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If you recall from last week, Scott got a Christmas present from me that made him pretty happy.
But because the sound system required setup, I remained a little uneasy as he turned our living room inside out to get everything in place. Just look at the mess in this photo! Of course, not all of it was due to the speaker equipment; we were right in the middle of after-Christmas organization as well. What you see here is just a small amount of the larger chaos that covered every room.
I still wasn’t happy about the wires, though. And they were everywhere. Along the floor, around the windowsills, and worst of all, in a tangled mess right next to the focal point of our living room.
Despite how ugly everything looked, Scott was pretty sure he’d come up with a plan that I would be happy with and one that would minimize the mess. First, the wires near the floor were tacked into the wall using special wire staples.
He did the same for the wires around the windowsills, but ran the wire up the side of the window so that only a few inches would show as they hooked up to the speakers. It also doesn’t hurt that the wires are close to the same color as the wall already. Once we put some curtains up in the living room, I’m sure we’ll barely notice they’re around… except for their colossal sound, of course.
As for the wired mess near the TV? His answer: a paintable, plastic wire cover. While going through the wall was a consideration, we both agreed that it would be difficult to do with our large fireplace, not to mention the challenge of snaking the wires through the studs in the wall. Once the cover was on, the wires could easily be hooked up to the Xbox, TV receiver, and DVD player through the bookcase on the right. You may have guessed his solution when you saw our earlier post here… maybe because it was in the shot! After some wire wrangling, the area between the mantel and the bookcase now looks like this:
I haven’t painted it yet, but I imagine that as long as it matches the flat paint of the wall, they will blend nearly seamlessly together. Thankfully too, we don’t have to worry about trying to match the paint since we still have half a can remaining in the garage.
I think Scott found a great solution to the wire problem, and I didn’t even have to go all Mommie Dearest on him (did anyone get the Joan Crawford reference in the post title?). What do you think of his fix? Would you have done something differently? Do wires bother you as much as they do me? Tell me about it.
lovely – when you paint it, you'll hardly notice it anymore – much cleaner – Good Job, Scott and Sarah!
I am posting about this exact same thing tomorrow (get a sneak peek here: http://amyhogan.com/blog/renovation/?p=3304). We were lucky enough to be able to route the wires for our electronics through the walls/ceiling, but mainly because we don't have any flooring down yet!
Looks like you guys came up with a great solution!
I thought my husband whas the only one who did this! We have cables and wires running around almost every baseboard and mantle in our house. It sure is a great way to hide everything though!