A Touch of Best Buy to the Crate and Barrel

This isn't what you expected, because for a first time in a long time you are not reading something written with a feminine touch. This is Mr. Hansen's turn to chime in on the blog.

Before you close the browser window give the "trained" writer in the family a chance. That isn't a slight at my wife, she is a fantastic writer, but don't you want to know about man cave coexistence?

We have been married now for a year and a half and our apartment has certainly gone through several transformations.

When we moved in, our living room consisted of a hand-me-down white couch, my beat-up fish tank, a Crate and Barrel coffee table and a 27" classic style television on top of my Wal-Mart TV stand. The walls were white and the windows had no curtains.

Due to Kate's get down to business attitude, the early transformations were largely aesthetic. We got a new couch, chair and ottoman. We painted a wall and purchased curtains.

One reason Kate married me, and I believe she will admit this to anybody who asks, is that I am pretty handy. It is just in my blood. I've now put up curtains more times than I can count.

We only have five windows, but between the couple sets of curtains we didn't like and Abby pulling them down, the drill has received plenty of use.

If you've been following the blog for a while, you may have heard we purchased a Plasma TV just before Christmas. It was something we had been saving up for a while.


My lovely wife got me a PS3 for Christmas so the home theater system that every man seems to demand was coming together.

I realize that this is snooze-fest for all the females reading, so I'll spare you the juicy details. The part I wanted to highlight was that it is possible to add a touch of Best-Buy to Crate and Barrel.

I was able to parlay a hand-me down sound system from my mother-in-law and a Christmas gift from my own mother to put together the home theater sound I sought after.

Seven speakers and a subwoofer had to find a home in our living room. This is beauty to man, but for the woman it's a nightmare.

With a lot of grace from my lovely wife I went on the quest to setup this system. The following pictures are the result.

While far from perfect, the "ugly" has been mostly avoided sans a couple temporarily exposed cords, the Wal-Mart TV stand just got overwhelmed. 

A new TV stand along with the long awaited fish tank upgrade I've yet to complete should put the finishing touches to the gentle melding of male and female.

I hope you also will find a little space for your man. My beautiful wife did and I believe she is as happy as I am with the results.

WARNING! MALE CONTENT!

I've got plenty of tips and tricks for the home theater setup on the cheap, without sacrificing too much quality.

You can find those details here.