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/from the handy-andy-has-got-nothing-on-me dept/
Well, we all know I am a bit of a fan of the whole Media-Center phenomenon. But I've decided to take it to another level.
I already have a Media Centre down in my lounge, hooked up to my AE700 projector (giving me High-Definition goodness but only at 720 resolution. Sniff!).
Anyhow, I was in bed the other day thinking "It would be great to be able to watch TV in my bedroom but what I really want is to watch the media that's on my Media Server in the cellar". This was the beginning of my Media-Home Dream. And that had a rather more extreme conclusion - I want to have my content in every room, without fail.
Living in a 250-year-old house, I enjoy things such as solid-oak beams and wooden floors so I absolutely don't want things spoilt by seeing cables everywhere. My idea wasn't just to create a Digital Home of Epic Proportions, it was to create a DHEP that was also as free of cables as possible.
Not everything can be carried over WiFi (oh, for wireless mains), so what I was looking for was a solution that hid from sight all the many cables I knew would be necessary.
Some people said run them on top of skirting boards (hardly invisible, though, is it?). Others suggested under the carpet (I think they meant under the floorboards – surely they don't think it's okay for the carpet to look like its laid on top of a nest of snakes?). But I was looking for a far better idea.
I've wanted to decorate my bedroom since moving into the house a couple of years back so, last weekend, I started out on a two-birds-with-one-stone job – smartening up the room and at the same time turning it into the first "Media-Center-enabled bedroom" (well, mine, anyway).
And, all the while, I was thinking – "This is just the beginning!".
I've always wanted a flat-screen TV set in the bedroom. I was desperate to get rid of the cheap 14in set in the corner and have, instead, something mounted on the wall. I had not planned to pick one up this week but with the price I was able to get from Freemans.co.uk -offering 20 or 25% off - I thought "Why not?".
So. I now I have an LCD TV set and a wall - and I'm in need of a solution. I didn't want to have to channel cables into the wall to get them hidden. Plastic ducting to the Media Center on top of the wardrobe was the next idea but that, too, was a no-go, as it just wasn't tidy enough.
Then another problem was discovered - there is only one power socket in the room, and it's nowhere near the proposed location of my new Media Solution in the bedroom. This is serious.
But, by a happy coincidence, I was in London mid-week at the Intel Viiv launch and met up with a friend who knew the layout of my house. Naturally enough, at an event that was all about the Digital Home, the subject got round to my DHEP. My mate is not only a worryingly knowledgeable techno-bod, it also turns out his a bit of a dab hand at the DIY – and a lateral thinker, to boot.
He knew that, behind the very spot where I want the LCD set to go, there's a walk-in wardrobe used for storage (of stuff - not data) - and suggested I could route cables into the wardrobe and then back out again just where they're needed – behind the TV set.
Even though I had just painted the end wall (red, since you're asking, but wait and you shall see), I realise this was the ideal solution. So what if it meant laying into an almost perfect, newly-painted surface? I had a dream! And now it could be achieved.
So, after drilling a pilot hole this morning, I went and picked up a 50mm holesaw from Travis Perkins and cut into the wall (nervous times...). I managed to get through without causing very damage to the back of the wall in the wardrobe. But this was out of sight, so didn't really matter too much any way. DIY Tip: Remember kids, before cutting holes in walls, always check for the presence of cables and pipes!
The next stage was to make sure the hole was nicely lined and I'd already sorted out some old 40mm drainage pipe. I cut off 5in of it, put it in the hole and, Bob's your uncle - it fitted well and with a bit of Polyfilla would look a treat.
A picture of the holesaw:
THE HOLE – and me sanding around it:
Now a shot showing the hole looking better:
Now a shot of around the other side (see the mess?)
First layer of Polyfilla – needs some more but not until the other is dry. You can see the shelf that will hold all the “computing stuff”
This will need painting but, hell, it looks a lot better already!
While that's drying, giving the front a lick of paint
At the time of writing, the Samsung TV set hadn't turned up and I still need to pick up a flat VESA 200 wall-mount kit. But now the pipe is in place, I'm ready and waiting. It will allow me easily to add, remove or replace cables – HDMI, power, component video and all the rest - something that would have been impossible if I'd decided to channel stuff in the wall.
A very quiet Media-Center system will go on the shelf and have a 100Mbit link to the loft – from where a cable runs down to the cellar.
This is just the beginning, I want so much more! Especially, though, I want to have everything fully integrated – I'm planning to install a ZoN Audio system to send sound all around the house - and have already started to work out which modules I need.
The paint - Claret red - is part of Homebase's Classic range. It's deep and it's nice. I tried paint from several different companies and this was the only one that didn't look like someone had slaughtered a lamb in the room. The other walls are a cream colour (natural lamb's wool-looking!).
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Yes I know this is a tech forum not changing rooms - but you need to see the basis.
