Hanging a TV, adding an Outlet and Building a Headboard

Hanging a TV and building a headboard in my guest bedroom. Early last year I relocated my TV to a different wall in my living room by hanging it and adding an outlet behind it. It totally changed the room for the better and, after ten years of fiddling with it, I finally love the layout in that room. It all went so well I figured I’d just repeat the process here in the guest bedroom. I had two TVs the smaller of the two I had hung in the living room and the other (bigger by quite a bit) TV was left without a place after the many changes I’ve made in the house lately.

This is the bracket I used in both places and it is awesome, it tilts flawlessly in every direction, its very sturdy and its only $20.

My dad came over when I had the giant TV laid out in the guest bedroom attaching the bracket to the back of it. It was a mutual light bulb going off when we both commented that it was WAY too big for this room.

We looked at each other, laughed, and swapped the TVs! It really paid off using the same bracket on both of them…

I still think this TV is a bit big for this room but the monster would have been ridiculous in here.

Adding the outlet here was a bit more of a pain in the butt than in the living room. I had to fish a line all the way down the wall and feed it into an outlet in my tool room on the other side. (That outlet in there also gave me a measuring point on exactly where the stud was for securing the bracket to.)

I got it done OK, it was just more time consuming and more difficult while all I had to do in the living room was cut a hole and pull the line through. Totally worth it to not have any cords showing in both places!

I don’t like having the bed in front of the window but it is what it is at least for now. The wall I put the TV on just wasn’t wide enough for an end table on either side. So that left me with the bed in front of the window which I needed to do something about.

My plan was simple. I headed to my garage and had a good long look at my lumber pile.

And I found this single board.

It makes no sense.

There are no others like it.

It was the perfect length to get two 55″ boards with very little scrap and it was already factory milled and planed so it was much lighter than the rough sawn wood I used to build the bed frame out of.

After cutting them I sanded them down and then I brought them in to clear coat them inside and I’m going to say it again: THIS BOARD MAKES NO SENSE. It clearly came from a regular lumber yard because both of its ends were stamped and yet… it was 6 3/4″ inches wide… it was a full 1 inch thick and it was just under 11 feet long…

Those are not dimensions you just go buy at the store. I have no memory of how this board came into my possession. And if that’s not all weird enough its also absolutely NOT pine. I had had my suspicions when I looked at it raw but I knew for certain with just the first brush stroke of poly acrylic.

My dad and two nephews popped by when I was clear coating.

I pointed at the board, “What is that?”

“That didn’t come from our sawmill.”

“That is not pine.”

“Red oak?”

“No way that’s poplar either.”

“Cedar?”

I’m thinking its red oak… though it is awfully light in weight for an oak. Regardless, the mystery board is beautiful and was absolutely perfect for what I needed. I put them up across the window and my bed was complete.

My bedding and pillows are going to just about entirely cover up my “headboard” so what I really needed was just support more than anything else here.

I swear every time I finish a project in this room another one pops up lol I’ve still got two lamps and a stool that need makeovers but I’m getting there!

I can’t wait to dress the bed and put this room together.