Like so many of you dear husband and I about a decade ago decided to buy a giant armoire to house our TV. Heaven forbid someone see this technological devise I suppose. I’m not sure of the exact logic behind it actually, but so it goes, we jumped in on the decorating trend and found ourselves convinced that we needed this heavy monstrous fixture in our life. I still remember the two scrawny delivery men (boys more like it!) lumbering “the beast” up the stairs of our last house and nearly getting it stuck as they twisted it up and attempted to then take it down the hall and around the corner.

As time passes, tastes change. We offered “The Beast” up for sale along with our old home, but the new owners (perhaps wise to the waning trend) did not want it, and even went so far to decline our offer to leave it behind for free. So without much of a choice, it came with us to our new home and again it made its way to our bedroom (moved by able bodied professionals of course!). What else would we do with this giant? For the most part “The Beast” sat with its doors closed, spare a night time news program or some insomnia induced need.

One summer morning a few years ago, a giant crack of thunder rattled our house. It was the kind of abrupt clatter that makes you sit straight up out-of-bed. It even set off the smoke alarms and power seemed to flow only into parts of the house. In an instant it was clear we had taken a direct lightning strike. Along with a plethora of affected devices, the big box TV that “The Beast” housed succumbed. Now we couldn’t replace one box TV with another, so the more aesthetically pleasing flat screen made its way home with us. Our shiny new device no longer needed to be hidden away, and quite honestly wouldn't have even fit inside. Our new TV's sleek features looked great in our bedroom and “The Beast” lost its use and was surely sentenced to a sad fate.

Now the question was ... what-the-what do we do with this thing? We thought about donating it, but we weren’t about to labor this thing dangerously down the steps on our own, and the estimates to have it moved for us were ridiculous. So, like a few other useless items had before it, “The Beast” was shoved down the hall where it found its new quarters in a spare bedroom with other derelict and mismatched pieces. It sat there for years virtually ignored. It served its censure housing extra blankets and the like. Honestly it came in handy, but “The Beast” always looked a bit awkward and I ignored it when I was in that room. I had wanted to attack it and give it a face lift of sorts since the day I shoved that thing into place.

Last week on a caffeine driven, where anything seems possible kind of a day, I gave up settling and gave “The Beast” a new look”. I probably shouldn’t have done all that work, but with determination and Advil, I gathered the necessary tools and I set to work. With sanding, painting, repainting, sanding, antiquing and last but not least, staining, “The Beast” looked brand new.

- half way there!

It fit into its home better than I could have imagined. And while I was at it, I knew I could no longer settle for the sad and spare décor in that room. With “The Beast” now looking like the jewel of the room, the rest of the décor needed to be stepped up. My recent bout with injuries and the boredom that has come along with it have me rethinking a few things. We’ve been in our home for eight years now, and some things hadn’t changed, and it was about time. Fueled with a few Pinterest ideas I headed out to the garage work room, grabbed a multitude of various shaped empty frames and a can of black spray paint. I even reconditioned a chair that my great aunt had given to me some years back. (My WoNDeRFuL 100 YeARs YoUNg Aunt Eleanor Flessner!) It was the perfect piece to nestle into the corner!

So thank you “Beast” … thanks for getting me off the couch and now that I have embraced you once again we are happy to have you be a part of our home!