The Great living room shuffle.

[From the archive of things-I-didn't-get-round-to-posting-at-the-time]

Since i moved in nearly 4 years ago I've been moving the lounge around bit by bit trying to find the best use of space and as yet I've not really found anything which is satisfying. Its get better each time, but never really been "perfect"

The latest arrangement I did about 5 months ago and it almost exactly the opposite of what it was when i move in (at least for the TV/Sofa anyway) and works pretty well. But still isn't what I envisage or exactly right, but i guess its the best i'll get.

The TV unit got moved from the right-hand wall to the back wall of the house, but the window faces directly into the sun, so wasn't ideal.

The sofa sectioned off the bar/bookcases from the main lounge and really didn't help when there were more than a few people round. (shown mid move, it was normally further away from the back bookcases)

The dining table was against the wall, which was fine until it was used. You ended up eating facing a wall, with the only light source in the room behind you, eating in the shadows. Plus the chairs and table got in the way of the cupboard door.

One day, move ALL the things! The TV unit came apart as it was too big to fit where the table was without obstructing the door a lot so it was reduced in size (too much as it turns out, but i'll post about that another time)

The TV ended up where the Table was, the table went by the bar and bookcases and made a kind of dining area, and the sofa went on the opposite wall to the TV. The downside of this is that the TV is a long way from the sofa, and despite being 40" looks, dare I say, small. Pulling the sofa into the middle of the room means there's a lot of dead space behind it.

UPDATE:
Alas, since writing this and before it was fully sorted, (although much tidier and better laid out than this) It's come up that I'll likely have to move this year, so all of this is for nothing. Back to square one for somewhere new!

TV Unit. Version 4... :(

UPDATE:

As part of the Great Living Room Shuffle and subsequent discovery of needing to move this year, the TV unit ended up being moved and redesigned. Fortunately it's been in the new state for quite a while, which at least means the unit worked while it was where it ended up at the end of this post when originally written.

(Spring 2013)

The TV unit as for quite a while taken up a good area of my lounge and housed plenty of equipment and with the speaker stands as well, it's most of a wall. The problem now is to move it to what is, in all honesty the place it should always have been, it needs to be shorter, so the center third is coming out.

The sub is moving behind the sofa and the HTPC in the bottom left is just coming out of the unit all together as it wasn't getting used.

With the top removed and the two end sections pushed together the top has to be cut down. Sadly, all the cabling i'd carefully done had to be picked apart to put a new shelf in to allow a few extras to be added.

One cut with the power saw, and it's done.

The amp, CD and DVD player all stayed in the same place, although the two players are now on their own shelves with the switch behind the CD player. The other side has the Xbox, Sky receiver and more consoles on the bottom shelf.

Once the cables are in, the unit needs a back on some of it to help make it stable, it's not much but it does a lot to stop it swaying.

The only things thats not changed is the Amp has been replaced with a newer AV receiver and the TV is say on top of a larger center speaker. At least it survived the upgrade and still worked well enough. 

The Big Desk Move - Pt4: How to Wall Mount a TV Without Using the Wall

One of the problems with moving everything into one room is displacing what was there before. Previously where the right end of the desk is was a chest of drawers with a TV on to watch in bed.

So now with the desk there the TV has to be re-mounted to continue this and watch things form the PC in bed too. The problem with living in a rental is while you can get away with a great deal if the landlords are nice, you can't always do major drilling into walls, nor is it wise to ask when they have already said yes to so much.

Enter a new idea, The Giant Bit Of Wood.

The wood fits down the back of the desk and is wedged between the leg underneath and the skirting board to stop it sliding out underneath, against the desk at the middle and then at the top to stop it going backwards to the wall.

Due to the sockets on the back clearance for plugs was questionable, so a space was fitted to the wood where needed.

Not taking any chances, the spacer is screwed to the wood perhaps a few too many times.

The bracket is then bolted through and the studs cut to length with a dremel.

Back in place the hole for the cables to enter without being seen is visible as well as the bracket.

Underneath the desk the upright is attached with a couple of small angle brackets to stop it falling away and leaving a gap. This together with the base being wedged holds it pretty well with little sway.

Just to be sure, a single block is screwed into the wall to push the top away and hold everything rigid. One hole shouldn't be a problem. So long as it's filled before I leave, they have no issue with temporary fixings.

Next job, mount the TV, over a desk allowing for almost no visibility of where the brackets line up or where the screw holes go. Simples!

I'll leave the finished shots to the end once everything is setup and crucially, neat.