Custom TV cabinet (w = 45", h = 78", d = 24")
Daybed cushions (enough to cover the wall of 83" and possibly the head/foot board things of 42")

A custom cabinet could really up the price, are you sure that there is nothing that you could use that is more off the peg. Customising anything adds a lot to the price.
Have you had a look at http://www.storageboxesworld.com. They have absolutely beautiful storage stuff including closet storage and tv stands etc.
The daybed idea sounds great, but again, if I were you I would search for ready made cushions to fit. Good Luck!

Your living room is probably the most used room in your home. It is often the room in which the family gather to relax and enjoy each other’s company, perhaps watch tv and to socialise in when guests come to visit. For most people, everything else centers around the public area of their living room. It is therefore important that this room be inviting and welcoming with a bright and cheerful ambiance to enhance the lively feng shui living room yang energy and to create harmony and peace. So, lets get started in making your living room come alive with Feng Shui.

Remove the Clutter

As many people use this room, it can often attract a lot of clutter, perhaps from unfinished projects, magazines and newspapers or maybe even left behind cups, saucers and ashtrays. Make sure that your living room is clear of unnecessary and unused items. You should also be weary of over cluttering with decor and furnishings. Understandably you would want to create your family’s personal touch or identity in this room, but too much can over clutter and block the flow of positive chi. In a good feng shui living room, the placement of furniture should allow for the free flow for movement of people and chi within the room.

Sofa so Good

A good feng shui living room is warm and appealing with plenty of natural light and fresh air. There should be an even number of chairs in the room and all the furniture should be positioned with a full view of the entrances to the room. If the back of your sofa faces a door or window, you can place a table or screen behind it to remedy the feeling of a lack of support. It is best to have the sofa with its back against a wall.

The Round Table

Round or oval coffee tables are better than rectangular or square ones as these can create ‘poison arrows’ with their corners. Using your coffee table as a place to display flowers or fresh fruit in a bowl will bring greater fresh energy and subsequently leave no room for useless clutter. Make sure flowers or fruit are always fresh however, as dried flowers and rotten fruit will cause negative energy to be stagnant in this room.

Wall of Frame

In feng shui, living room space is ideal for displaying your favourite photos in frames, whether they be on a table, on a shelf or on the wall. It is even better to hang or display your pictures in groups or pairs as singular pictures can create a feeling of loneliness or isolation. For this same reason, it is best to display ornaments or books in groupings on shelves or book cases, but make sure to always keep them neat and tidy.

Box up the Box

As mentioned above, people often like to watch tv in their living room, and why not, as this is often the room you come to relax in. However, in feng shui, a tv is not only counterproductive to family interaction and often hypnotically distracting to all in the room when it is on, but it is also a source of electromagnetic radiation, even when they are switched off. If you must have a tv in this room and you want to create a positive feng shui living room, you can always contain it along with any other electromagnetic appliance such as a VCR, DVD player and stereo, in a cupboard or tv cabinet with doors and only reveal them when needed. This also keeps the room much neater with cables contained.

Having a feng shui living room is not only better for that balance of harmony and positive energy in your home and in your life, but it will ensure that you room is always neat and tidy for when visitors come over. Makes perfect sense really! So why not clear out that clutter, get your storage areas sussed, hide those electrical appliances, display all your favorite photos and some fresh flowers and sit back, smile and relax.

Chat soon,

Lin Mai

Lin Mai

TV Cabinets, or Armoires, are fast becoming the norm in American homes.  Coming in all shapes and sizes, these pieces of furniture are popular ways to store television sets and related video and sound equipment.

Getting exactly what you want may be difficult though, since manufacturers only make a set amount of models; you need to shop around extensively for just the right one.  What if even then you can’t find a setup you like?

Custom TV cabinets are another option.  These tend to be on the pricey side, and can cost several thousand dollars.  It is possible though, with creative use of kitchen cabinetry, to create a customized tv cabinet at a price you can live with.

There are no rules anywhere stating that a wall cabinet must go on the kitchen wall, or that kitchen cabinets need to go in the kitchen at all.  What prevents you from putting them in a living room and using them as a tv stand?  Nothing!  Have at it, we say.

We’ve come up with a pretty simple example as a test, one that allows for a fairly good sized television and provides ample space for sound equipment and CD/DVD storage.  Everything in the design depends on what you have for equipment; it’s easy enough to change though since it’s not one gigantic piece of furniture.  Using kitchen cabinets means that it’s modular and customizable.

On either side of the television are stacked wall cabinets, 30″H x 24″W x 18″D, each with two adjustable shelves. On the floor in between them is a subwoofer with a block to either side.  These blocks can be more cabinets, or some sort of framed in piece strong enough to hold up the television.

