apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The Sussex at DWR is my fave, and now it comes in white, but it is pricey. Have you looked at their Chicago Media set up? It's less $$$.

http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=6424
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=6425
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=7842

i like this media cart:

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=118&f=1073&viewall=1

it's minimal but not too bare and it would go well with your place

and this one from ikea is bare but super cheap

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15561&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=10928&langId=-1&parentCats=15561*15641*15962

what animal is your rug?

Or you could build one of your own using the designs of that Rob(?) guy's cabinets which were featured on AT in the last two weeks.

Cabinets by Pete!

I love Reeny's CB2 suggestion, partly because of the price, and partly because of the clean lines and how perfect the color would be with your window frames.

I think that since it doesn't have a top shelf where your current piece has one, you might want to get a couple of those L-shaped wall-shelf things from West Elm or something to put your sculptures on. I think that I would get them in white, so the sculpures would stand out from them nicely.

http://www.studiotech.com/
http://www.salamanderdesigns.com/
http://www.bdiusa.com/

I like these options because remote controls can be used through the cabinet doors.

But anytime you want doors on a case-piece, that jacks up the $$$.

I'm still hemming and hawing. Thinking about making a PETE cabinet to suit my needs with frosted plexiglass doors.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/shelving-storage/cabinets-by-pete-008621

I'm with barbara on the Sussex love. I have a whole fantasy apartment built around the long, low-slung piece (which would be perfect for you here, although it sounds like you want something to close the door on) and the taller "highboy" version.

LOVING the new white Sussex.

How heavy is your television? I've got a small tv but I picked this up with the intent to upgrade eventually:

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15561&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=12683&langId=-1&parentCats=15561*15641*15962

Only prob with the Sussex is that she says she doesn't want to spend a lot of money and $2,200 or is kind of a lot of money. But the link I saw didn't show it in white. White would be WONDERFUL, because of how it would look with the radiator!

i got these gray metal cabinets that look like small lockers at ikea.. i got a wide one and a tall one and put them together in an l-sort of shape. looks great. the TV sits on top of the wide one. the only prob is that i have to open the door to get my remote to work.. but it looks slick.

i got the one from ABC carpet. It is solid dark wood and I love it. There isn't a good picture of it on a web site, but here is what they got:

http://www.fourhands.com/gallery/Vegas%20Jan%202006/Las%20Vegas%202006_8.jpg

it is 60 inches long X 22 inches deep X 22 or so inches high.

I also got the coordinated side table that is also around 60 inches long X 20 inches deep X 30 inches tall that I use for my desk. It was $1500 + tax & shipping for the media unit. it has 2 sets of drawers on each side with 2 shelves in the middle

The TV is resting on a:
http://www.boltz.com/productinfo.asp?item=343&deptcode1=525

because it was alittle low. It looks really nice.

m

Nice bright apartment.

I really think that TV's should be hidden until used. Highly recommend finding something tasteful that does double duty(visual/functional).

Other than that, you need to pick of that road kill on your living room floor.

Curtis--
Yes, the Sussex line (as barbara noted) is not "budget" in nature.

But it's soooo easy to spend other people's money!!!

I'm guessing BoCOncept has an option or two, too.

(oh, and not all the Sussex pieces are available in white... check which pieces have the white swatch in the description on DWR.com)

If you really liked the louvered thing that the Sussex has, but you just weren't going to even imagine spending that kind of money, and if you were able to relent a little bit about the "suburban" thing, you might at least have a look at this one, which would hide SOME things, although not exactly the TV, itself:

http://www.homedecorators.com/P/2745810/410/

Or, for about the same price, you could have this modern one, but it would hide pretty much nothing at all:

http://www.storeyourmedia.com/sf-series-32-in-3-shelf-tv-video-stand.aspx

This Latitude Media Cabinet from Crate & Barrel is slick and the price isn't ridiculous -- $349

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1151&f=10305&viewall=1

ABC Carpet and Home has a number of Chinese Cabinets.....at least the did when I worked there. They are a perfect size for your TV.

Are you looking for something with doors to hide your TV? Maybe the Copenhagen armoire from Room & Board:

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/prod.do?pfid=561239&grp=RB1889-1&grpType=0&collid=RB1889&collname=Copenhagen&dept=RB107

It's a little pricey, but nice. The style would go with your stuff, the drawers are handy, it isn't huge, it's well made, and the steel underframe makes it seem light.

In "Pad: The Guide to Ultra-Living" (Chronicle Books), there are step-by-step instructions for making your own TV cabinet. Optional fake fur covering.

I keep my TV on a cart that I keep in a closet. I wheel it out when I want to watch a DVD.

I agree with James. I have an Oppli bench and it's great. They discontinued the black one, unfortunately, but it's a great unit. Deep enough for 32" inch tube tv's and can handle the weight. And who can beat the price?

I put Ikea's RILL casters on it and it looked even better.

I just got the Walker Media Stand from Crate & Barrel for $299 (http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=994&f=10304).

I share 450 sq. ft. w/ a roommate, so I liked that the glass gave it a lighter "feel."

i agree with the suggestion on the sussex at dwr, or any long low credenza. try flea markets, thrift stores, and craig's list for a vintage one. the tv would sit on top of the cabinet. why buy a piece of furniture to house a tv that might be replaced in a few years by a new model that won't fit. why not invest money in a good piece of furniture and let the tv fit in where possible.

Funny, seeing that Savannah louvered cabinet Curtis links to -- we have that very one! One thing for sure - it's nothing like the sleek Sussex! It's pretty massive and solid, once it's properly assembled. (Took me an evening + a little bit more.) Swallows a load of stuff. (Yeah, we need to apply the AT Cure to our VHS collection!)

