If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m on a quest to change up our family room. I don’t want to buy any big pieces and I’m not going to invest a lot of money but, I think I can make some big changes with better furniture placement, paint, fabric, a few tricks and thrifting. We’ll talk about all that stuff later this week.
I moved our furniture and figured out a much better way that our things could fit in our house the way our family lives. By forcing myself to focus on the two main pieces that I knew I needed to use in our family room I was able to finally figure out a better layout. The main items that I’m not replacing are the small scale toile sectional the painted armioure and our 8 x 10 rug.
Imagine my horror when after figuring out the best placement, the cable guys came to install a new cable outlet and told me that since our house is on a concrete slab {who ever thought of building homes on a slab on concrete? what if the pipes break?} and since there were no walls that led to the island of wall I wanted my tv placed on, there was no way I could have my tv where I wanted it. No way. Impossible. Not gonna happen. Good luck with that, lady.
After experiencing about 35 seconds of decorating despair envisioning our room all squished back the way it was. But, my mom {who happened to be here} and I promptly thought of two solutions to the problem because let me tell you, that TV was going to be on that wall if I had to rewire it myself, just me and my glue gun. My mom’s idea was to turn the big rug the other way so it would fit under the armoire and we could just lay the cable wire underneath. Once I heard that I knew there was hope, because if worst came to worst, I’d rather have a rug with a wire under it than have to move our room back to the closed off way it was.
I noticed we had a piece of wood used as a threshold between the kitchen tile and family room wood floors so I had a feeling my husband could thread that cable underneath. He stopped and picked up 25 feet of white cable on his way home and by 7pm he was done wiring our house for cable, Sanford and Son style.
He just tucked it around the room–up and under the mantle of the fireplace and secured it into the corner of the baseboard–most of that will be covered once I get our mistreatments thought up and made.
Let’s just say it was obvious that a black dog used to roam these parts: gag.
Where there is a will, there is usually a way, especially when you are willing to make a few compromises. There are places you can see the cable but I think I’d have to point it out to people once the room is done. It’s worth it to me to have a belt of cable strapped around the perimeter of our room in order to have a better furniture placement. I’m really glad that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.
Now I think I’ll watch some tv, I think I’ll invite those two cable guys over to watch too.
PS, did you see this fun announcement and giveaway?
My husband did the same thing! So clever. He did something similar on our walls, too for our surround sound. I don’t even notice it anymore :)
Good for you, and what a sweet helpful husband. Does the length of the cable cord affect the quality/consistency of the picture at all…I’d always heard yes, but wondered if it was a myth.
When I learned I couldn’t have the cable where I wanted it…we ditched the cable. I hope my husband isn’t reading this. Looking forward to see the complete reveal, mistreatments and all.
Not that I’ve noticed~
Great solution. I agree – where there is a will there is a way.
my shutters and front door are AMAZINGLY faded right now and they neeeeeeed paint in a desperate kind of way. Everytime we pull into the driveway I sing the sanford and son theme song… my husband just rolls his eyes. Girl, we all have a little sanford and son going on! Well, maybe not my Mother-in-law, but that’s a WHOLE other story!
Great solution!!! We did that when we rented with the phone line. I forgot all about it. No one will ever notice!!
How inventive! Making things work (especially when they’re not supposed to) is why I ♥ you! Seriously though, you are one smart cookie!
Good for you!
I feel I am my most creative when I have to spend money on things I can’t see.
You are such an inspiration : )
Dee
My XM radio cable looks much worse than that threaded around my dining room to make it into my kitchen.
Great job! Moms always have great ideas. And did you paint already? It looks great that color, by the way.
Mornin’ Nester,
Thanks for my Monday morning giggle. Tell Mr. Nester he’s awesome!
NCJill
PS Did my kitchen pix come through last week? Laptop is moody lately.
Girl, I thought I emailed you back! Yes! Loved them!
