Working on the house...

I am not very good at putting a house together. In the past I have always said if I could just pick out a living room, bedroom, kitchen, etc. out of the Pottery Barn catalog and then have someone else put it together in my home that would be perfect! But I am starting to change my decorating point of view... I have been inspired by two of my best friends from high school, Emily and Lisa. Both of these girls have a knack for decorating... putting the old with the new. It is really an inspiration. I have told Emily that she should start her own blog that walks us through what she and her husband have done with their house... the before and after pictures alone would cause a frenzy! And Lisa finds the greatest deals on old furniture and then puts her own unique twist on them... whether it be paint or whatever!

So I have made two recent purchases that begin my decorating journey of this Texas home. One is a serving tray I found antique shopping in Oklahoma City with Emily. I originally purchased it to sit on our ottoman but realized when I got home it was much too big. However, I had a tray and stand from Target that I was using as a side table between the couches. So, I removed the Target tray and put it on the ottoman and then put the antique tray on the stand for the side table! My first new and old mixed piece and I think it turned out pretty good... what do you think...

The next item we have been searching for is a TV console/entertainment center. This is the item that really made me want to find something unique... everyone has the stand from "fill in the blank" store. I decided I wanted something different. So, Garth and I have been on the search for just that...

We found this piece at a place called Old World Furniture in Austin. We went in and realized that many of their items were simply too big for the space we have to work with. So, while I was chasing Izzy down the isles Garth and Sophia started peeking behind the floor models into what looked like a junk area. There it was... it is about 4' tall, hand painted-rose wood hutch. I asked the guy from the store what exactly it was and why it was in the junk area. He said that it was the top to another piece... kind of like a china cabinet or buffet. So, one persons throw away is our new TV cabinet. YAY!!!

Before:

AFTER

I just LOVE it!!! Since it was not made to hold a TV Garth had to do some handy-man work on the back to provide space for all of the wires. He did it ALL last night!

I told him that I plan on just sitting and looking at it with the TV off!

On to the next project...