My sole quibble is that the catalog describes it as having a whitewashed, distressed look - I'd say wrong on the former, semi-right on the latter. The paint itself is white and a little shiny - I think of "whitewash" as kind of pale and allowing some grain to show through. And the "distressed" part was nothing more than having some streaks where the paint is rubbed, off on some corners and some of the louvers, down to bare wood - I guess that's what you get when you buy pieces made in China to resemble vintage stuff, instead of vintage stuff itself!

That said, it's doing what we bought it to do.

Thanks everyone! Now I have some direction!!

The animal on my floor is a cow. You can see where it was branded (though not in this photo). I almost put it away once for a party because my Hindu friend was coming over but her husband assured me it was fine as long as she didn't have to lick it.

p.s. I am a long time daily lurker and AT is my favorite site ever. Thank you all.

I recently had a custom oriental-style cabinet made for me by Westwood Custom (westwoodcustom@mac.com). They did an amazing job and they were very reasonable. I can email pictures of mine-- email me if you are interested.

Forgot my email address!

Email me at meredyth at gmail dot com

A couple of nice-looking options at the Door Store:

The "Sterling" in white looks really cool I think -- it's $600
http://www.doorstorefurniture.com/sterling.html

Classy-looking "ChaCha", cheaper at $400:
http://www.doorstorefurniture.com/cha_cha_tv.html

EQ3 has some reasonably-priced, low media cabinet options(all priced between $200-350). Their website isn't the best as they haven't yet updated their "Storage" page; and you need to go through each product line to see the 1 or 2 media options. But, here's a nice option that I believe is priced at $279 (BOSSA Plasma Bench). http://eq3.com/cat-eq3/3090-110-2.html

In looking at your pic again, I think the room and where you have the TV, could stand a higher armoire-type piece.

We had ours custom built. It's very unobtrusive and fits the scale of the room. It also means we can keep it all out of sight most of the time as we didn't want the TV to dominate the room. Also with an infra red remote control on all the units we only have to open up the TV to watch - all the VCR, cable box etc stay out of view.

Hi All,

I have breezed by this site a handful of times now and it is great.

I work on occasion as an a/v consultant in Manhattan. It was essentially a hobby that morphed into the central preoccupation in my life. In the last year, via word-of-mouth, it has become my work, primarily in home theater/automation design. Design as in choosing componentry, wiring solutions, etc.

Having dealt with a number of these issues as well as the furnishing quandaries inherent to such matters, I can serve up some fair warning.

1) Measure your components- A Time Warner cable box measures a good 13" and you need a bit of additional room for cabling as well as ventilation.

A Home Theater receiver can be relatively tall, some 8" and need a good 20+ inches to house properly.

2) Count your components- Almost invariably, people will need to add pieces to make their system run effectively. For example, a line conditioner is reccomended for anyone who has invested thousands in equipment. It will offer surge protection as well as monitor voltage, cut out radio frequency interference, etc. Units today look just audio components and take up similar space. The Belkin Pure AV PF60 and PF31 are popular for those who are insistent upon form factor.

3) Wire management- A slew of cables will be running on any system, between components and to power sources. Cableorganizer.com can help. Make sure the back of any media cabinet allows for this. I saw the suggestion about the DWR piece, the Sussex, but the website does not show the back of the piece. I'm sure most would not be too keen to be drilling holes in it.

4) Drywall or plaster- If you run the cables behind your walls, you may wish to future proof things with a bit of structured prewiring. A/V cabling is constantly undergoing changes and new standards are continually being set. Running extra cables will save you from having to reopen the walls.

5) Where are you mounting that flat panel- People continually mount their plasmas too high for comfortable viewing. Once it is up and on the wall, they realize this. Since there are now a slew of lower media cabinets, I often suggest putting it on a stand, since they actually can look good there. If you adhere to the high/low principle of design, then, you can place pictures, art, etc. on the next wall up higher, which is usually people's aim.

There are myriad other factors to consider, but, I've gone on long enough. Hope this is of help.

Dino

I have a 60 inch Metro Rack for my large television. I chose 2 shelves, handles for the side, and casters. It looks fabulous.

dino--
Send your info to Maxwell so he can do a "services profile" on you.

I for one would use services like you describe...
How "Mac friendly" (on the audio side) are you?!

And back to my earlier comment about thinking the solution here really needs to *not* be something low... not only do I think it's a good option, I think the room really needs something vertical, and a substantial (but scale-appropriate) piece of furniture...

The TV stands from HoldEverything are also great; I bought one for my TV (around 42" wide) and it was a great buy (under $250).

Hi Patrick,

I'm not a registered user on this site, in fact, I have my share of difficulty negotiating it. What that says about me as an AV consultant; I'm not sure.

As for my level of Mac-friendliness- On the audio side and other, I am a proponent of Mac. The linux-based OS is simply better, although Mac is not practical for many people, simply because it is not readily used outside of the creative world.

I'm not sure what your intended application is; HTPC or doing a whole-home audio thing with an IPOD. Either way, I would be happy to answer your questions and converse if you'd like.

Feel free to email me at dizwip@aol.com.

As for my "services," people often need a handful of simple questions answered and some fair warning where electronica and digerati are concerned. I am happy to answer that for anyone. Most goals can be achieved without hiring anyone, rather, an ounce of instruction and a pound of prevention usually does the trick.

If someone genuinely needs "work" done; then I become the reluctant warrior.

Dino
dizwip@aol.com

have you checked out westelm.com? cb2.com? conran.com? 2modern.com? (expensive) ikea actually has great stuff if you can go in person to pick it out. super cheap-- if you want something modern like acrylic or laquer.