Up until about 2 months ago we had a cable dangling from the second floor to my office on the first floor, right across the front hall. After a while I didn’t even notice it anymore (except when guests came over). Good for you for coming up with a solution on your own. And thanks for the Sanford and Son video – I loved that show.
So glad you found a solution. Wonder why our cable guy brought the cable in through the attic and then we can just fish it down through any wall we want. Seems like that could have been done, but so thrilled you found a way. It looks fabulous and doesn’t really show at all. I know you will love it. Hugs, Marty
nope, we have an upstairs and above that wall is a wide hallway–it’s basically a floating wall in the middle of our house with nothing above it
I mean, above the wall with the tv is the hallway. we don’t have two upstairses much to my boys dismay.
Excellent! Where there is a woman’s will, there is ALWAYS a way! : ) I’ve done such things myself and don’t mind telling you that it makes me feel really GOOD to figure a way around something that someone else tells me can’t be done! : )
I am glad to see you found a solution.
As always Nester, you have figured out how to “git-r-done!” I think the amoire placement is great because it is so far away from the fireplace that it doesn’t compete anymore. Your room looks twice as big and now your whole family can enjoy watching Nascar races and/or Boston Rob!
Great idea to use the flooring thing. We’ve done that before, my husband actually cut some holes in the carpet and slid it through there, then we put the area rug over it and noone ever knew.
Of course, I couldn’t ever rearrange the room after that b/c of the holes, but oh well.
I love your new arrangement! I wanted to let you know that I went to a few used furniture stores last week and bought some beautiful, ugly mirrors. The shape is beautiful, but the colors were ugly. I had a Nester moment! LOL I spray painted them and transformed them into beautiful, beautiful mirrors!
I will blog about it tomorrow. Would you tell me what you think when I post them? I would love the feedback. :-)
Laney, email me when the post it up to remind me!
Glad you were able to figure out a solution to that! It’s always a bummer when you think you’ve got something good and then something like not being able to move the cable puts a damper on it all. I’ll tell you want happens if a pipe bursts and you’re on a slab ~ you have to break up your floor {tile and concrete both}. Bad news if your tile has been discontinued and you don’t have enough extra.
oh. my. word.
nightmare.
Oh Nester! This post is YOU! Love, love, love it. You show us solutions we might not have ever considered on our own. And clearly, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree (considering your mama helped solve the dilemma!)
Glad you found a solution! I couldn’t figure how you were going to get an outlet on that wall since it was in the middle of the house. We are on a slab too. But alas, you found a way to make it work!
Great idea. My husband is a custom home theater installer. You should see all of our tricks. I didn’t want my home to look a boy’s bachelor pad, so we’ve really been creative with the wires and equipment. There is nothing worse than see all of those wires hanging out.
great work in your house and you have some great things in e-bay too. I am a-biddin’!
Nester,
Excellent idea, can’t wait to see how your room turns out. I’ve noticed that you ARE going lighter. Please finish so I can get ideas!!! I’m moving to Utah in June and I want decorating ideas!!
That Mr Nester sure is handy, you guys make a good team.
PS I am collecting white/cream decor so decor-wise, I’m going there too!
It’s really not that obvious! In a few pictures if I didn’t know what I was looking for, I wouldn’t have noticed. Go Mom for her great idea!
Your room looks great! I had to laugh at the Sanford & Son theme–my husband owns a scrap metal yard and that’s his ringtone:)
Oh, I’m sorry to be a naysayer…but I’ve been living in Sweden and this is the way ALL electricity is wired and it drives me crazy to see those wires tucked along the baseboards and up the stairs, etc. However if you can live with it, by all means, good for you!:-)
but martha, it’s SO worth it to have my tv in the right place–I hate wires too but I hate even more how congested our room was. So everyone will have to choose from themselves the worst of two evils!
I feel your pain and glad you found a solution. The cable guys told me it was impossible to move the cable in my kitchen. Don’t they know there is no such thing as impossible????
