Good News and a Stand(ing) Search!

I am pleased to announce, that as of this afternoon, I am gainfully employed full-time again. Yes, it has been a long, stressful 2 months, but I am happy to say a lot of pressure has been removed. Now, I can sleep at night, instead of wondering where I'm going to get the money to pay for our new house ;)

What this also means, is that I can go back to thinking about new decor and furniture purchases :) Much to Cory's dismay.

Anyhow, if you've followed along at all, you know that a big topic of discussion, is where we're going to put the t.v. in the new living room.

Currently, we have it, and a little shelf Cory built for our media components, sitting in the corner nook above our fireplace. While it works in the space, I absolutely HATE IT! Plus, I think it's a little high.

Thankfully, the new house does NOT have a nook. On the other hand, it now means I actually have to think of a plan and buy a piece for everything.

In the showhome, the cable outlet is located above the fireplace. Ideally, I'd prefer to have it somewhere else altogether, but I think our large furniture will leave us limited for floorplans. Meaning, it might be my only option at this point.

Being the smart cookie that I am, when the electrician came, I came up with a great idea: Have a cable outlet above the fireplace. But also have one, on the same wall, to the left, in the corner of the room. This will allow me to move things around if my furniture placement changes. But the best part???? I had the electrician wire the outlet above the fireplace to be connected to the lower, corner outlet. (Does that make sense?) ** You can see the 2nd outlet with CAT5 cables in photo - so components could directly hook up, and get wired to tv through wall!!****

What that means, is that we can hang the tv above the fireplace and have the DVR and DVD players sitting pretty in their own little piece of furniture just off to the side. But with having the two outlets connected, we don't have to worry about seeing any ugly cords running from the cabinet to the tv!!! Genius huh????

My biggest problem? I don't want a media cabinet! I want a piece of furniture that looks like a sideboard, essentially. I am also having a heck of a time finding one I like. Here are some options I've presented Cory, that he seems on-board with:

From Ikea , we both like the MARKOR sideboard. The black-brown color would suit the rest of our furniture, it's the right height, I like the hardware, it's under $400.00, and all the storage is covered! The only problem is whether or not the components would actually fit.... we'd need to measure!

Also from Ikea, the LIATORP sideboard comes in the white (which would match trim) or a dark brown color that looks nice as well. The info online says it is compatible as a media unit and apparently has electrical plugs in back. But is it a bit too country?? And could I live with such open storage???

This PLANTATION tv stand is from Pier 1. The doors slide, so essentially I could slide them both to the middle when not in use, and use the sides for decorative items, which I love! However, it's pricier, and looks pretty red, I'd have to see in person.

A Mid-Century piece I spotted on Ebay, this is perfect!! I'd probably throw on some sleek hardware and call it a day! However, it's more expensive, and buying online, I could never be 100% sure, the proportions would work, and it could properly be retro-fitted..... SHOOT!!


Anyhow, you can kind of see the space of the new house above in the crappy photo of the unfinished fireplace area. What do you think would work?? What pieces do YOU love??? What do you hate?? Do you know of something else that I'd like?? SEND ME YOUR COMMENTS !!!!!