In which she brags some more about her husband.

Not all that long ago, I had to brag on my husband for his crazy woodworking skills that resulted in a gorgeous new bed and blanket chest in the master bedroom. I would be remiss to make you think that his handiwork was limited to that one room. Back in October, this beauty was unveiled in our living room.


Our living room has high ceilings and abundant light, so not only can it handle those deep red walls, but in order to achieve the warm cozy feel of autumn, it needed a little more weight. So T designed this entertainment center, complete with storage and lights and curio cabinets. It's enormous and beautiful and *heavy*. The day he brought it in from his workshop, I tried to help him move it into place. He had it on these coaster thingies, made for easily moving furniture. I tried to brace against one side, in an effort to hold it in place, so he could shimmy the other end toward the wall, and the combination of his strength and the weight of the entertainment center basically swung the whole thing in a circle, taking me with it! There is something to be said for actual wood construction as compared to the cheap, mostly-particle-board stuff for sale now, even at higher end furniture galleries.

(As an aside, if you ever want a special treat, take T furniture shopping. He will eyeball, circle, tap and poke at everything, then proceed to point out all the ways in which it was poorly designed, sloppily assembled or constructed out of cheap sub-par materials. And then he will tell you he can build something twice as awesome for a third of the price. And he will be very right.)

(Also fun: Ask him to paint a piece of furniture for you and then ask his honest opinion. Go ahead. I dare you.)

Back to his work of art. The lower cabinets beneath the television are great for all sorts of accessories that you want protected from dust but still need to access, necessitating glass doors, like the DVR and the (please hold back your laughter and judgment) combination VCR/DVR player. (What? It still works!) the side cabinets are way awesome though. The lower ones (without glass) are great for stashing things out of sight. The upper ones are genius though! Just look.

That would alongside the glass is not just a decorative design! It hides shelves for all our DVDs!

Shelves that SLIDE OUT. (My husband is a genius.)

I have had way too much fun decorating my mantel-like shelf for the various seasons and holidays. Easter/spring is still up (in the top photo) and I am still kind of impressed with what I cooked up for the way-up-high top, if you want to know the truth of it.



Now I need to figure out what will live there when Easter comes down, now that it's May.

All we really need to complete the living room are three matching end tables to replace the old black ones (and the tv tray) we're making do with right now. We're toying with the idea of painting the trim white and I'm trying to decide if I want a valance over the windows. All in good time. What I do know is that I will love every piece of furniture he builds as we make this house more and more our home.