FINAL REVEAL: The Sherlock Room Over Two Years In The Making!

Just before Covid hit John was finishing up a bunch of custom furniture for our friends' Sherlock-themed living room. I don't think I ever did a final reveal on his fireplace, either, so here it is:

SO COOL, right? 

You can see how John built the faux fireplace here, and how he woodgrained it here. Our version has 2 secret doors and tons of hidden storage, but we'll get to that later.

Vanova's 3D rendering was invaluable to John during his build, since all the Sherlock set photos are pretty dark:

Anyway, then lockdown happened, and John's lovely fireplace and bookshelves sat in our dusty garage for three months.

But at long last...

John had to build the faux walls on-site to get the fit exactly right. You can never trust someone's walls or ceilings to be perfectly level!

Seriously. It just never gets old. ::munching popcorn::

By the end of the afternoon, we had this:

Day 2:

Crown and base molding installed, and drywall mud added to hide the seams and screws:

That had to dry, so Day 2 was only a few hours' work.

Day 3: Wallpaper (blurg)

I think this was our first time installing wallpaper, and in conclusion, we really don't like installing wallpaper. NEVER AGAIN. (Until we have to, haha.)

Look at this pretty sheen, though:

The metallic gold changes in the light, and the deep red looks incredible with John's painted wood tones:

Just another reminder that this isn't stained wood; all this beautiful woodgrain was created with paint!

John and I painted that background green two years ago, back when we did the famous Sherlock stencil on the other side of the room:

Here's how we did it (and our free template) in case you missed that back in 2018.

Ok, back to this side:

Day 4 was spent hooking up electronics and electrical: John ran wiring behind and through the faux walls and fireplace to power a side lamp, the big TV that would hang over the fireplace, and all the game systems and assorted electrical flotsam that would hide inside the fireplace.

Ready to see the room all finished? 

I think we've all waited long enough!

Ta-daaaa!

Compared to John's original plans:

And compared to the actual set of Sherlock:

Chris and Christie have spent the last 2 years slowly hunting down screen-accurate furniture and accessories - and Chris would like me to stress that they're not done yet, it's still a work in progress.

I love how they've captured the spirit of Sherlock's flat while still personalizing it to make it their own. They have their own photos, art, and mementos sprinkled throughout.

Here's the other side of the room:

I believe everything on this side wall is screen-accurate, right down to the model of headphones:

 

 Love how they tucked a violin in the corner:

Their house is open-concept, so here's a panorama to show you how the three sides of this room go together:

Behind me are the dining room and kitchen. (The curtains are NOT peach, I promise. I was fighting the sunlight shining through.)

Now let's go in for some details:

I took this before Christie finished decorating the bookshelf, so here it is finished:

If you can identify that statue on the bottom shelf then you get 50 geek points.  

(Hint: It's not from Sherlock!)

And here's the left bookcase:

So much great art.

(The half-and-half portraits up top are by Marta Wit, and the tall Sherlock print is by Jon Pinto.)

Chris spent a long time hunting down this statue on Sherlock's fireplace:

He also found the screen-accurate metal fruit bowl:

Can you tell I really enjoyed staging this photo with my Moriarty apple? :D 

 The one from the show.

I made that for Christie's birthday a few years ago, and it makes me so happy and proud to see it displayed in this room.

Christie and Chris originally had an enormous TV armoire that jutted into the room over 3 feet, so this full wall of furniture actually gave them MORE square footage in the room while tripling their storage space.

Speaking of storage, here's the first hidden door on the fireplace:

You press the tile to release the magnetic latch.

The smaller side opens, too, revealing three enormous shelves to hold all their electronics:

Even better? TV remotes and game remotes all work through the fireplace screen, so they rarely have to open these!

K, one last look around:

 

And finally, the man himself, relaxing/collapsing after a job well done:

I'm so proud of John, you guys. LOOK WHAT HE DID.

I hope you enjoyed this VERY long ride, and as always, I hope this helps inspire you to surround yourself with the fandoms you love. Remember, it's YOUR space. Fill it with things that make you happy!