Nester,
I’ve had to do that very thing in a couple of our homes. No one ever pointed it out, either, because I genuinely don’t think anyone noticed! Like you said…where there is a will, there is usually a way!
Have a great week!
Kristen
And it was a less expensive alternative! Woohoo! I love how your white woodwork allows the cable to blend in, nobody will ever know…. and don’t point it out!
My alternative would have been to do away with the cable completely! ;) We have been cable-less for 4.5 years! Awesome to not be tied to that box! But the is jsut our family
I do want to say that no one coming in will look for your cables and if they do, do you really want them as friends? My philosphy has become if you don’t like ____________ (fill in the blank- decorating, colors choices, etc.) then you do not have to come back and I certainly do not have to invite them back! That is a freeing way to live! No one and no place is perfect. We all have cables or wrinkles somewhere in our vicinity! Blessings!
Well you have a fabulous husband…willing to put up with all of those changes and re-dos AND willing to help on occasion! Yay!
And Sanford and Son…… I suspect most of us who check out your blog are hiding a little S&S in our closet or perhaps disguiesed behind some paint!! =P Great post!
Brilliant solution. I’ve heard about concrete slab homes and I do not understand why builders do that.
Laugh if you must, but I check out Fred’s living room, thinking “Now where can I get my hands on one of those…?”
And, Nester, if your furniture placement makes you happy,it makes us happy! Loved the moving furniture videos.Those were great :)
I like the sanford and son job… lookslike something that I would do! Room looks great!
Hello !
That is why I like being married to an electrician !! Bless his retired heart. When we built our new home I think he covered every possible scenario I might be able to come up with. We have two stories + a finished basements so he had them run speedways ( i think that is what they are called….an empty pipe to run future wires through)
Other alternatives for you might have been to go through the walls from the attic or an
exterior wall but I am sure you way was much more economical.
Can’t wait to see how you finish up the room. I think I have a ‘just one way’ arrangment family room, so I need ideas.
We have a basement and let me tell ya, Mr Nester did good…my hubby put a hole in the wood floor and led the cable that way… before I could stop him!
Awesome solution!!!! :) Way to go, girl!
LOVE it!!!!!! Blessings!
You and your mother and husband are geniuses. I love that the husband can Macgyver the cable like that. Nice work.
Brilliant! Take that cable guys. I’m learning so much from you that I plan to put into good use in my new apartment! I’m moving as we speak…well…I’m avoiding packing by reading your blog at the moment.
I don’t understand why he just didn’t run it into the attic and drop it down inside of the wall and run it out at the bottom, install the correct wall outlet?
MEN!
Glad you found a solution, but I’m another that’s scratching her head wondering why he couldn’t drop a line down in the wall from the attic. We had that done a few years ago as we’re on a slab too.
trust me. couldn’t be done. we don’t have an attic above that wall, we have a hallway floor for our upstairs
New paint color in this room? Love it? This can not be the Rice Grain that you had before (I painted my entire basement that color a couple years ago. Looks great!). These photos look darker than the Rice Grain?? Name and number, please?
LOL! As soon as you mentioned Sanford and Son, I had the theme song running through my head. Glad you posted it at the end, I def clicked. ;)
I love the Sanford and Son reference! The theme song from that show is my ringtone on my cell phone! LOL
We had the same problem with a phone wire when I wanted to move our rolltop desk and the computer! I solved it the same way although hubby was less than thrilled!!
Love it, love it, love it.
You all are so much fun and I really like the way the room is coming together, too.
Peace.
Great idea–we also live in a house with a concrete slab. Fortunately, our living room has two working cable outlets, so we haven’t had to run wires along the baseboards. Please share the new paint color with us–it is beautiful.
genius! I can’t wait to see what else you do in this room!
Wha-hu wha-hu wa……good for you lady!
You are so funny. Sanford & Son style….LOL!
At our house in Georgia, I had a large rug and had my lamp cord under the rug.