Beauty and the Beast

Ever since we upgraded our main family TV to a flat screen a few years ago, we've hung on to "the beast" - our old 32" traditional TV that is almost as deep as it is high and wide. Connected only to a VCR it only gets used rarely by the kids to watch old VHS tapes (I've picked up all the Disney classics for a buck each at yard sales vs. waiting for them to be released from the Disney vault on DVD and paying full price). This clunker been sitting on "Beauty," a Lane hope chest I had gotten at a yard sale in hopes (no pun intended) that it would make a good stand for electronic components under the TV in our new addition.

Well "beauty" didn't quite fit the corner for the TV in addition as I'd hoped so it has remained in what was our old living room with "the beast" on top. The kids just haul in their beanbags when they want to watch their VHS tapes. But I've hated the fact that this beast is the first thing you see when you walk into our house and I have been brainstorming ways to move it or get rid of it for a while now. 

 

So two weeks ago at a yard sale I discovered a much smaller TV with built-in DVD player and VCR that would be perfect to put in my daughter's room. It was only $25 and I convinced hubby we should get it. (Being the penny pinching financial advisor that he is, he reminded me it would really cost us $50 since it would cost an additional $25 to dispose of "the beast.") But I was pretty confident we could give it away. Sure enough the next day I posted it on Facebook and a friend and her husband hauled it off for their teen. I was SO happy to see it leave!

Our front room has been in identity crisis since we moved our living room to the addition. It's an entry way/mudroom-slash-den-slash-office. In my mind a proper entry way should have a table to place your keys/wallet, a mirror to check yourself on the way out :) and a nice vase of fresh flowers.



(A cable modem and wireless router weren't a part of my vision
but since the hookups are behind the chest, they reside on beauty for now.)

The mirror goes with a dresser that was handed down to us by my in-laws when we moved into our apartment. When we moved to our house and used the dresser in my daughter's room, I put the mirror in the basement because I wanted to use the space above the dresser to hang pictures (which I recently shared here). So I dug the mirror out of the dungeon, cleaned it up nice and rested it on top of the chest. I like how it reflects the sunlight from the windows on the opposite wall.
 

The catch-all basket was a yard sale find from years ago. I placed our Entertainment coupon book inside hoping we'll remember to take it with us and use it more often! Fresh lilacs from the yard in a green yard sale vase. I noticed recently that almost all my vases, whether glass or pottery, are green (my favorite color).
 

Beside the chest remains our basket (from yard sale) for hats, mittens, gloves and scarves. Seeing as it is May already I should probably put those out of site!

When I look at the whole wall I'm contemplating hanging the mirror above the chest to give it some height but the thing weighs a TON so I'm not sure how to go about doing that. And now my gears are turning considering what, if anything, to hang on either side of the mirror. With freshly painted walls I'm hesitant to clutter the clean space, though that's usually my tendency. I'm sure my treasure hunts will turn up just the right thing(s) eventually!