Home furnishings and the style thereof

Dalboz

I'm feeling conflicted over my choices for home furniture, specifically the living room, and would like some advice. For a while, I've had some furniture that is...well, it serves its purpose, but is a bit cheap. Recently, I finally got rid of my old pink leather couch (it was given to me as a gift, but needed to be replaced not just because of it's style, but because the leather was old and cracking the seat cushion was almost completely gone). I got a nice, stylish white cloth couch because it became available and was being sold at a good price. It's actually very nice looking. But now, looking at the couch in my living room, the rest of my furniture looks kind of tacky. The coffee table is alright (light oak finish), and the bookshelves are servicable (oak finish; they are also bolted to the wall, so I'm not in a hurry to replace them). I have what used to be dark wood encyclopedia rack that I have converted to a DVD rack, and an oak finished two shelf case that I took apart and rebuilt as a small but fully stocked bar.

The real problem is the entertainment center, in more ways than one. It is an enormous square that houses my 20" standard TV with my DVD player, VCR, and all my currently active consoles (others in the closet), with a lot of games lines up along the top. It's essentially a TV stand and single audio pier on the left with a bridge on top for shelf space, although it is one unit. It's about 50" X 50", and black. After trying to play on my recently hooked up XBox 360, I could barely read the text on my crappy TV. So, in the spirit of getting my new couch, I've decided to upgrade my living quarters in general, mainly the entertainment center. I have ordered a 40" Samsung LCD HDTV, but I already know that it won't fit in my entertainment center. So the entertainment center has to go.

I've described my other furniture above because of the following issue. I'm considering what to get as a new entertainment center. I'm looking at an individual TV stand and audio pier, although I will lose the shelf above unless I buy a second audio pier and a bridge, which I don't know if I have room for that as I'm hoping not to have the whole thing more than 70"-75" in width. But the pieces will have to match. Should I get wood finished furniture to match my existing furniture? The other thing is that the TV I have purchased has a piano black finish, so should I get black or utilitarian (metal/white) looking furniture for the entertainment center to match the TV? For other details, the walls are white and the carpet is a traditional beige. Not much natural light in the living room. Wall mounting the TV is not something I am considering at this point, although I have that about the TV stands that can mount the TV rather use the stand that comes with the TV, but I'm not yet sold on that option. Style advice is needed.

EggyToast

Quickly, for the shelf above, could you replace with an actual shelf? You already have stuff bolted to the wall so you're already going to have to patch stuff up once you move out. Most people who are unhappy w/ a piece of furniture find that it's because a single piece is doing *too much*, making it big and bulky. Separating out the functionality, even if you end up with the same space but via different pieces of furniture, often creates a more pleasing aesthetic.

Dalboz

For the shelf above, I'm think of just getting another media rack (I know where I can put it; it's not ideal, but it's a viable solution) or getting a second audio pier if I have room. I got the entertainment center I have now because it was cheap and served it's purpose and fit in the dimensions I needed it to, but I have a little more room. The problem was that it would have been blocking the heater in the wall heater in the place I had just moved into, but since I've never turned the heater on in two years and even turned the pilot off, blocking it isn't really an issue anymore. Block the coat closet on the other side is, however, so I'm still trying to keep the dimensions within reason. I don't think I have the patience to build a shelf. The other problem is that I'm a nut about making things secure, meaning that I would feel the need to be sure that things would be anchored into wall studs. The wall it would be up against happens to contain the gas line, and I don't feel like bother with it if I can at all avoid it.

I need the shelf space. I have a lot of consoles and media that I intend to keep hooked up, so I need shelf space to keep them there. That's why I need the audio pier(s), unless I find a huge/wide TV stand, but I think that would look kind of ugly, although one audio pier may look lopsided.

I have an idea for something that I think I could fit two piers in, but the problem is that it's a metal finish with glass shelves (found at Walmart, of all places), and I'm not sure that it would fit with mostly wood furniture and a TV with a piano black finish. My goal is to make things look nice and make my place "grow-up" a little.