Above these is the television itself, and above that is another wall cabinet.  We used a 12″H x 42″W x 12″D, which you’d have to bump out a bit to be flush with the rest of the cabinets, but you could get a cabinet with the same depth of 18″ and figure out which height will look best.  Certain cabinet companies might have the exact size you need here.

The idea is that you can get a totally customized television cabinet with kitchen cabinets for a fraction of what you would pay someone to build a comparable piece of furniture.  We priced this one in Birch in a higher-end semi-custom cabinet company.  With solid doors, it weighs in around $1900.  With the glass pictured the price is in the $2500 range.  Again though, this could change easily, depending on what you need.

Remember too that tv cabinets are not the only application for kitchen cabinets.  Using similar ideas, it’s possible to make office desks, board room multimedia presentation centers, computer armoires, and many more.

For more information about using kitchen cabinets as tv cabinets, visit
www.thecabinetfolks.com.  To see the 3D rendering of the design mentioned here, just follow the articles link from our home page.

 

Craig Parker
http://www.articlesbase.com/furniture-articles/use-kitchen-cabinets-as-tv-cabinet-or-computer-armoire-without-custom-cabinet-prices-701437.html

As any movie buff knows, it can be very difficult to locate classic movies, especially when the clamor around the movie dies down. This grows increasingly true as fickle entertainment crowds rush to theaters and rental stores in droves to see popular films, but can barely recall the name of the stars a few months later.

Whether you adore the edgy pathos of indies, dun and silly popcorn flicks, the glossy slickness of Hollywood or all of the above, there are many reasons why creating ones own DVD arsenal is well worth the expenditure.

When to buy

If a lover of all things celluloid is smart, they will wait until the furor over a certain film dies down a bit and the movie is tossed into the bargain bin. The rate in which this occurs often, depends on how well received the piece was. For instance, a blockbuster like “Batman” will be popular for months after its official DVD release, whereas I doubt Ishtar ever made it to rental shelves.

No matter what, all films find themselves in the markdown bin. A collector who wishes to expand his selections will await this opportunity, as they will save money in the long run. Of course, if you just have to have it, then buying the film the moment it is released is fine as well so long as you realize this can end up being an expensive enterprise.

View favorites anytime

Unless you have TiVo or Movies On Demand (MOD), you can rarely see what you want to, when you want to. Even TiVo and On Demand can have their limitations. For instance, On Demand may only boast a small listing of low rent films and you can’t skip commercials with the TiVo interface.

This is why DVDs will always reign supreme.

With a DVD you can pause, skip, go back and even visit particular scenes you’d like to revisit. This latter feature is particularly handy for famous disputed occurrences, like the existence of a Ghost in Three Men and a Baby. You and or your friends can take apart this scene, which adds an element of entertainment all by itself.

In this way, a DVD movie gives you more than just the familiarity of a storyline and characters you have come to love.

Obtain collectibles

Box sets and director’s cuts can not only become cherished treasures, they may well evolve into well sought after collector’s items. The value of such things can fluctuate greatly as collectors tend to like these items in pristine condition, i.e., unused. However, this doesn’t mean one cannot buy twin copies of the film in question; one to place into safe keeping and the other to view to your hearts content.

Get director’s cuts and extras

Not every film is going to fall into the “best cinematic achievement of all times” category. I doubt “Ernest Goes To Africa” will be on any film collector’s short list. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t individuals who enjoy Ernest films and desire to have special versions of them, including those with Ernest P. Worrell terrorizing a hapless Vern in them.

These special DVDs can usually come in the uncut or unrated versions and many have commentaries from the cast or director. Others may contain posters or the ability to use a mail in coupon for discounted memorabilia for avid fans.

Now that we have you are fantasizing about the DVD collection of your dreams, you may wonder where you will put all these silver screen wonders.

Find Adequate Media Storage

DVDs need to be in a place where they are easily accessible and yet, if your menagerie is massive and out of control, it can make your entertainment area look cluttered and messy.

Manufacturers have combated this particular issue in a number of creative ways, providing people who enjoy movie flicks a chance to keep theirs nearby and out of sight.

Media tower – One of the ways to do this is via the purchase of a media tower. These towers come in a manner of materials and most often look like pedestals or podiums to help cleverly disguise what they truly are. You can find these towers in stores that carry furniture of entertainment centers.

Entertainment centers and armoires – these items come in variety of styles and sizes that can fit almost any decor. The nicer ones contain large amounts of storage for people who have a large DVD inventory. They also contain compartments on which a TV and DVD players can sit alongside other types of media players, like gaming consoles.

Media Cabinet – Media cabinets are somewhat similar to entertainment centers but don’t allot room for TVs or media players. They come in various sizes and can hold a tremendous amount of DVDs, while not taking up very much room themselves. They are also extremely cost effective and a worthwhile purchase for people who have a lot of movies lying around.

