Short & Sweet - My New Entertainment Center

On or Around 2004 I bought an entertainment center. A really, really heavy entertainment center - for $450 from a furniture store called Meeley's. I love this entertainment center - but it:

a) now goes with nothing we own
b) was built for a non-flat screen tv (read: the tv doesn't actually fit) and
c) was too big for our room.

So we haven't used it while we've been in this house. I think maybe for a month or two in the beginning, but not now. And you should know I hate our current (but free) TV stand. It's plastic and black so it picks up all the dog and cat hair. Plus it was open at the bottom, not great for baby-proofing. While it is modern looking, I sill don't like it - its a little cold. So I asked the husband to modify the one we've kept down the basement. If it didn't work - then oh well. But if it did - well I may just have a darling (and still free!) entertainment center.

So after years of those hints, nudges, and requests (think "All I want in life is a nicer entertainment center... *SIGH*"), he pulled out the Sawzall and cut my dreams down to size (bu-dum-dum). And its BEAUTIFUL!

Here's the before - on the left there used to be a glass door - but I wasn't quick enough with my camera.

And the current state... He cut just above the cabinet doors and just below the top 'finishing' piece - and then fused the two together with a little husband magic. Seriously - you wish you had one of those magic husbands, don't you? Sorry, you can't have mine.

If we get tired of it as an entertainment center, it can double as a window bench... and just look at all that storage!! I can't even begin to tell you how stoked I am.

It still doesn't match our other things - the living room is black and cream and grey and currently red (but maybe soon that will turn to orange...). And it does have scratches on it from not taking care of it. So we'll have to paint. This is what we're thinking: a cream top (to hide the dust & dog hair), and the black bottom (which definitely makes it heavy, but it 'goes' with all our other pieces!)

And just for fun, here's the piece in some more funky colors to give us options. Orange - I think the potential orange I would pull in would be a little more 'burnt' than this - but you get the idea. I think we may redo the coffee table in the accent color though... decisions, decisions.

And red - to match the current accent decor. I think it looks too country in red.

PS- yes, I know, our basement is gross.