Lacking No More

Have you ever had one of those days where you just wanted to scream "f-it" whilst throwing your laser level at the wall and catapulting your toggle bolts into the trash? Me too.

This past weekend we attempted to revivify our TV wall with a pair of the ever-so-popular Ikea Lack Wall Shelf.

I have a question for you Ikea. Who hurt you?

Mounting the shelves correctly was as difficult as eating a single Pringles chip without wolfing down half of the canister. A series of WTFs supervened.

The black and decker bullseye laser level's stud finder feature was uber inconsistent (in its defense, it is a couple of years old... so it may have lost its ammo).

Eleven holes later, we finally found a stud! Eleven!! Pssh, 16 inches my butt.

Next puzzle? Hardware. We were advised to use 3/16"x 2 toggle bolts.

Can you imagine how big of a hole we had to make to have the springed wings slide through? Nix that plan after a couple of zaps with the drill (that's what she said).

A few days later (and a couple of minutes googling for new hardware research) we found our perfect match: self-drilling drywall anchors.

Total lifesaver. That audible pop lets you know it's working.

Yada yada yada, the Lacks went up with ease.

We are currently rotating the shelf decor on a daily basis. All I know is that Spuds stays put and a bigger TV wouldn't be so bad...

What do you think?

3/10/10- Linking up to Amanda @ Serenity Now! Our Family Room Project is taking a longer than expected (going on several months now) but I have a hunch that Amanda's linking parties is my spoon full of sugar. ;)

Watch Your Head Spuds!

As my friend Jam would say, "Friday, Friday, Friday!" Indeed it is...and I couldn't be happier.

This weekend Chris and I will be taking a minor break from Operation Oscar's Room to focus on last year's project, the Family Room...which in reality is only a couple of months old.

In that room, we still have a few loose ends in need of some tying. It pains me to report that the infamous "tabar" conversation has slithered its way back to the table (oh, hai pun). This loopy conversation ignites my Ricky Ricardo "Mira que tiene cosa..." shpeal.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...remember those lateral files we bought to use as a TV console? Well...they're looking a little bald against the granite abyss. But, hopefully, this weekend we will rectify that with a couple of wall mounted shelves...and some knicks in need of a knacking. 

Ignore the box of legos on the far left but say 'hello' to Spuds on the right.

Happy Friday!

A Dark Horse in the Competition

Chris made a special trip out to Retro Office Inc. yesterday (his Sunday the calendar's Monday) hoping to nab one of their AWESOME flat-file-cabinets converted coffee table and take advantage of their 50% off everything sale (Monday was the last day of their promotion). We had planned to both jaunt over on Sunday BUT as luck would have it, they were closed.

We were a little apprehensive about the company after finding several poor reviews online written by unsatisfied customers. Most of the bad mouthing pertained to returns and unexpected minor dinks and dents on the merchandise. To our advantage, we are only a city away from the warehouse, therefore any potential returns would be as easy as pie. Also, it made sense to us that some of the items would have dents since these are not brand spanking new products. We definitely were in a good position.

Family Room Part II: A new 'vizio'n

Back to the current project; so we've decided to transition our family room into the actual family room (rather than the living/dining room). One of the most important areas of the room is the wall on which the 42" Vizio will reside. It took many drawings just to determine a basic layout for the room (we tried the TV on literally every single wall); and now that that is, thankfully, done...we have to figure out how the actual wall will be arranged. So, we have 149" of wall space to play with. I would love to use our current TV stand (a stained reddish wood 50's dresser that belonged to Chris' Grandparents), but I fear that it will look diminutive on that wall. Now, our search for a low and long media/entertainment unit/credenza thing officially begins. (NOTE: Chris claims this is the perfect time to get a new, and possibly bigger, TV...hence the title)