before & after

We've had this beauty since we got married... and you know how it goes, I loved it then, but now I'm wondering what I saw in it. It's been through a lot, 5 moves, 4 kids, & 3 different T.V.'s just to be specific. It was a little dinged up. We wanted to get a new entertainment center, but we were waiting to get a new t.v. (about time we joined the 21st century)
Ben's brother, Eli, moved to Iraq for his new job. We're so sad to see Eli go, but he's excited for new opportunities. We love him and miss him.
There are of course a few reasons why we love Eli:
1. he's the best brother/brother-in-law
2. my kids love their Uncle E
3. he's so helpful, whenever we need him, he's there.
4. he lets us borrow his cool stuff
5. when he gets tired of his cool stuff, he gets new cool stuff... and who gets his hand-me-downs?

Okay, so the t.v. wasn't free, but he did give us a screamin' deal. He wanted to get rid of some of his things before he left, and the T.V. was one of them. Yea for us! I decided in all of my cheapness, it would be better to try and make this entertainment center work for us. Ben took out the upper cupboard, glued on a piece of wood, made shelves in the bottom cupboard, I primed, painted, and glazed it. I had previously measured the e.c. and the t.v. with my arm, so I was really glad when we put it in, and it actually fit.
Not sure if I would do it again... it was a lot of work. But it was a lot cheaper than buying a new one. The total cost was 30.76.

I followed the steps from my favorite blog, allthingsthrifty.blogspot.com