During the installation of the sound system I modified the fireplace surround somewhat. And, we wanted to make it look even a little better than it did before. Now, our decor is loosely medieval/Tudor as in “old”. The reason we liked the interior of our 430 when we bought it is that even though it had a contemporary vibe, with all the dark wood it was easy to convert it to our style. With door pulls, decor etc. Plus this:

Before:

After sound install:

What we wanted was an actual fireplace looking -ish- hearth. Columns on the side, something to hide the JBL’s, and a horizontal box/beam thing to give it heft and hide the equipment. A nice top, of course.

So I started with a 1″x6″x8′ piece of Home Depot clear pine and got the table saw out. Made the box and tested in situ:

Ebony stain, will put satin clear coat on after.

Then I went to a local nice-lumber store and found a slab of walnut for a decent price.

Cut to size and treated several times with boiled linseed oil (my favorite) with a dash of the aforementioned ebony stain. Left the live edge on so there is no doubt there is a real piece of wood here!

Box and top in situ.

Found fleur laser cut MDF panels…… Made covers for the lower cutouts. (They used to be solid)

And a door……. (Chain came out of a tub of leftovers from a turn of the (last) century home I lived in and renovated in 1992…….Probably 100 years old….)

Some pretty metal spindles: (Door not finished yet)

Added some art to the door, a few curtains to hide the ugly entry door and the door to the garage, and a nice fireplace screen which softens the ultra fake fireplace a little.

All that is left is to do something with the cabinets up top. The silver (which went with NOTHING) doors are off and in storage. I have ordered some doors that will (mostly) match the kitchen doors and will easy mount on when we’re traveling/shorts stay. When we are parked for a while and decor level 5 they will come off and it will be a nice display……

*** To be continued ***