Media Shelves – They look very much like bookshelves, and in fact, a book shelve may also serve as storage for DVDs. These can come in aesthetically pleasing, yet inexpensive and functional styles or somewhat expensive and fashionable shelving that showcase your taste in silver screen offerings.

Keep collectibles safe

If you are into DVD collectibles and box sets, you need to be very mindful of locating storage that will protect your investment. Anything that can maintain the integrity of the DVD and is fire and water resistant may be the best option. Online searches may help you procure exactly what you need.

Holiday movie rituals

“It’s a Wonderful Life” started the Holiday movie ritual, but you and your family can start your own. It can be the same film, or you can even vow to purchase a newly release Holiday oriented movie every year.

Just know that whatever you choose, you will surely enjoy a movie library that is tailored to your taste, all you need to do is put a little effort in it to make it as unique and multifaceted as you are!

Jay Gaulard
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/top-benefits-of-building-your-own-dvd-movie-library-700763.html

memory
auxiliary devices
software
input devices

Minicomputers developed in the mid-1960s offered what advantage over previous computers?
larger and much more powerful
inexpensive enough for widespread use
small enough to fit on a desktop
smaller, about the size of a file cabinet

3Based on when they were first developed, rearrange the following into proper order: Mainframe computers, Microcomputers, PDA, Minicomputers

Microcomputers, Mainframe computers, PDA, Minicomputers
Mainframe computers, Microcomputers, Minicomputers, PDA
Mainframe computers, Minicomputers, Microcomputers, PDA
Minicomputers, Mainframe computers, Minicomputers, PDA

4. CRT, LCD, and VDT are varieties of which type of computer hardware?

keyboard
monitor
mouse
CD-ROM

5. Peripheral devices, such as scanners, cameras, and microphones

are part of a computer’s essential hardware
are all examples of essential software
are all examples of optional hardware that can be added to the basic system
are all examples of optional software that can be added to the basic system

6. Which of the following is NOT an input device?
keyboard
touch-screen
speaker
mouse

7. Which of the following statements is NOT true of RAM?

It is where primary or permanent information, such as system information about the computer’s hardware configuration, is stored.
The acronym stands for “Random Access Memory.”
If the power goes off before you save your work, then the data stored here is lost permanently.
It only stores the information on the monitor while the computer is operating.

8. Which of the following is NOT an output device?
monitor
printer
PowerPoint projector
microphone

9. Which of the following is NOT an auxiliary storage device?
RAM
CD
Floppy disk
DVD

10. Let’s say you are about to enroll in an online Video Production course, and you will be working with large media files. What type of auxiliary storage device is most likely to be best suited for your needs?

RAM
CD
Floppy disk
DVD

He’s an only child who has never lived with a roommate before, much less in a New York apartment. He has the most unreasonable demands and expectations, and also throws total temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his way!

So far, he’s:

1. Decided that he cannot keep his three computers in his room, because they make too much noise. Therefore, he will run them from the living room closet (our only closet). To do this, he asked the landlord to drill giant holes through the wall from him to run the cables through to the monitor in his bedroom. Thinks this is a totally normal request.

2. We have an apartment that is huge by New York standards, and got a great deal on rent. Roommate will not stop whining about how "small" the enormous kitchen is. Has taken up almost all the cabinet space with his tupperware alone, which is more tupperware than any person would ever need. Refuses to store his industrial sized juicer and food processor in the storage areas off counter because he calculated that the seconds it will take him to put these items away eventually amount to hours of time every year…..15 square feet of remaining counter space not enough room for him to chop lettuce, so he has decided he must install a giant, obtrusive table in the living room to prepare food on.

3.We have no storage space and he will not stop shopping in bulk. Has taken over every corner of the apartment with stockpiles of toilet paper and deodorant. Will not accept that we live in the year 2009 and that normal people have wireless internet, not dial up modems. Insists on installing yet another computer in the living room under the TV because he doesn’t want to use the normal DVR that comes with the cable or use a DVD player.

4. Plans to violate our lease and install a dishwasher in the living room, because he cannot wash his own dishes like 8 million other New Yorkers do.

5. Pesters the superintendent of our 500 person building with trivial "repairs"…the toilet seat is too loose and the hot and cold water don’t balance well enough on the kitchen faucet.

6. And the kicker….Every day from 4:30 to 8 PM until January 1st, I have to be out of the apartment so that he can make private phone calls!

Is it just me or are these demands totally unressonable?!
We signed the lease together…how the hell do I get out of here?!

He’s just an asshole who is used to being spoiled his whole life; well.. from what I read above. He’s like that because of the way he was brought up, he will most likely always be like that; I’d say you should talk it all out with him but I’m not sure if that will even work. Get a new roomate, kick him out, or move out.