Our new town has the best home consignment shops. That makes me giddy. I’ve been checking in weekly or so with my favorite one, Home2Home. They have a great selection of modern and antique pieces and their inventory changes weekly. Nothing stays there for long!
That’s why when I spotted this older Eddie Bauer cabinet, I snapped Handy Hubby a pic and emailed him right away.
You see, we’re planning to install our flatscreen TV above the mantel in the family room. I’ve mentioned this before…in an ideal world I wouldn’t choose to hang a TV above a fireplace but in the Underdog, it’s about the only place it can go. Don’t worry though. I think we’ve devised a plan to make it less in your face when it’s not in use. More on that later…
Anyhoo, since we won’t be using the media console setup that we had in our previous home {we gave the console to my Dad when we sold by owner}, we’ll need somewhere to store our cable box, DVD player, Wii, and audio receiver. I don’t have the family room’s entire layout set in stone yet, but HH and I did decide where the future media cabinet would go {in the corner between the picture window and mantel}, so I knew relatively how large {really, how small} the cabinet needed to be. I’ve been on the hunt for one for weeks now. The hardest part was finding a petite cabinet that was still deep enough to store all the techy components.
At 30″ x 18″ x 30″ this solid maple cabinet was the perfect size. {I measured the depth of all our TV components to make sure.} Even though it was in excellent condition and priced right {$80}, I wasn’t thrilled with its aesthetic. But when I opened the two doors, I was surprised to find that the 70’s screen-like material was actually just stapled to removable frames set into the back of the doors. It’s much like what you would find on the back of a picture frame. That ugly, heavy screen could easily be removed. I was sold!
If there aren’t any problems with our remotes working through fabric, I could transform the media cabinet into something like this…
Isn’t that Amy Butler fabric too sweet?
The only money spent would be on the fabric and maybe two new door knobs. If the fabric poses a problem {which I don’t see it doing…I’ve been experimenting by covering our receiver and cable box with lightweight t-shirts and they’re working perfectly, no problems!}, we can always open the doors when we need to or replace the screen material with glass. The jury is still out on whether or not the wood cabinet will end up painted…but I’m leaning towards leaving the finish as-is. I’d like to use a few more wood tone pieces in the Underdog than I did in our previous home.
The other secondhand piece of furniture that I recently acquired is this wing chair…
It’s a little bluer in real life and not as steely as my phone pic is portraying. I found it at our local Salvation Army store for, get this, $25.
Yep, $25!! It was clean with no tears in the velvety fabric and verrrrrry comfortable. All it needs is a little sanding and stain on the scratched up feet – or some spray paint if I’m feeling lazy. Everett even liked it.
I quickly emailed HH a pic while I sat on the chair, staking my claim until he gave me the okay to buy it. {We try to only buy things that we both like.} I was a little nervous that he wouldn’t like it because he tends to lean towards more modern furniture. But he really liked it! So, $25 later it was mine.
It’s very Emily Henderson-esque. I love her.
I don’t have a particular place in mind for the blue wing chair. It’s so versatile. It could work just about anywhere: family room, dining room, one of the bedrooms or even at the built-in desk that will be in the kitchen. And that, my folks, is how you know you should go ahead and buy a certain piece of furniture – when it will work anywhere in your home. You have the freedom to move it around on a whim as you please. Who knows where it will end up?
I’m excited about incorporating secondhand furniture pieces into the Underdog’s design. Typically, they add more character than store bought furniture and do so at a fraction of the cost. These two pieces together put me out only $105.
What’s a favorite thrift find or secondhand piece of furniture you’ve brought into your home?
images: 1-3) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking 4) Better Homes & Gardens 5-7) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking 8 ) Emily Henderson
budget decor, DIY, inspiration, kid-friendly