Okay. I admit that I am one of those people who loves (loved) those huge armoires that housed the television and associated paraphernalia. When my husband and I got married, I realized that he was the type of person who wanted a television in every room. I, on the other hand, rarely watched television. So we agreed that he could have as many sets as he wanted as long as I didn’t see them.
Well, over time, the screens got larger and larger and suddenly, t.v. armoires became dinosaurs and out of style (as evidence by the one still sitting in my basement). So as we graduated to a larger viewing screen, my expensive armoire that fit beautifully in my family room, was now obsolete.
Have you ever owned something that you may have spent too much money on and then, in good conscience, you cannot discard, donate or get rid of it? So what to do with the enormous (truly it is) piece of furniture that, even though I got it on sale, was a costly piece for this Connecticut Yankee?
I convinced my husband that I could repurpose it and to this day, I am not sure how two strong guys managed to carry it up our 100- year old staircase to our upstairs hall.
As with most t.v. armoires, there was a large hole cut in the back to accommodate the back of the set (remember the bulky, thick sets?)
After covering the back with a black/white checked fabric and adding a few plywood shelves, the armoire was transformed to a linen closet. Over time, I had managed to cram every blanket, sheet, pillow and miscellaneous holiday things in it. How does one collect so much stuff?
In the ongoing effort to sort, clean and organize, I finally tackled the t.v. cabinet turned linen closet. What a mess!
The doors fold back allowing the entire unit to open up. In the bottom portion, is an over abundance of sheets and pillow cases.
I pulled everything out and sorted all the contents into 3 piles~~donate, discard and keep.
I thought I would paint the shelves black to match the rest, but you know how that goes….Maybe someday I can add a black painted trim piece on the front of the shelf . I didn’t realize how sad the shelves looked until I took these photos!
I finally discarded frayed and stained sheets and donated baby blankets and linens from old interior design projects.
I even sorted and labeled the sheets by size….and put the winter/holiday items together-flannel sheets and decorative blankets and pillows.
Ta-Da! The end result….a far less cluttered, more organized, linen armoire. The plywood shelves still need a facelift, but oh well.
Another organizational project completed….it feels so good.
Gabie - Tea End Blog says
Oh my goodness! Organization is the best and you just feel so fresh afterwards! The TV armoire is huge and I can see it being costly…happy to see that you were able to re-purpose it!
Your reorganizing your linen armoire now makes me think about my closet…been meaning to tackle it for quite some time… (anxiously bites nails) lol
Thanks for sharing!!
Janie says
Looks great, Mary!!!
Janie says
Looks great, Mary!
JV Rich says
What a great idea to transform a TV armoire into a linen closet. We need to do that! Thanks for sharing.