styling | Operation Home

… yeah…

I have no idea where I was going with that.

I’ve always wanted to start a blog post like that, though, so I can check that item off my bucket list.

There is one thing I DO know.

And that is that you never say no to two brand-spankin’ new $12 lamps.

Especially awesome lamps from Target which include the shades.

$11.98, people!!!

$11.98. Seriously. I have no idea where I’ve gotten my shopping luck as of late, but I’m certainly thankful for it.

Anyways, I purchased two lamps with the idea that I’d use them on our red console table in the living room to replace the old Ikea lamps that we’ve had forever. And while I liked them there…

In person they just weren’t right.

The size and shape were fantastic, but the color. Meh. Not Meh in the ugly, boring sense. Meh in the They Just Dont Make Friends At The Party sense. Or perhaps, it should be Meh in the They Made TOO Close a Friends At The Party sense. …Or maybe it’s time that I stop speaking in metaphors and start MAKING sense, eh? 😉

Basically, the bronze tone was too matchy with the painting. Bam. Nailed it.

And I don’t do matchy.

Plus, the shades were cream, which looked matches-but-not-really with the white which I REALLY don’t do.

I mean, sure… I could’ve painted them and bought new shades, but in my opinion that totally defeats the purpose of buying two awesomely amazing $12 lamps. FOR $12! If they were ugly, okay… I could see it. But they weren’t. And that beauty deserved to be celebrated. So, I set about finding homes for my new children elsewhere.

One ended up on my newly revamped mid-century nightstand in the guest room…

It totally pulls from the gold and bronze tones in the room and since there’s already a mixture of white and cream in the space, the shade totally works and helps pull things together. The difference between my feeling about cream and white in the living room versus this space is all in how it’s used. See, there’s no cream in the living room really, so the lamp shades appeared more random and odd-man-out-ish. In this space, however, there are multiple hints of cream and white all over which makes the combination seem more intentional. Thus, the shade works in here much better…

The other lamp is now holding down the fort in our bedroom’s “atrium” area…

I switched up the styling here a bit and added a fake succulent plant (also found at Target).

It’s so dark in this area that keeping real plants alive is practically a failed mission before it starts. Not that I’m ever really good at keeping plants alive. The day that they develop a genetically modified plant that can water itself at the correct frequency is the day that… um… I’ll be really happy. Not really sure where I was going with that either. I really shouldn’t write blog posts when I’m sleep-deprived. Or should I? Is this entertaining for y’all?? (…is anyone still there??)

Anyhoo, for any of you beautiful people who are still suffering though this madness, here’s that side of the room now…

It’s looking way more put together with just the addition of some styling on the dresser. Amazing how that happens, right?? We still have a long way to go in our bedroom, being that the opposite side still looks like a blank canvas..

There are many empty walls giving me the stink eye at this very moment.

But at least two more areas of our home are looking more spiffy and a smidge more finished with the addition of our new lamps. So, anyways, our fence is now extended and stained, so hopefully I’ll have an update for y’all on that soon. I hope everyone has a great rest of your week! 🙂

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….