Our 8 Foot Long TV Stand – Because Bigger IS Better

Related post:  Our Modern Farmhouse Style Dining Room

I didn’t know what to title this blog post.   I changed it about 5 times before I decided on,‘The biggest bad-ass TV stand you’ve evah seen!  Okay, so that might have been the wine talking (the truth) and so to pass Moms editing I said something bland about living room, decor, blah blah blah.  BUT, you’re still reading, aren’t you…

That’s right, you want to see it – I know you do…

The Beginning

Here’s how the living room looked when we bought our house.  If you like red then I’m sure you would’ve appreciated this room more than I did.

Its not like it was bad, it just wasn’t good.  These were my main complaints…

• The couches were approx. 5′ apart and the room felt jammed with heavy, dark furniture
• The paint colours didn’t make sense with the stone on the fireplace
• The ceiling felt low because of the horizontal brown stripe (which was REALLY fun to sand down), the flat part around the ceiling that was also painted brown and the drapery rod which was mounted right above the window trim
• The mantle was great but the vertical supports were actually just 1×5 fir boards that were precariously toenailed in place

And Now…

I talked with Old Kranky (no, not Tim) who is a fabulous local furniture maker and asked him to build me an 8′ long buffet style unit that I could put a TV on.  I gave him my drawings, batted my eyelashes and 6 weeks later…voila!

It might not look it in this photo, but this bad boy is 8′ glorious feet long and in the words of the great Goldilocks – it’s juuuust right. I chose Benjamin Moore Cloud White so that it would match my kitchen cabinets which are being painted next month (Btw, don’t tell Tim) and because I have an Open Layout, I want most of the whites consistent.

You might think that 8′ sounds long.  But when you have a long wall it is okay to put something proportional on it – in fact it’s ideal.  Every other TV stand/buffet that I looked at was approx 60-78″ long and not exactly what I was looking for.  The height is 33″ which is great for TV viewing and the 17″ depth is just enough to accommodate the cable box/cords without being TOO deep.

The interior, back and skeleton are all solid wood and solid good.  With 3 drawers and soft-close cupboard doors, its everything I wanted in a TV cabinet and more (but will it fit a wine keg?).

Before and After

Before, the colour palette didn’t complement the colour of the fireplace stones and now, the fireplace feels like a natural part of the room.  I chose Benjamin Moore Gentle Cream for the walls (my go-to heavy cream). 

As you can see the ‘before’ photo above, the previous owner put the TV on the end wall which gave this already narrow space, a bowling alley effect.  By rounding the room out with furniture and placing the TV in the center, the room is more inviting and well-balanced EVEN WITH a corner fireplace (they are always a bugger).

And check out this bad boy.  Along with the sofa table on the other end of the room, this beauty was made by Christian of Driftwood Designs – it’s an old factory girder that is now my new side table!