TV Stand

I might loose a few people on this one.  From what I've seen on the many blogs I've visited, women seem to like the TV hidden, men seem to want its presence celebrated.  I reveal my solution with the understanding that no one will love this idea.  But let me back up.

About 10 years ago, I had a loft apartment in downtown Boston.  All of my furniture was modern was very large.  When I bought my first condo in another Greek Revival house in Cambridge, I slowly replaced all of my modern furniture with smaller scale, traditional and contemporary pieces.  The TV stand was one of the last surviving pieces because I just didn't have a good solution for the TV.

I thought I would end up with something like this console table.  This is actually the end of an antique table that's been cut off and attached to the wall.  It's a little too shabby for my taste but I thought if it were repainted in a dark gray it could work.  I just couldn't figure out how to add a shelf for the DVR and DVD player below it.  Another consideration is the cold air return to furnace is right where the TV sits, so I needed something that was open.

I really didn't want to mount it on the wall because my walls have almost no studs and adding the structure necessary to support the TV would have required another construction project.  I also tend to like to move things around and hanging it on the wall was little too permanent.

I thought I was going to have something custom made until I walked into Smith-Zukas Antiques in Maine and there it was.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce the Entertainment Easel.

This old artist's easel seemed to satisfy most of my requirements.  It fits the space, is shallow enough not to block the door, is open on the bottom to not restrict air flow to the furnace and it's just the quirky, one-of-a-kind thing I love.

The shelf on which the TV sits is covered in old oil paint.

I love this surface.

I had the easel slightly modified to add a place for the sound bar just below the screen, and another shelf for the cablebox/DVR and the DVD player.

The new work was stained to look like it was always there.  Just needs a few paint splashes.

So there you have it.  My own unique solution for the TV.  It may not be for everyone but I love it and I love that it's genuine.

Shortly after I bought it was waiting for it be modified, I was on the Anthropologie site and found they're selling a paint splattered easel.

In my opinion, the spattering of paint isn't something you can really fake.  It will just have a quality that just doesn't ring true.  It's just not quite right.

It's also $2100.  Yikes!

Love it or hate it?  Sound off!