a long time ago that we would LIVE in our home. We want it to be comfortable, functional, fun, and inviting.
After looking at tons of pins, thinking through the thousands of things I wanted this is the list of thing I needed from this wall and the simple sketch of what I came up with for my hubs to work with.
Mudroom
- Lots of hooks for winter gear
- Space for each individual's shoes
- Washable baskets to collect shoe grime
- Kid-friendly usability
- Classy enough look for adults
- Ledge for my picture frame obsession
- Bench for more seating
- Ability to walk from front to back door with shoes on
- Decorative board and batten
- Bright White wall to lighten up the entire room
Entertainment Center
- Wall-mounted TV
- Lots of DVD and some video game storage
- Easily reachable DVD player, sound system, and Wii
- Storage for all small electronics from around the house
- Charging station for camera and iPad
- Decorative "ship lap" to hide wiring
Process of Building the Wall
- Move all furniture
- Clean wall and flooring
- Build structure of the entertainment center
- Install chair rail and ledge pieces {horizontal boards}
- Hang TV mount
- Remove baseboards
- Pull up carpet
- Tear up tack-strip
- Cut off excess carpet and padding
- Cut tack-strip to appropriate length
- Reinstall tack-strip
- Staple padding in place
- Tuck carpet around tack-strip
- Complete entertainment center
- Attach drawer faces and tracks on drawers boxes
- Push entertainment center in place {don't install}
- Measure 8000 times
- Build benches
- Moved outlets up {above bench tops}
- Patch drywall/add wall texture
- Attach wire spacers on the wall
- Attach ship lap to spacers
- Spray paint primer coat on 3 loose pieces
- Install entertainment center and benches
- Install trim pieces {vertical boards} on wall
- Install baseboards and quarter round
- Fill all cracks with caulking
- Paint...everything
- Sand rough wood
- Install hooks and hardware
I could write a gazillion posts on my thought process behind each logistical reason I wanted things a certain way but not too many on the construction steps- maybe I'll tak my sweet hubs into writing more on that. Sorry I don't have more process pictures. Thanks for coming by to see our new Great-Wall! Weeks later and it's still making me smile.
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