Babywhite
12-28-2010, 03:14 PM
Our home's living room has builder standard built-ins on each side of the fireplace. (Beazer home)
One bookshelf has a large tv nook, but the room's layout doesn't really allow us to use it. (not a huge room, 4 windows on another wall, etc.)
I visited some new friends' home the other day, and they had a similar problem. They didn't want the fireplace and built-ins because of their new, large entertainment system. The builder would not build the house without it (it was standard in this home), so they ended up having a contractor come in and put sheet rock over them.
When we take the tree down this week, we are going to move the furniture around and make sure the couch can't be placed in front of the fp/bkshelves. If not, I was thinking about suggesting putting sheet rock over the bookshelves (not over the fireplace). This would allow us to have more room for chairs, etc. (Currently, we are limited b/c when we put chairs, end tables, etc. near the bookshelves, the room looks way too crowded and small.
Any thoughts/ideas?
Also, are built-in bookshelves considered a nice upgrade? We have been slowly upgrading this home for us and to resell later. I don't want to do anything that would 'decrease' the value of it. :)
Thanks for your help
One bookshelf has a large tv nook, but the room's layout doesn't really allow us to use it. (not a huge room, 4 windows on another wall, etc.)
I visited some new friends' home the other day, and they had a similar problem. They didn't want the fireplace and built-ins because of their new, large entertainment system. The builder would not build the house without it (it was standard in this home), so they ended up having a contractor come in and put sheet rock over them.
When we take the tree down this week, we are going to move the furniture around and make sure the couch can't be placed in front of the fp/bkshelves. If not, I was thinking about suggesting putting sheet rock over the bookshelves (not over the fireplace). This would allow us to have more room for chairs, etc. (Currently, we are limited b/c when we put chairs, end tables, etc. near the bookshelves, the room looks way too crowded and small.
Any thoughts/ideas?
Also, are built-in bookshelves considered a nice upgrade? We have been slowly upgrading this home for us and to resell later. I don't want to do anything that would 'decrease' the value of it. :)
Thanks for your help