One of the few things we miss about our old house in Idaho was the gas fireplace insert that we had installed in the living room. Our new house doesn't have natural gas and we were missing the warmth and ambiance of the fireplace. I'd seen some entertainment centers with built in heaters that look like a fireplace, so we started looking and found one.
Plus our current entertainment center stand was a 20+ years old IKEA item and has taken a beating. It was actually a dog bed stand at our house back in North Dakota and provided a perfect perch for the dogs to look out over the neighborhood.
We haven't participated in the stereotypical "couple assembles IKEA furniture together and hi-jinks ensue" sitcom story line before. It actually went well and we were on speaking terms before, during, and after assembly.
Shadowfax helped. What she lacks in opposable thumbs she more than makes up for in her abilities to sigh disapprovingly and look bored.
Our project turned out quite well. The entertainment center and heater provides some ambiance on a cold evening and the heater helps keep the room nice and toasty. It's not quite the same as the gas fireplace insert, and doesn't put out as much heat, but it is much safer and looks quite nice. After all her hard work, Shadowfax took a nice nap in front of the new entertainment center.
