My Birthday Present

We've had this wall in the living room that is huge and bare, and it has intimidated me since we moved. So I haven't even tried to do something with it, and the living room has always looked incomplete. Until now!

Along with a million other people, I waste hours at night on Pinterest and got inspired to redo a piece of furniture. I've been trying to mix some old with new in this house, and I figured this would be a good wall to try out my distressing/refinishing skills.

Sooooo.... while the boys and I were in Memphis last month, I had Nick pick up an old china cabinet at an antique shop near our house.

I forgot to take a true before picture, but there was a door in the middle that we removed. And I had started sanding in this before pic. I had a hard time picking a paint color, and I think we went a little overboard on the distressing, but overall I'm really happy with it. Here are the details:

But I LOVE the way it looks on that wall!

I haven't put much on the shelves. And if you're wondering about the random barnwood on each side, it's another project we have in store. Nick wanted to go ahead and hang it, and I figured I'd decide what to do with them once I saw them on the wall. However, they are kinda growing on me just like this, so who knows when that project will get finished!