We are thinking about having an entertainment center built in a wall recess that is 13'wide by 8'high. The center piece is a 62" plasma TV. It will have doored compartments for all the support electronics, HD box, DVD/CD player, etc. It will also have four clothed doors for the three speakers and woofer. A number of open shelves will be added for my wife's various decorations. We are having in all done in a mocha on oak finish. The cabinet boxes will be furnished from Wood-Mode cabinets and then the extra trim packages added. I am going to get some bids. What kind of prices can I expect. I live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Appreciate hearing from anyone that may have gone through this project.

I don't have a room in my house large enough to accomodate these large entertainment centers, but if I did, I would grab them up in a heartbeat, even if I had to redo/add-to the shelving. If I had huge rooms here is what I would do: *Mudroom storage for gloves, coats, shoes, boots, sports equipment, cleaning supplies, etc. *Freestanding pantry *Clothing storage in bedroom *Linen storage/closet *Playroom storage if I had kids at home *Pretty garage storage *Potting shed for garage *Pretty basement storage *Craftroom/sewing organization Again these idea only work with the proper space (which I don't have) but many folks have more room than they know what to do with and are looking for the elusive organization ideas. Some of these are pretty in their original finish, but since most are practically being given away, what a great opportunity to get creative with different paint and faux finish ideas. Sigh! Sure would love to have the space.

First thing to determine is how much of the EC is actually wood. If you have part of the EC made of a laminated board, it won't stain, but can be painted. If you build furniture and are familiar with stain, then sanding, prep, stain and top coat will be a major undertaking. If you don't build furniture, then the job will be a major undertaking and then some. I envision 5 piece EC as being large. Me personally, if you can't live with the golden oak, then paint it. If you have to stain it, let a professional do it, or consider selling the EC and buying a new one that is the color of your liking. Painting over stain is a challenge because it is hard to get paint to stick to the existing finish. That is my short answer, the long answer is to long for this forum. If you decide to paint it, go to a reputable paint store like Sherwin Williams and get instructions from them on how to paint over an existing finish. Good luck!

I took my pine tv cabinet from this: to this: I didn't want a solid, single color paint look, but something with more depth. The end result is just what I wanted, and was easy to do. The process is multi step but each step is easy and very forgiving, nothing needs to be perfect. You could do lots of different color combos - I'm planning some dining room pieces for this winter with a brown base and green on top. For the whole process step by step, click on the before picture above or follow this link. Here is a link that might be useful: TV Cabinet Re-do