Home Entertainment Steps
STEP FOUR: FREE-STANDING OR BUILT-IN?
You actually have four options, not just two! They are as follows:
A. FREE-STANDING FURNITURE
B. 100% BUILT-IN
C. COMBINATION OF FREE-STANDING and BUILT-IN, and
D. “APPARENTLY BUILT-IN” (Looks built-in, but you can take it with you!)
Think this over carefully, because many people, at first, think that they want “built-in” cabinetry, but later find that MAPLETREE’s “Apparently Built-in” (built-in, but easily removable) is a better investment. We can build your entertainment center so that it can be relocated to another home in the future, while appearing to be permanently “built-in”. For examples of our “Apparently Built-In” option, view Dickenson Entertainment Center. If you like this approach, select “D” in our Design Request Form.
Why is this a wise approach? What if a future buyer of your home wants to use the room for another purpose? What if he or she has completely different tastes (e.g. traditional versus contemporary)? What if your son or daughter wants to (eventually!) inherit your home entertainment center to take to his or her home? What if you eventually move, and want to take your entertainment center with you? We consider it our duty to look after your long-term interests as well as your short-term needs, and so we ask questions that you may not have considered and we strive to ”future-proof” your design, making it flexible for the future.
In Pennsylvania, the securing of cabinetry to your house walls, no matter how minimal and removable the attachment is, allows us to tax only the materials component of the furniture, resulting in great savings in sales tax, while still enabling you to relocate the furniture in the future.
Perhaps your requirements necessitate having some of the cabinetry permanently built-in. “Option C” is the answer for you, with some components built-in and others transportable. For examples, view Berger Plasma-Over-Mantel and Eckels Plasma-Over-Mantel. For these projects, we provided free-standing component cabinets, in the form of free-standing pieces of furniture.
All MAPLETREE entertainment centers are completely pre-assembled in our shop, and then re-assembled in your home, typically taking less than a half-day to install. If you live out of state, we make it easy for local installers to install our home offices or we can arrange for affiliated firms to deliver and assemble your MapleTree furniture.
Of course, if the only option that makes sense is a 100% built-in approach, you have come to the right place! For examples of our permanently built-in entertainment centers, view McCarthy Fireplace Cabinets, Wolfe TV-Fireplace Cabinets, Santilli TV-Fireplace Cabinets and Morreale TV-Fireplace Cabinets. For these applications, we suggest a design that is classic and timeless, and not overly ornate or overly “contemporary”, so that the built-in is universally appealing, becoming a value-added asset to your home.