shim wall

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Here’s the thing about getting new floors. You have to move all the furniture out. And once the furniture is out you realize just how large the room is without it. And then you start to hate your furniture. Well, not exactly. But it will make you evaluate which pieces are functional and which are there to fill space. And why are you filling space, anyway?? Space is awesome.

Ramble over.

Long story short, we moved a lot of large furniture out of this room and decided not to bring it back in. And then we decided to float our couch in the middle of the room. Here’s why. The cable connection for the TV was on the wall behind the couch. But we had our TV on the opposite wall. So for the past five years I’ve been hiding a cable cord running across the room. You don’t want to know how. It involved a screwdriver, the baseboards and a strategically placed rug. And it was an impossible setup to maintain with the new floor.

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So we moved the TV back to its intended spot in the most awkward location ever. It catches your eye when you walk into the room. Not in a good way. This isn’t my idea of lovely décor, but sadly it’s a very necessary part of our living room. So I set about trying to figure out how to draw attention to the wall instead of the TV. 

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I’d love to have my TV over a fireplace but the cost of installing one is !!!!!!!!!  So I figured I’d do the next best thing and put in a brick wall. Until I saw the cost of thin bricks at the hardware store. The ones above run $10 a square foot. WHA??

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I ended up purchasing 7 packages of shims for about $4 a piece. It’s an easier price to swallow and in the end, they were simpler to install than brick would have been.

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First thing I did was lay several packages worth on plastic and spray paint them different colors I had on hand. Oh how I wanted to go with something bold. Aqua, anyone? But I’m apparently allergic to bold colors at the moment so I went with tried and true: gray, white, silver and black.

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Installing them on the wall was really easy. I used a brad nail gun and ladder.

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When I reached the end of the row I measured the lengths and chopped the shims with a miter saw. They are extremely thin pieces of wood so the saw was overkill. You could probably score with a blade and snap them in half.

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I think it serves the purpose. I hardly notice the TV when I walk into the room.

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We finished off this corner with a ceramic deer (his name is Milton, in case you were wondering) and a cross pillow, sewn from a linen scrap and decorated with fabric paint.

Comments

Oh Jackie, I love your wood shim wall backer for the TV, what a great idea!

If possible, you might consider getting a wider buffet/cabinet to go under the TV to help with the balance. But other than that suggestion, I have none, you did a fantastic and creative solution to what was a blah wall.

The Wicker Woman--Cathryn Peters
http://www.WickerWoman.com
Zayden Wood said…
Nice furniture combination with floor tiles. We can't manage space with large furniture items. Buy Furniture according to room size. It will increase your interior. At Ikcon we provide office fitouts ideas. The right furniture should feel right in your space, not too big, not too small. Have your furniture match your colour scheme for a more seamless flow throughout your office.