The Television Saga, Concluded.

Late last fall, we decided that it was time to start looking at buying a new television set, since the one we were watching was 11 years old and a housewarming gift from when we moved into our first house. We started asking questions to friends of ours who had flat screens, fretted over plasma vs. LED/LCD, and debated brands. It fun to look and talk about. For a few months. Then I was kinda over it.
So this spring we narrowed down some options and started debating where we would put it. I wanted it above the fireplace but we weren't sure about where to put the components. And component storage, my friends, is a Very Big Deal. We looked for cabinets to put on either side of the fireplace but had a hard time finding what we wanted. Dan really wanted a chrome and glass monstrosity (my word, not his) but I nixed that. I wanted built in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace that would be lower than the mantle, but Dan had a hard time imagining those. In the end we compromised and bought a plain black cabinet. (But have no fear: I WILL get those built ins.)

Here is what we started with:


Last Wednesday, as we were getting ready for Jenna's family birthday party on Sunday, the contractors came to do the wiring. All went well. This is what it looked like on Wednesday afternoon:


They finished up on Friday morning with the last coat of mud, sanded it and overall did a great job. All we had to do was prime and paint it, and mount the TV. No prob.

That was when our adventure with custom matched paint started. Three cans of "matched paint" later (including one that was the wrong sheen and one that had the wrong base color) and by Saturday at 1pm we had four different colors of paint on our family room wall and none matched. And I had 28 people coming to my house for a party in 25 hours. I was sick to my stomach, and I don't generally get too flustered by stuff like this; I have an optimistic attitude about just about anything but this was just too much. I felt like we had ruined our beautiful house and that we were clearly going to have to paint the whole family room and kitchen before this saga was over.

But alas, we were rescued by a fourth can of matched paint and we put it on the wall. Success!! I had some serious issues with the customer service provided by the store we bought the paint from, which I will address on my own this week, but they did finally come through with a match. Dan and my dad quickly put it all together, mounted the TV, Dan connected all the components and speakers, and by Saturday night, viola! New TV!!



Now I just have to learn how to use all the new remotes.