Our Eggcelent Hang-out room

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…

232323232-fp83232-uqcshlukaxroqdfv338;3-nu=3396-6-9--78-WSNRCG=3647;6--39346nu0mrj

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…

hang out room tv

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….

egg chair view

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…

glorious egg chair

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.

hang out room

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….

lucas

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. 🙂

TDC Before and After

Easy Gilded lamp – DIY Monthly Challenge

Howdy, folks!!  It’s time for another Monthly DIY Challenge!  The rules, you ask?  Easy… My bloggy friends and I are simply assigned a theme and must make something with it!

This month, our theme was paint!  And we were allowed to choose any kind of paint that floated our boats.

Now, I’ll admit…  My project is definitely not something new to my blog.  It’s actually one of my regular go-tos for changing up random items.  It’s quick, easy, cheap, and wholly effective, thus, it’s one of my very favorite DIYs.  You guessed it…. spray-paint!   I’m a true believer running with what works.  So, I do.  ðŸ˜‰   And since my little blog-baby here is about our home and its progression, I wanted to choose something from the list of projects on my to-do list.   So, I chose a lamp makeover plus the transformation of the little nook that it resides in.   Basically, I’m talking spray paint + a nifty new shade + art.   It’s simple, but in my opinion, makes a world of difference in the space.  And I’m not gonna lie… I want to pet the pretty lamp every time I see it while whispering sweet nothings.   I really love how it turned out.

So, let’s start with a shot of Lucas being a ninja turtle while watching the Ninja Turtles…

While it’s pretty much the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I’d like you to pry your eyes from the adorable Leonardo and relocate them to the decor.   This picture was taken in October of last year shortly after we moved in.   I’d actually forgotten how mis-matched it looked at first.  It makes me feel really good about myself now.  Heehee!  #bloggingmakesconfidence   This photo was taken months before we found our mid-century-dresser-turned-media-stand.  And the nook in question for the purpose of this post is that corner with the black chair.   It was clearly messy, and the orientation was wrong… it looked unquestionably better once I rotated the chair so that it was facing the sofa directly.   And that lamp…. I got it on clearance about 7 years ago at Walmart for $10.   It wasn’t a bad lamp.  It was sturdy, and it didn’t look cheap close-up, but it needed some love.  You can’t really tell in the shot above, but the shade was kind of dingy and had a dent on one side.

So, yeah… It’s fair to say that I’ve wanted to gussy up that area for some time.  Each night, my eyes would inevitably stray from Gossip Girl to the corner.  It was naked.  And not in a good way.  And I would brainstorm ways to dress it.  To make it feel more cozy and welcoming.  I experimented with some of the wall art I had on hand, but nothing looked right, so until recently, activity remained at a standstill.  That is, until we were given a super cool Fort Worth Stockyards print by Joey’s parents, which then inspired me to spring for a sweet new geometric lampshade (from Tar-jay)…

232323232-fp83232-uqcshlukaxroqdfv38-57-nu=3396-6-9--78-WSNRCG=3644;3;39;346nu0mrj

So, here we were.  And it wasn’t too shabby.  It was just VERY grey/silver.  Now, don’t get me wrong… that’s not a bad thing.  It’s just that there wasn’t anything to tie this corner in with the rest of space in terms of finishes.   I mean, sure, I have stainless steel accents throughout the space, but I also have lots of gold.   For example, our swanky new pulls on our built-ins and wet-bar…

And I wanted that corner to join the cool-kids club to make the gold seem even more intentional.   So, I whipped out the gold spray paint…

Taped off my lamp…

Wiped it down with vinegar spray to remove any dust and dirt, and gave it several light, even coats of my pretty gilded spray paint.

Now, when it comes to spray-painting, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… apply light, even coats with dry time in between to prevent drips.   HOWEVER… READ THE CAN.   If the label says “Paint within one hour or after 48 hours” abide by this.  For the love of Pete, save your sanity and listen to the can.  If you spray within the non-recommended time-frame (Ie: between one and 48 hours), the paint will be too dry to accept wet paint, but not dry enough to properly adhere to your item.  Thus, the spray paint will crackle and wrinkle and develop an almighty attitude.  And you will ugly-cry.  And it will be sad.  Trust me.  I know this from experience.

So anyways, I painted per the instructions on the can, then allowed my lamp to cure up in the garage for a good 24 hours.    Once he was good and dry, I pulled him back inside, which left this….

IMG_9666

IMG_9651

And just so you don’t have to scroll up, I give you “The Before”…

Although my little lamp makeover isn’t a huge change in itself, that small pop of gold really helps to tie the corner in with the rest of the space.  I think the change may be more noticeable in person.  If only I could take a picture by blinking.  Then you could see what I see.  Anyhoo, I REALLY want to change out that pillow for a more colorful kilim style pillow, but I haven’t found one that strikes my fancy quite yet.  And I have an idea for storage on the other side of the chair as well… again, it’s a matter of locating my item of choice.   I must say that having really specific decor pieces in my head can be such a pain sometimes… tracking them down is like hunting unicorns.  Ie:  Majestic creatures that *probably* don’t exist.  Not that I’d ever “hunt” a unicorn.  I’d find it, then ask it to be my friend and grant me wishes.  Because clearly unicorns speak English.  And also grant wishes.  I mean, CLEARLY.   Aaaaaaanyways, when my mythical decor items finally present themselves, I’ll let y’all know.

In the meantime, you can fully enjoy yourselves by checking out the fabulous projects created by my fellow bloggers for this #monthlyDIYchallenge….

TDC Before and After