Living Room Do Over

As many of you know, there are aspects of this house that we live in that would make one think you had actually stepped into a slide out in an RV whilst in our living room.  A slide out in an RV from the eighties, perhaps.  Many friends have asked if this house was actually a mobile home.  Even I asked that when I moved here.  We just chuckle and say no.  But someone worked really hard to give it that trailer park feel of despair.

Because it did have that mobile home feel to it.  Maybe it was that doctor office faux dropped ceiling.  Or maybe it’s the indecisive mismatched wall paneling slathered all over perfectly fine walls, dripping in gobs of also mismatched wood trim pieces.  Someone actually made lights out of soda cans.  I’m not kidding.  Don’t even get me started on the drapes of doom….completely covered in giant roses of mauve and teal from some hospice somewhere back in 1981.  That was all topped off with some really old, really dark, really decrepid bachelor furniture.  What there was of it.  You see what I have to deal with?

In the past three years, I’ve been tackling it a little bit at a time.  I started with the furniture.  Rather than buying new, I’ve redone some of the existing pieces.  For now.  I prefer vintage furniture myself, so I’ve been procurring a piece here and a piece there.  During snowpocalypse, there was literally nothing to do, so I ripped down the hospice ceiling and the drapes of death.

The big reveal was that there was a perfectly fine ceiling behind the hospital panels.  A quick asbestos test at a lab revealed we weren’t going to die.  The next step is tongue and groove pine planks for the ceiling and then I can focus on the walls next.  For the life of me, I can’t imagine why anyone would slap mismatched wallboard on perfectly fine walls.  Maybe they were bored.

Elizabeth took on the challenge of me and my horrid drapes.  And my horrid attitude to match.  I do not come from the land of drapes.  I come from the land of vertical blinds and shutters.  I know nothing about drapes.  I don’t even like drapes.  Or curtains.  It’s hard to get excited about installing something you don’t like in the first place.  But Elizabeth was patient.  At times she was curt, but patient nonetheless.

No, I do not want that rod.  Why does the rod need to be placed there when I want it here?!  I don’t like the ring thingies.  Or the clip thingies.  Drapes have all this lingo that I don’t understand nor want to learn.  Elizabeth dragged me through it kicking and screaming.  Oh the patience that woman displayed.  Thank goodness for the wine.  I think we learned something about each other through that experience.  I learned of her tremendous patience and she learned that I sometimes need to find out for myself rather than take someone’s word for it.  Some would call me difficult.  Ha!

Last week, I stumbled upon what I call the pineapple couch while tooling around with Amanda to all the antique shops downtown.  Of course I snagged it!  I even found an additional set of china that is the exact same set as my mother’s wedding china.  I snagged that, too.  Both were insanely cheap.  The old bachelor couch went to one of my step daughters and the pineapple couch moved in.  With Elizabeth’s drapes behind it and the hospice trailer park feel gone, the room is shaping up and starting to feel more like me.  Yes, I know there is a blanket on the seat cushions.  Hubs made fun of me.  But we have small sticky people and a cat that gets pukey.  So we have to suffer the blanket covered seat cushions.  We’ll all get over it.

Elizabeth was gifted some pink chairs that she passed onto me and I jammed a sixties era coffee table I found in between them.  Now me and the girls can actually hang out in the living room instead of being forced to socialize at that battered kitchen table with the hard and uncomfortable bistro chairs I hate.  I love the light and airy feel it has now.  Can you tell I love throw pillows and blankets?  And look at those fabulous pussy willows from Elizabeth’s garden!  Amanda and I each got a giant bunch.  Thanks Elizabeth!

You can see influences from several of my girlfriends.  There’s a throw blanket and a picnic basket from Jessie.  Books, candles, and poetry from Amanda.  Pillows, pussy willows, drapes, and a garland from Elizabeth….and the pink chairs!  There’s several pieces of furniture that Kelly made over for me…the big coffee table, the armoire where I house all the towels and sheets, and the side table.  There’s several decor items I scored on outings with Pam.  There’s still so much work to do.  I’m just chugging along.  Speaking of chugging…is it time for wine yet?