Before and After

We have desperately needed something more by way of furniture in our family room.  Several years ago we bought a small, cheap entertainment console and I haven't liked it from the beginning.  As I have sat on the couch in our new house, I have looked a very large expanse of blue wall with the puny entertainment console, the TV, and nothing else.  It has bugged me.  I have looked at a variety of options for something to put there from a very expensive Pottery Barn piece to a slightly less expensive custom built center that I didn't really like.  And all the while, I have wanted something more for the room we are in the very most.

A couple of months ago, while I was in Ikea getting a bed frame for Brandt, I saw a really great entertainment center which I immediately liked, which I was convinced would fit our space perfectly, and which was reasonably priced considering its size (less than half the cheapest option I had found).  I took a picture of it and showed it to Kent who liked it but didn't want to spend the money for it right then.  So what does a stay-at-home, unemployed mom of two kids do when she needs to generate some income that isn't coming out of the household budget?  She starts selling stuff.  Kent said I could keep all the proceeds from anything I sold, and being highly motivated, I started.  I sold Brandt's old bed, some pavers, a window, a table, and a whole bunch of stuff at a yard sale.  I also got to keep the new window rebate we got from Questar Gas, and voila! I had enough.

This week, over two days, I put together the new entertainment center and began filling it with books and knick knacks, and I must say, I'm rather delighted with the thing.  Kent too, which makes me especially happy.  We both determined we need to replace the oak bookshelves on either side of the fireplace with white ones that will match the entertainment center, so I'm selling more stuff.  Here are the before and after pictures.

Small piece of furniture, TV, very large blue wall.

Very large piece of furniture which fills the space and breaks up the very large blue wall.

I still love the blue paint, just so you know.

Kent and I both think we need a dead animal head over the furniture and door, to fill up the peak.

Kent thinks cape buffalo, I think moose.

If you know where we might find a head cheap, please let me know.

Is that something you can buy on ebay, do you think?