Need an idear (as pronounced by my mother)

But first ... who is going to post on the couch with the lovely Echo Monster?

Gee ... can you guess who wins?

So there's my couch in place.  No, I haven't scrubbed the overspray off that one section of the hardwood floors yet, and no, those are not the permanent curtains. 

I want to personally thank Craigslist.  I found the exact dining room table and chair set I was wanting ... all for the whopping price of $50. 

I picked up a load of my crap from Kirk and Janie's hangar today.  I was mainly after the glass shelf for my refrigerator (the pieces to my fridge seem to be in like 4 different places and I'm not done collecting them all yet), but found a piece of furniture I forgot I had ...

(ignore the dirt ... I haven't cleaned it yet)

But it matches my table and chair set nicely, so now I have to decide where to put it.

I did a load of wash tonight.  The water is still backing up into my tub because of the grout that went down my bathtub drain, and what a gross film it leaves in the tub.  It is also causing the hookups at the washer to leak all over the place.  I am going to have to have the contractor come back out and clean this out.  I'm not looking forward to that bill, but it needs to get done.  I don't see this getting any better.  Oh another day in paradise.  Have I told you about my love/hate relationship with home ownership???

Oh, so here's where I need an idear. 

The pellet stove is in.  The tile pad that it sits on is all done and looks awesome!  Here's a photo.

I'm sure you see more than one dilemma there, but the one I am trying to get worked out is that bag of pellets.  I need to figure out something to hide it with.  I'd like to go with something antique and country.  Kirk and Janie have a great metal antique washtub with a lid that they use ... kinda like this one ...

So I don't want to do the same thing.  It would kinda be like wearing the exact same shirt as your best friend and then standing next to her all day.  Wouldn't that be tacky?  ;-)

So I'd like to find something different, but sort of the same idea.  Thought about using an old milk can, but it would be too narrow and too much of a hassle.

There are some great old wooden chests ... but I haven't found one that I like enough yet.

I can't think of other antique-looking things that would work in that space that would be the right size or whatever.  Any ideas?  Please throw some at me, even if you feel they are stupid.  It might spark an idea for someone else or whatever. 

K thanks.  Vicodin and bed ... here I come!