Mego Caving into Change

You know I can’t help to give a good tease, which I most certainly did on Monday, but you know that I couldn’t just leave you hanging like that! So here’s your reward: You get to see where some of those oh-so-cute (and cheap!) knick-knacks ended (only some because some are still waiting to find a home in our casa) and see a few bonus updates in the Mego Cave!

Let’s start with where those super-deal thrifty finds went. Check out the majesty of the combination of those sweet little items and some of the bigger ones!

 

Remember the before? What a mess! 

After:

Before:

After:

I’d say this is an upgrade for this little corner of the room. I couldn’t just let this corner get a makeover without seeing the lonely stares from across the room. So I remedied that by a little pound of a hammer (aren’t I a loving home owner?) and viola! More updates!

From this...

To this lil' update!

 

Just a little change but it brings more of a balanced look to my eye. Let’s take a close look at that piece of artwork though, because it has an amazing story. Aren’t those the best artwork pieces to have?

 

This is one of the pieces that I bought in China, hence the slightly Asian flare. Decorating Asian isn’t totally my thing, so I tried to buy toned down Asian items so I would actually use them in my home. This piece is just magnificent though. Looking at it from far away it is fun to just enjoy the picture. Then you get up close and you get to thinking, “Wow, this looks so light and airy. Wait a minute. Where’s the paint or pencil lines?” Well my friends, there aren’t any. This whole piece was cut, by hand, from one piece of tissue paper. Did you get that? One. Piece. Of. Tissue. Paper.

Apparently this one only took a few hours, but some larger items they sell in the store can take months to cut! It’s just incredible. Can you ever even fathom having the skill or patience to create something like that? I sure can’t! So of course something that stunning needs a more front and center place in the home. Thank you talented Chinese artist half way around the world. This post is devoted to you!

Just one other little update in the room to share. Of course we can't forget the amazing chair appearing act. A little dated but still pretty spectacular for now. I thought adding perhaps a pillow or throw to it would snazz it up a little and make it more modern. Thankfully TJMaxx's clearance section came in for the win! Check out the result.

 

So there they are, a few random updates in the Mego Cave. Little updates, lotta punch!

How to Pick a Paint Color (in the Mego Cave)

Ever find yourself dying to change something up in the house? One of the easiest and most cost effective ways (in my opinion) to make a dramatic change in the house is to change the color of the room. However, in the past I made the process of picking a color dramatic as well. I don’t recommend it. Remember when what I experienced a “paint emergency” inthe basement? Then my just “ok” reaction to the guest bedroom color? Then I have also had a few huge successes where I just want to hug the paint color (like the master bedroom and kitchen)! All those ups and downs and questioning whether I would like a color when my paintbrush hit the wall were worrisome and kind of made me stress out about painting walls.

Then came the Mego Cave, full of its rough wood paneled walls. I once thought I would never paint those walls, looking at the time and complications this room hads But once I got underway in the Mego Cave I knew it was imminent. I also knew I didn’t want to just get an “eh” color reaction. I want to LOVE the color and keep it for a long, long time, since I am anticipating a long, arduous painting process. So I decided to get it right before I loaded up on gallon cans and set to work. Here’s my color picking advice.

1.       Go to the paint store with a color scheme in mind. Remember that colors can really set the tone of the room, so have an idea of the type of feel you want the room to have. If you want a relaxing, cozy room go for warm colors (like green or blue). Want to punch up the energy? Go with a yellow, red, or orange. Purple and black families can be dramatic, although black and white can also be simplistic and pure. I like to load up on the paint chips. I pretty much pick every chip they have in the color family I have in mind that attracts my eye. Then, I step back and think outside my color palette. I always like to bring home a few off the wall (haha for on the wall!) choices I hadn’t thought of before. That way I won’t just settle for the same palette or comfort zone (not that that is bad, but I want to explore with color in our home!). This helps my mind stretch and bend a little and break outside the box.

2.       When I get home I spread the samples out and then start taping them on the wall with painters tape. I try and pick a place to tape them that is near the focal point of the room or an inspiration piece. In this case I used my artwork since that is one of my biggest inspirations for the room.

 

3.       Automatically discard the ones that just look wrong. Go with your gut on that one. If you have that reaction immediately, it's gone. Keep all the ones you like up on the wall for a while. I like to just live with them for a few days/even week. It seems that after some time the colors really begin to sort themselves in my head and “speak” to me. Yes, I think all colors should speak to you!

4.       As those little chips are getting vocal, I start separating them a little bit. A few more will probably jump out at you as no’s. Take ‘em down. There will probably still be a lot up there and it may be overwhelming still. So I start moving them into the love pile and the just like pile. It’s no big deal if your categories move around a lot. As you play and look, and they speak, you will slowly start to wean out the ones you don’t like. Keep in mind the feel of the room you want. Do you want a bold, dynamic room? How about a soft and sweet room? Or maybe a bright and cheery room? Keeping this in mind will help you decide which paint color to go with.

