Furniture Project

Growing up without a lot of money (along with resourceful parents) taught me to use my ingenuity to get the things I wanted. In many instances, this meant building the things I enjoyed. When my parents cleaned out their garage recently, I was asked to sort through the remnants of my childhood fun in the form of homemade skim boards, car stereo pieces, cans of spray paint, etc. However, as I've grown older, my ingenuity has slowly fled my recreational time (although, I can't say I have nearly as much recreational time to fill these days). But this past Thursday evening, She revitalized my ingenuity with her desire to refurbish a piece of furniture found on the side of the road.
This piece of furniture is not your average discarded item. It was a console television, complete with accompanying turn-table, radio, and speakers. Though I was initially hesitant to tackle such a project, my ingenuity crept in and I convinced myself that it would be a worthy project. We wrangled the beastly item (it had to weigh at least 300 lbs.) into the back of the Explorer and carted it home. Once there, we set to stripping out the contents, working until the sun went down and flashlights were necessary.
Alas, we finally alleviated the giant of it's toxic electronic contents (which we recycled for $27) and moved it into the apartment. We have already begun planning it's future, devising how we will turn the discarded unit into a wonderful buffet complete with wine racks, glass holders, and china display.
Before we were married, I mistakenly misjudged her as a "buy only" type of gal. But as we've been living within our limited budget, her creativity and frugality has become much more evident. It has also been contagious, as I too am again thinking of projects that will save money and provide bonding experiences.