Before & After: From Blank Wall to Beautiful Built-Ins
A big blank wall. It could easily be a source of inspiration or anxiety. For Becky, it was inspiration first, contractor-related anxiety second. She seized the opportunity to use her large amount of blank space as an opportunity to go above and beyond a standard media center and add some built-in charm to her living room. The results are a stunning nod to farmhouse style, will remaining understatedly chic.
From Becky: When we moved into our outdated fixer-upper, the living room had a huge empty wall that was slightly inset and begging for a built-in unit. The living room is in the center of the home and had two focal points, a tall fireplace and the empty wall where the TV would go. We decided to have a custom built-in entertainment center constructed and installed to fit the entire size of the wall.
Since the wall was huge and bare we knew a media stand would get lost, so we knew we needed to go big. I loved the idea of a built-in, not only to store the TV but to have shelves and space to display keepsakes from our travel and my collection of vintage and one-of-a-kind goodies.
We hired out and our contractors didn’t have the best sense of time. The project took way longer than expected, about 6 months total. Once it was finally finished, finding a TV that felt right on the wall size-wise was another delay. All in all, the project cost about $4,400 including contractors, electrical work, lights, and hardware.
The built-ins make a big impact in the space and I love that they are custom. The shiplap detail is one of my favorite aspects as well as the shelves. We live in a farmhouse and while our style is not overly rustic nor country, we do like to incorporate details that feel fitting for a farmhouse. Besides hiring different contractors, the thing I’d do differently is to have the shelves made just a couple of inches wider.
Becky’s words of wisdom: Decide in advance what type of TV you will get and what (if any) electrical work you will need to be done. The TV we settled on had different wiring requirements that we had to go back and wire for after the fact.
Resource list:
Lights: Wayfair
Wood Vases: Target
Pet Watercolor: Kristin Dunreath Art & Design
Thank you, Becky! You can see this project and more on Becky’s blog, Daly Digs.