And the TV's Off the Floor

As you may know, we moved into our house in September. Since that day, our living room TV has been sitting on the floor. Just chillin' there. The thing is, I have wanted an enclosed TV stand for pretty much my whole life, but they aren't cheap. So I have been waiting... and waiting... and waiting...and our poor little (literally, little) TV has been sitting on the floor, just wanting some love.

I was okay with it, as I was willing to wait for one I really wanted, but when we hosted a bunch of teenagers for a weekend church event, and one of the first things one of the kids asked me was "Did you just move here? Because your TV is on the ground," I knew something had to be done.

I looked on Craigslist with no luck, and then one day I stumbled upon this (free) beauty in a closet at a local non-profit.  I knew this poor little stand would never see the light of day. But I saw it, and I saw beyond it's exterior and knew I could give it a home. Here's what I found:

I know, the wood finish is a little groovy. So what did I do? I brought it home, and I bought a little sanding sponge thing, and sanded it a little. And honestly, I don't think the sanding did anything, probably because I didn't know what I was doing, but I'm pretty sure it was a big fat waste of time. Anyway, after I "sanded" it, I got a bucket of paint from the garage that the previous homeowners left, and I started painting. And after I put one coat of paint on, I painted some more. And after that I painted more. After FOUR coats of paint, I decided that would have to be good enough. So far, mind you, this project had cost me like $2.00 or however much that ridiculous sand sponge was.

Now for the dramatic and glorious ending. I went to the love of my life Anthropologie, and bought two adorable knobs that were six dollars each. Are you ready for the big reveal? First, scroll back up at the before pictures.

And here comes the after:

Impressed? I have to say I am pretty impressed and I LOVE it. It isn't enclosed, but that's okay. I'll take a $14 awesomely cute stand any day. (-:

What's even better is that I got a few other pieces that I will be working on soon. So... more to come.

And here's a pic for the road of lunch today with a friend. Have a fabulous day!

~Kathryn