But while we were looking around the house I saw them - the chairs. They were perfect. AND FREE! Are you kidding me?! Do you know what these go for on Craigslist? or in actual stores? I snatched them up and immediately moved them into my home.
I don't have a close up of them but you can see them against the back wall, flanking the bookshelves.
They are useful there and beautiful.
And thus began my love affair with mid-century furniture. I love the lines - and there's something in the way much of the furniture in that style has size and girth and yet dainty sections. You'll see a beautiful bulky sideboard on adorable pointed legs. Colors and whimsy abound. Especially in the newer re-imaginings of the style. When I thrift and craigslist I always keep and eye out for the jewels.
We're going to be finally decorating our downstairs family room. Currently it's a functional but bland room. It's where people watch TV mostly. As a general rule (read: how it's generally used), upstairs is for hanging out and chatting and downstairs is for relaxing and watching TV. Lyndsay's desk area is in the back portion of the room for now but that will change within the month and I'll be taking over that back space as a craft area and am so excited to have a craft space that is in a social area and an area with the TV. I've been sharing an office with Paul until recently and i was finding that I never used the space. He is so serious in his office - that doesn't jive well with crafting and creating. I always feel like I'm interrupting him and Paul is a man that needs to focus and I want to be able to give him that! So after a year of sharing a space (in reality me vacating the space, using it as pretty storage for my crafts) we agreed that it made sense for him to get the space alone (still doubles as a guest room) and for me to move into the family room. Having Lyndsays desk there all year showed us that it worked well to have a separate area in the back, and that it didn't change the feel of the room.
With the decision in mind my mind took off - decorating! ideas! pinterest! plans! craigslist! thift stores! target! Off it went - I drew layout ideas and talked to friends. I've been pinning and hunting on CL like a madwoman. And finally a shape is taking place - a plan if you will.
As we are moving from have only one furnished room in the house, to having 3 come September we'll be needing more furniture - we've saved stuff around the house from when it was last all furnished but this involves some shifting. So the beautiful desk in my craft area will move into a student room and I'll be looking to find a table to work from (which suits me better). With the layout of the room I knew I wanted a sideboard / credenza of some form, as well as some sort of armoire / secretary / hutch to hold things, and a table. It is important to me that I can close up the items and have the room look tidy when not in use.
A while back I started scouring craigslist and stumbled upon a sideboard / secretary combo. Dark wooden veneer (not great) but perfect lines. The sideboard was beautiful and the secretary was identical in shape and lines to the one I redid last summer (minus the mesh door). Plan to paint them to help them fit into the space - right now they say "I'm free and available" and I like my furniture to feel a bit more choosey - I want it to scream "I was made for this space, deal with it". Here are some of the color/design inspirations I'm looking at. Sadly I don't have a photo of my new pieces but I'll make sure to take one shortly. In the meantime: inspirations.
I'm still not positive how it will all turn out. But I'm really excited to start trying. This project is the gift that keeps on giving - not only is there a furniture makeover but a room makeover also! I have been pumped to get start. So excited, in fact, that on Saturday I hit up Target (for a baby shower gift) and when I saw 70% off signs I splurged and got lamps, accessories and so much more for the area.
My color scheme for the room is based off what is already there, and colors I love. We're looking at teal, deep blue, orange, brown, white and grey. Teal because I love teal. Brown because the couch and one armchair are brown. Blue, Orange, brown and white because the other couch and armchair are patterned in those colors. We have a nice painting from the rocket scientist that hangs above the patterned couch and it hits those colors also. The painting has a slightly nautical theme so my plan was to use that as a theme to unify the room - only slightly though. Thankfully the 70% off section was the Beaver Canoe line at Target and BAM, it was perfect. Here you can see the spoils awaiting their new homes.
You would not believe the prices I got! That ottoman/poof was only $20 down from $60! The beautiful glass lamp was $14, the shade was only $7. Those great glass jars were $4 and the stools were $20 each, $20 each!!! I love the white and tan baskets - and the teal nautical lantern brings both my love of teal and the nautical theme in well. I couldn't be more ecstatic.
I'm off to paint paint paint over the next weeks and when Lyndsays desk moves out for good then the transformation begins! Can't wait to show you all the big reveal!
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