Decorating Fun | Operation Home

It’s been a loooooooong time since we last spoke about the hang-out room. That’s really because nothing’s happened in there until recently. If you’ll recall, I left off when I hung our shower-curtains-turned-curtains. Waste not, want not, right?? And nobody ever catches on that they’re actually hung with shower curtain rings. That’s totally my definition of success right there. 🙂

So, basically, we were here…

And then we got our midcentury-dresser-turned-media-stand for the living room (I hereby dub this post “hyphenated-turned-hypenated”. It just feels right.) and our old entertainment center was moved into this room. I never photographed it afterwards because I was physically incapable of being happy enough with the styling experiments conducted on these poor units. I’m finally in an “okay” place right now, so I’ll show you….

There were also some minor styling changes that I’ve made in the sofa area to help cozy it up a smidge…

Pillows, throw, a basket of magazines, and a tall lamp that I found at Lowe’s for (waitforit) $10 (!!!). I may paint it, but I haven’t decided yet. Ignore the blank wall next to the window. I’m still figuring that one out.

Really, though, the room REALLY started coming to life for me just this last week. See, every time I looked at the space it seemed… well… very square. It needed some curvy, organic lines to soften it and make it seem more homey. And I found them. Oh, yeah I did.

It all started when I stopped at a resale shop last Thursday. As I meandered about the store taking in all the goodies, I turned a corner and feasted my eyes upon the most magnificent egg chair I’d ever seen in my entire life (namely because I’ve never actually seen one in person). 😉 It was a fantastic chair, though. Sturdy with awesome lines. And… bonus… it totally rocked and swiveled (THAT, my friends, is what’s known as a Chair with Benefits). The finish was DEFINITELY in need of some serious lovin’. It was dirty and scratched and damaged, but I didn’t mind that. Those are issues that I live to tackle (if you haven’t already noticed). But then, the panic moment… there was no price tag on my magic chair. Mighty crap. BUT. There was a “30” marked in pencil on one of the rods. Curious. All of the other items in that particular booth had tags… and it’s not like there were a lack of places where a tag could hang on this branchy chair. So, the ultimate question was… was the chair taken?? Had somebody removed the tag and claimed it??? Or did the seller just mark this item differently?? So, like a completely sane person, I did the most obvious thing. I walked up to the only other customer in the store and, naturally, asked her if she’d claimed the chair. Luckily, she was very friendly and laughed like she’d totally been there before, and said that she hadn’t. So, I found the salesperson and asked her about it (why this wasn’t my first move is beyond me). Anyhoo, she didn’t know either since it was one of those shops that rents out booths to different individuals, so she called the seller to verify while I finished shopping. She found me at one point to tell me that she was having trouble reaching him, so I started getting bummed out. I could feel the pretty little egg chair slipping through my fingers.

Once I was done shopping, I brought my one other find to the counter…

That little vintage metal box beneath the TV. The salesperson was on the phone as she rang me up, so I’d planned to just leave my phone number for her to contact me once she’d heard from the seller.

She hung up the phone and stated my total “$36”.

Me: “Wait… How much was the box? I thought it was only $3!”.

Saleslady: “Yes, you’re right. It’s $3… your total is the box plus the chair. I got ahold of him and that IS the price after all.”

I processed this and without thinking about it, initiated instantaneous happy-dance. Aaaaand she totally laughed at me. And I couldn’tve cared less. The egg chair was MINE. Paid for and mine! Woot!!

I was so excited that I completely forgot that I hadn’t put makeup on that day and took an ever-popular car-selfie which was immediately posted on social media…

(Hence the filter)

And now, this is the view as you walk down the hall….

Friggin’ gorgeous. I’m seriously not above referring to this chair as “My Precious” in a creepy Gollum voice. Don’t tempt me… I’ll totally do it. I love the pretty chair that much. I mean, just look at it…

I haven’t done anything to the finish yet aside from giving it a good cleaning. I’m still deciding whether to keep it it’s natural color or paint it white. Something’ll happen soon though, either way. And in case you’re wondering, the cushion is just a standard chair cushion turned backwards with the curved part facing forward. It fit like a glove that way. Like it was born to be apart of a sexy egg chair. Every cushion’s fantasy.

So, now I’m brainstorming what to hang next to the window.

I’d also love to change out my makeshift “coffee table” for something legit and add an area rug to help tie everything together. …And a white Moroccan style leather pouf in front of my egg chair for a bit more luxurious TV-watching comfort.

Although, I doubt I’ll ever get to enjoy it. Lucas has already claimed it as his own….

