Rustic Re-furnish?

I didn't manage to get any sewing done this week, so no 'refashion' to share today.  However, I do have what could be called a 'refurnish' to share.

A few years ago we bought a terrible, but cheap house purely for its location, and the lure of downsizing our debt.  The problem with this has been that for the past few years we have been in limbo not knowing whether we would be best to demonlish the house and start again from scratch, or renovate the existing house.  As a result we haven't bothered to try and make the current house our home, resulting in horrid furnishings, like our TV sitting on a cardboard box for the past 2 years.

I've become tired of this situation lately, and despite a decision finally being made to undertake a renovation, I've felt the need to make the house feel a little more homely straight away.

Lucky for me I have an incredibly talented husband who can make, build, or fix anything he turns his hand to.  Sometimes he even humours me and makes something I request ;-).  So when I requested a chunky rustic 'homemade' TV cabinet for my birthday a few months ago, he couldn't refuse, and we turned to our backyard to find the materials.

I spotted these hardwood sleepers a few years back buried within a huge fire pile in our yard and had to rescue them (or should I say, I had to make my husband rescue them).

I wasn't sure at the time what they would be used for, but I've always been a sucker for 'rustic' timber finishes, and I was sure we could turn them into something amazing (well, I was sure that my husband could turn them into something amazing, because my creative skills aren't quite as extensive as his).

And then there was this pipe that was kindly donated to us by our neighbour about a year ago when he realised we had an interest in making 'industrial' furniture.

And as I suspected, my husband was able to turn that dull old timber and rusty pipe into something that I love.

I love all the different colour variations and textures in this old wood, which we finished with bee's wax after the timber had been put through a thicknesser.

Hubby choose to leave the pipe its natural rusty patina.

I love my furniture on castors as it makes it so much easier when it comes time to clean under and behind large items.  This piece required 6 castors because it weighs a tonne.

I'm thrilled with the finished product and am so glad to see the back of the cardboard box that served as our TV cabinet for so long.  Now we just need to fix the house up to make it match the new TV cabinet.

And last but not least, thanks so much hubby for making this amazing one off item for me.