A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (or rather in a house that happens to be the one in which I live) I built a table. I built it in the scary serial killer room in my basement.

I even stained and finished this table, and it was beautiful. Then it continued to sit in my scary basement for a number of weeks. All because I don’t own a hole saw.

But then one day, I whined enough that Stan went and got the table, and drilled a big ol hole in the back of it with his half-inch drill bit. Then he cut the hole bigger with a hand saw. Then he filed the edges until they were somewhat smooth. The hole didn’t look terribly pretty, but it served its purpose of being an opening for cords to run through.

Then we put the table in the living room and put the TV and DVD player on it! (And the bunny ears, because I’m awesome like that.)

And it looked like this:

I actually like the way it looks better like this:

but a) then I wouldn’t have anywhere to put my feet and set my drink, and b) we can’t block that heat grate. So the top option is how it will stay, but maybe with a classier DVD storage system. Yes, that is all the DVDs I own. Actually, a bunch of those are borrowed, so that’s more DVDs than I own. Hooray Netflix!

Here’s a shot of the whole room. I chose that particular console table because of its slim design (thank you Ana White), which really does make a difference in a room this tiny.

Here’s the old coffee table I was using before for comparison:

Oh and I got a new mirror. It was cheap and round and I liked it.

And just for fun, here’s a shot from pre-new floors and rug, pre- new flat screen TV, and pre- DSLR photography:

The table has some flaws (I need some more practice with stainable, or should I say “stainable” wood filler) and yes it was like the easiest plan I found, but I am still very proud of it. I built that!!! That’s what I plan on yelling to everyone who comes to my house from now on while pointing at it and jumping up and down.