He’s requested to watch movies in the hang-out room every day since then so he can sit in “his” chair. And I couldn’t be prouder. 🙂

…for year-round Christmas decor.

Never. No way. No how.

It’s my favorite time of year, so why limit it to just one month??

That’s what I say.

Well, that’s the conclusion that I eventually came to, anyways.

Now don’t get me wrong…. I’ll never resort to leaving inflatable Santa sleighs in my yard. Or utilizing overly bedazzled wreaths of joy during summertime. Or even scattering brightly colored tinsel about. Well, maybe the tinsel. I’m not completely made of steel. 😉

Heehee! I kid, I kid…. What I’m actually referring to is this …..

This print that I originally spoke about in this post about free Christmas printables. If you’ll remember, I used it in the gallery wall in our old house’s living room….

And then never took it down.

Time after time, I apologized for having a Christmas print hung beyond the holiday season to visitors who gazed upon my gallery wall. I’d laugh and joke about my “forgetfulness”. About how “lazy” I was for having left it.. But really, deep down in the chasm of my brain, I knew that I’d left it up because I secretly loved it. I loved the simplicity of it. The subtle nod toward my favorite holiday. That little red dot after “Rudolph”. Just looking at it made me happy. Plus, I LOVED the contrast it added to the gallery wall. I felt like it really completed the composition of it.

And I knew….. Unless I found a replacement that I loved just as much as the reindeer print, it would continue to take up residence on our wall. No matter how long it took.

In all fairness, I did search for a non-holiday replacement. I checked out Pinterest, Etsy, and completed many a google search…. It went on for several months (well, over a year, actually). But, I never found anything that fit the bill. Nothing that I felt compelled to pull the trigger on. See, when it comes to art, I have to have a visceral response to it. I know immediately whether I’m drawn to it. If I don’t have that response, I don’t waste my time or money. Which is why it’s taking me so long to adorn the walls of our new house. I wanna do it right. Thus, at this point, after six months into living here, I consider very few walls in our home final or complete.

So anyways, my search for a reindeer replacement continued until we sold our house last September.

Then, we moved and I stopped searching in favor of dealing with more pressing issues having to do with our new/old 1975 house.

Which brings us to a few weeks ago. Remember where we left off with our pool bath??

I’d painted the room, built a pipe shelf, rustic towel hook and hung a neat New York print that I loved, but the room still didn’t feel right. More specifically, the blank space next to the New York print bothered me.

It doesn’t seem as profound in photos as it was in person since this microscopic room is kind of hard to photograph. But trust me, the wall felt… unfinished… for lack of a better word. I’ve known since hanging the NY print that I needed to hang something next to it. And every time I thought about it, my mind automatically drifted to the reindeer print. It was the right size, color, and composition. It would look mighty fine up in there in my opinion. But then, each and every time, convention would kick in and I’d find myself at war with myself…

“But, the reindeer print would be perfect there!”

“No, Christina, you will NOT be the crazy lady with Christmas decor up year round.” (Subconscious smacks wooden ruler against palm in consternation)

“But the typography! The colors!! The light, brightness of the piece!!!”

“NO. No,no,no. (Gasp!) …You can’t…. You mustn’t!” (Consternation becomes distress as subconscious dons bonnet and channels every Jane Austen character)

“But, I love it!”

“NEVER!! You will be shunned! Banished!” (Jane Austen behavior morphs into overly dramatic Shakespeare with back of hand to forehead)

“But… I… LOVE… IT.”

(Subconscious finally grasps this as a solid point and quietly stares with no response)

Because really, shouldn’t your home be a reflection of you and what you love… even if it defies modern convention?? Do we not learn from all the movies and books that love conquers all??

Answer: Yes. Sure we do.

So, I decided to take a page from the book of Nike and Just Do It.

Once I was at peace with this decision, I sprinted casually sauntered like a really cool person to my beloved print and hung it up on the wall.

Which left this….

Now, this very teeny room boasts nods to two of my very favorite things. New York (where I grew up) and Christmas.

Which when it comes down to it, only seems right… I mean a big factor in us choosing this house to begin with was that there were multiple places to put the Christmas tree. Well, maybe that was more of a concern of mine than Joey’s. 😉

So, anyways, now you know the long and arduous tale of a tiny project that made a big impact on a tiny room (and my very dramatic psyche). You may not agree with my decision to hang a Christmas print, but it makes me smile. And it’s quirky. And anyone who knows me can attest that “quirky” is definitely a mainstay of my personality (and those of my family as well) and I think that it’s only appropriate that our home reflects that.

So, what do y’all think? Christmas decor year round? Do what you love?