Thursday, June 24, 2010

Living Room Unveiled!

Yayy! It's basically done! I may change or add stuff over time, but the foundation of the living room is now in place!
And yes, yes I know I was supposed to post this yesterday evening, but well, I just had too much to do...

But hopefully the unveil is worth the wait! The pictures are a combination of phone and camera pics, and in some of the brighter clearer ones the color is a bit distorted. But you get the idea!

So to start off, here's my new light fixture!

I got the shade off a lamp I wasn't using, and the peep from well, my stash of peeps! The pink actually brings the color to the middle of the room, and besides that, well, I just love peeps! To be honest, I couldn't remove the ugly light fixture above without completely re-wiring it, so I kind of just hung some fabric around it for now ha!


The pictures above kind of give a sense of the layout. Try not to look past the divider- the dining room is a mixture of chaos and storage as I tackle a couple other rooms downstairs!
And here's Chairy! Notice anything different? No nastyy brown stains or anything in front! Both the sofa and chair came out great! They're not perfect, but I kind of like that. Gives em' the kind of character you can only get after 50-some years!

The color below is a bit too bright, and I know I need to clean the mirror, but here's my 2nd favorite shadow-box! My over-the-top atomic baby wouldn't fit anywhere in this room, so she'll probably be used next room over in the dining room... but I still love #2, and she was able to be a home to my salt-n-pepper shaker family, among a couple other vintage knick-knacks!


And here are two of my favorites! My beloved Toofil Lamp next to my Grundig hifi system! We call him Boris, and he still works great! He was a gift from my incredible friend Wendy, and I'll always treasure him!

I got the Lane kidney-shaped coffee table below for a steal at $20! I recently saw one online that sold for something crazy like $700! $20 is more how I roll... I will admit though, one of the reasons he was $20 was that the lady who bought him before shattered the middle of the glass.. so I built a frame and covered him with fur! And no one knows any different...


The pink curtains below are a bit distorted (it's more accurate in the above pic), but you get the idea. The curtains aren't technically done, but I just don't have time right now to sew a set of curtains...so I kind of just folded over the ends and grabbed a stapler! Shhh it's our secret! It'll get done the right way eventually, but I'd rather have something up there than nothing at all!



It totally came as a surprise how great the angles here all worked together! Thanks Mick for pointing that out before! Also note my awesome table radio- I got it in Montreal for $30, and it works great!!
And I love my coral pink floor-sweeper turned lamp below! It was a bit interesting figuring out how to do it, but was totally worth it in the end!


And my awesome vintage room divider I got for $80! I don't usually spend that much, but I just love the lines and built-in lights! And it will look so much better once the room behind it isn't a crazy eyesore!


Below is looking opposite from the couch. For the record I'm thinking about painting this wall to act as an accent, but we'll see... Any color suggestions? The little cubby to the right is actually an enclosure I built out of a vintage bathroom thingy to hide the house temp. control. It started as something just to hide it but I really like it ha! I also LOVE my kitty clock that wags and blinks, and it's hard to see but the thing on the top left is a vintage toy rocket I recently scored for $3!!


On top of the TV is my vintage Bunny lamp, which is just too cute...I picked it up in Montreal for $10 and it's so meee!


And the TV is pretty fantastic too... very sleek styling for a 59', and has one too-cool feature....

It lights up & glows!

It's a rare model of the Sylvania "Halo-light" series, which was designed to not cause as much eye strain when watching! Here's the fantastic original ad! (love those stripes!)


And finally, I've had the vintage fabric below for about a year but was thinking about using it for this room. I actually scored it for free in the form of 2 huge curtains, and knew I would use it someday! It has a lot of the pinks and greens in the room so I was thinking of maybe making a window box and covering it in this, and maybe pillows...we'll see!


