Recycling a TV Stand

My husband has had a heavy duty TV stand for years that his son Tony made him.. It's really sturdy and made to last, unlike a lot of affordable TV Stands available in stores today, but just kind of outdated now.

We don't really watch TV in our living room any more, though, so it's kind of just been taking up space for the last several years.. We had a TV and DVD sitting on it, but I can't even remember the last time we used them. I think it may have been when 2 of our grand kids were here for a week a couple of summers ago..

Since we've been redoing our living room, we had to decide what to do about this big ole piece of furniture.

I suggested to my hubby that he add some new shelves to it and turn it into a book shelf, which we really need.. He LOVES his books and has been storing them wherever he could find space for them.. I'm more of an audible book person, but I have quite a few books needing a dedicated shelf, too....

I'm sure this was really sharp looking when it was first built, (it was BK...before Karen) but it's gotten really rough looking after four moves and many years of use... It was built to hold a specific TV and 2 humongous speakers.. I told my husband quite a few years ago the speakers had to go but knowing the TV stand is special because it was made by Tony, it has remained..

John added 2 new shelves, and then I painted the whole thing with a dark red paint I had left over from the Candle Making room.. It's Behr paint from Home Depot, which I love, and amazingly, only took 2 coats to give it great coverage.

The wood we bought for the added shelves, also from Home Depot, cost under $12 and since I already had the paint, this project was pretty cheap!  The two shelves and mirror were brown so I painted them with the dark red, too, and then roughed them up with a sander. 

We moved it to the opposite side of the Living Room, which really opened up the room.

We were able to add books 2 and 3 rows deep on each shelf, so this is really holding a heck of a lot of books.  I decided to add all my lighted ceramic houses I've been collecting for years and years to the top with some fake snow, despite my griping about how the snow stuck around way too long this year. lol.. 

I do love snow and the way it looks and have always loved my little village...

My favorite lighted house.. My son painted in the "Karens Kottage" and gave me this for Christmas.. I love gifts that are personalized or made by hand. They're the best! 

Of course there's a big orange Tomi kitty on the porch :o)

I was just taking a picture of my little village, but realized the opposite side of the room shows in the mirror, which I thought was very cool. If you read one of my earlier postings, I had started painting the wood in the living room cottage white, but ended up not being sure I liked it and wishing I hadn't started painting. I decided to only paint the one wall and it turned out to be one of those good mistakes.. The dining room is cottage white with natural wood wainscoting, so this happy accident seems to pull the two rooms together..