We got rid of the cardboard box.

A large box that carried all of our mirrors from our apartment to our house was just big enough to hide the router, a slew of cables and a big power strip with tons of wires plugged in, safely out of reach of little Greta.  The speakers we placed right next to the box to keep her from crawling in and pressing that lit up red button on the power strip.  On occasion, she wiggled her way in there and DAILY she threw the dvd player and Apple TV behind the speakers so she could knock over the speakers and sit on them.  It was a mess.  We have had our eyes open for a solution for this headache, and on our Ikea trip, we found just the thing.

The Varde cabinet we actually found in the kitchen section, but it had everything we wanted.  It was floating which opened up the floor space creating some more visual real estate.  It had a frosted glass front which meant we could put our dvd player and Apple TV inside and use the remote without having to open the cabinet.  Lastly, it didn't have drawers that Greta could open easily and empty....also, it came in white.  :)  We actually put the open shelving in the kitchen up the same night we put this together, which made for an interesting date night.  But the results of both were well worth it.

Thanks to a recommendation from our friend, Mike, we channeled all of the wires and router into the laundry room area creating a clean, wire free, safe zone in the family room.  And it will be no big deal to gather all of those wires neatly in a cabinet in the laundry room down the road.

So now, it looks like this:

Sans handle, with two little holes where one used to be (I still need to patch those).  Truthfully, I like it better without the handle anyway.

Here's a little peak inside.  If our electronics could talk, I am sure they would be thanking us that they are safe now and will no longer take a beating every day.

The room still needs a lot of help.  A large window cut out of the far wall.  Window treatments.  Pillows.  Lamps.  Some baskets under the media cabinet for blankets and toys.  Accessories---!!!  But, you know us.  We take it one task at a time.  Just know, this is no "after."