DIY Living Room Media Shelves

While I was in NYC last weekend and visited James and Katrina's cute apartment, I fell in LOVE with these shelves that they had built on their wall. Mendy took a pic of them on her iphone and we were determined to copy them.

Well, last weekend Ben decided it was time to get our TV off of the tiny stand it has been on in our living room and mount it on the wall. Then, we decided to tackle the shelves and build them around the mounted TV. I was going totally off memory because Mendy was in Cabo with her phone and the picture of Katrina's shelves! But, we forged ahead anyway and even though they are no where NEAR as cute as Katrina's (she has that interior designer eye for detail and accessories) I think they ended up ok....here is seriously what our living room looked like before (minus some pillows and Kinley toys).

Here is Mendy's phone pic of my inspiration from Katrina:

This is a fun DIY project that anyone could do with a free day. It was so much more cost friendly than purchasing a piece of furniture or a wall shelving unit to surround our TV. The entire cost of the shelves (not including mounting the TV or the accessories) was only $115!!!

Here is all you need for the project:

One shelf into the project, I had a panic moment when I freaked out about how we were going to hide all these cords and power surges and battery towers and make this look decent.

I decided on using some baskets with lids (just don't look inside) and good cord covers from Hobby Lobby.

Because 99% of the time people looking at these shelves will be sitting down, we decided to paint the L-brackets the color of the wall so that they wouldn't stand out as much. (FYI - all the L-brackets had holes in them that were zig zag, we weren't that bad with the drill)

Getting the hooks into the raw lumber was a bit of a challenge but, we started the hole with the drill and then used a good set of pliers to screw them right in.

Decorating the shelves is really where Katrina shines and I have no talent in this area...but, I just moved some items I liked from other places in our house (i.e. books, mirrors, candles, antlers) and then bought a few odds and ends at Hobby Lobby.

Overall, I am pleased with how it turned out and I feel like that wall in our living room looks a little more homey. This was definitely a fun DIY project!