Anyways, hopefully the pics gave you an idea! The room is soo cozy and happy now! It's so great to have done now before I tackle the other rooms. Kinda gives the motivation to go on!
Anyways, enough babbling! What do you think??
-Nick :)

Edit: Oh, and so after thinking about it, I'm fairly sure I am going to build a 50's-inspired window box and cover it with that fabric...and I'm thinking a pillow or 2! I'm also thinking about painting the photo/TV wall a light shade of grey. Both things will carry a lot of the colors in the room higher, add an extra layer of visual interest, and just give it that extra touch/layer I'm trying to get. Grey can have a sort of sophistication effect (which I love with the carpet vs. curtains), so I think it would be interesting to have that wall be grey since it would give all these silly mismatched frames and things an unexpected edge...anyways, those projects will be for a future post!

19 comments:

  1. Fantastic! I love it!

    I have to get a triple-tiered hanging shade for my living room like yours. Love the couch and chair and super cool TV and divider...

    Everything!

    Great job!

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  2. A room divider for 80 bones?! Where do you shop? It's fabulous! Your room really pulled together, lady! Lovely!

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  3. Your home is A M A Z I N G ! You've put so much effort into making it uniquely your's... and all the furniture and details... WoW!!!

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  4. Your living room looks fantastic! I'm so jealous!

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  5. It's looking great! I love that floor sweeper lamp. Very fun.

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  6. Thanks everyone!!! I'm really happy how it turned out! For the record, everything is vintage and was either bought extremely cheap or found on the curb!

    Oh and Darlene, I'm a guy haha but who says pink can't be manly?!
    It's still a ways from being done, but it's a strong base to work off of! Just needs a couple extra "layers" (if that makes sense) to bring it home!

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  7. Seriously.... I want your house!!! You did an AMAZING job and got everything for such great deals!!! Two thumbs up!

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  8. Gorgeous!! everything goes so well together, you did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed looking at all of your photos; AND for the record, I think that stapled curtains are a brilliant idea!

    p.s.I love the bunny lamp <3

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  9. Nick - what a great blog you have...are you sure you're only 19??? Your writing and retro taste is superb. Thanks for stopping by mine...I am now one of your followers.

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  10. I love it! The color combination is awesome, and that pink sweeper lamp is killer! Nice work.

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  11. I used to staple the hems of my skirts since I can't sew. Eventually I had so many staples that I literally sparkled, which is just so ME, anyway. Since I rarely use my vacuum, much to my husband's dismay, I'm thinking your sweeper/floor lamp is an extremely good idea for most stand-up cleaning devices--as long as they're just going to gather dust, why not light up the room at the same time, hmmmmm? I love your choice of colors, Nick, and really just everything you've shown. Can't wait to see more!!!

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  12. You have a damn goooooorgeous living room, resplendent with vintage treasure. I love it all, but that glowing TV is a gem! So inspiring! I shall tweet about this on @thrifcore this moment! Keep inspiring us to find retro treasure of our own!

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  14. It's all perfection! I love the color scheme and that beautiful but low-priced room divider is kind of blowing my mind. I can't get over the glow of that TV and the lamp made from the sweeper is inspired! Great job!

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  15. I love the sweeper-lamp and I think grey will be perfect. I was thinking of aqua or light pink but grey is the right color. :) I sell I love Lucy Salt and Pepper Shakers if you need to add to your collection. I don't normally advertise in a comment but it could be the perfect thing for you.


    Katharine @ Kat's Almost Purrfect World

    http://katspurrfectboutique.blogspot.com

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  16. Great stuff, I really need an old TV with character, that was a great find, but then all your stuff is equally wonderful!

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  17. Wowww, it's like I stepped back into my parents living room from the 60's. you should stick to the theme with the wall and paint it Shrimp; which was a very big color in those days. all in all it's lovely. I've subscribed so I can continue to enjoy your kitsch.

    I blog at recycledfrockery.com mostly.

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  18. Oh it looks awesome! Sigh, I just love your sofa/chair set and the toofil lamp! The pink and aqua are great, I have pink, aqua black and chartruese in my living room, hope to blog it soon.
    The small shadowbox looks great, I'm so happy you got those. ;O)

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  19. what a great living room! im envious of it!

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