5.       I try and narrow it down to just a few of my absolute favorites. At this time start moving them around the room, putting them by other pieces of furniture and seeing them in natural light and at night. This is just to test that the color doesn’t look great on the light side of the room but get all wonky and wrong in the dark corner.

6.       Once you have it narrowed down (I narrowed it to 3), go buy the genius little samples they sell. At only $3 a pop with quite a bit of paint, not only do they help you choose your color but leave enough paint for a later project. (The three pictured are Valspar Tempered Spring, Olympic Thin Ice, and Olympic Glimmer.)

7.       Then slap those samples on the wall. If you are like me you are giddy with excitement and just stick your finger in the tub and smear it on the wall. But, it would probably be better with a brush.

8.       I put the samples up by the focal art piece and one just screamed out at me. Can you tell which one? So then I proceeded to paint a few samples around the room, once again checking for wonky corners and seeing how they look in all lights.

 

9.       At this point the right color seems to become obvious: Valspar Tempered Spring. The one that makes  your eyes light up and seems to have a certain glow about it. When I look at my color choice it seems to be lit up in a haze of majesty. Like it is glowing off the wall saying, “Pick me!”

After that process I now have no doubts in moving forward with painting the Mego Cave. I know I will LOVE the color and can’t wait to get started on it! How about you? Have you figured out a way to make these sometimes overwhelming choices?

The Art of Failing: Slipcover Gone Wrong

Sometimes thing just don’t go the way you expect, or want, them to. Take these homemade brownies I tried to make with a can of black beans. Definitely a mistake. Thankfully, most of these things aren’t disastrous by any means, just mistakes. Well, my friends, I have come close to disastrous with this new little experiment I tried. As you all know, I am working to make our carport room into my Mego Cave. You can see its progress when I began making it over by starting with this fabric artwork project, then got this steal of an antique door desk, and changed around the layout. When I got the new, super, awesome FREE chair, it kind of changed the direction I was going in the room. Originally I was going to get a chair that complemented the blue loveseat. Now that I have this electric blue chair, I think the combo with the soft blue loveseat is just a little too…blue. And you know we don’t want any blues in that room!

So I had this super-great idea (or so I thought). I would bring the blue loveseat to the basement to complement its blue walls down there and bring the more modern lines of the basement loveseat upstairs. The only problem was this loveseat was horribly ugly. It is a hand-me-down from the in-laws (from a looong time ago) and hopefully there are no hard feelings that I just called something they bought ugly. Although I am pretty sure I have told them that before. Moreso in the words, “It’s just not my style.” Anyways, we were planning on slipcovering this guy anyways, so I thought, why not bring it upstairs and slipcover it to fit my Mego Cave?! Makes sense right?

 

 

I know, I know. You are thinking, “Duh, Megan, slipcovers always end in disaster.” Well, I’m not a believer in that. I just have a really hard time getting rid of something that is in perfect shape just because it’s not pretty/my style. There has to be something I can to do it to make it pretty! I thought perhaps going with a high-end slipcover (aka me not cheaping out!) would be a good solution. Then, if it didn’t work then I would feel slightly better shoving the old loveseat out the door. So after quite a bit of research, I settled upon this slipcover.

Boy was I excited when this came in the mail. So excited that I don’t even have pictures of the packaging. After I found it waiting on the front porch for me after work, I ran into the house, ripped it open, and practically flew down the stairs. Soon cushions and covers were flying around the room as I worked to get the new slipcover in place. Although, I did have a little inkling in my head that this wouldn’t work, so I had picked a place with free shipping for both delivery and returns. I also made note of the packaging before opening it, so I could best replicate it and get my money back if I returned it. Weird that I had that foresight but didn’t actually take pictures of it. Did I mention I was excited?

 

Before I knew it the seat cushion covers were off and the t-cushion slipcover was on. It looked promising, right?

Then came the more challenging part of fitting the second cover over the loveseat. You had to find the tags marked “Front Center”, “Back Center”, “Left Arm”, and “Right Arm”. Then it really wasn’t that hard. Just push and pull a little bit. Then it was time to sit to see the result.

 

It was wrong. All wrong. It wasn’t even a Band-Aid solution. It just wasn’t a solution at all. Although I knew this was a real possibility it also made me sad. I let it sit on there for a few hours, but I knew it wasn’t the perfect solution. I didn’t want to settle for “okay” or “it will do”. I wanted to scream and shout for joy at the result. Done are my days of filler pieces. I want everything brought into the house to make me oh-so happy and be absolutely right. So off it came and back to the store it went.

I guess it’s just one of those live and learn moments, right? Although, I still haven’t written off slipcovers for good. I think this loveseat was a challenging fit, especially with the t-cushions, which are a lot harder to find slipcovers for than the box cushions. I think slipcovers would also work better for more plush couches. This one had thinner arms and a straighter back, so it didn’t fill out the slipcover enough (even though the packaging said the slipcover would fit the size). It's sort of like baggy pants on a really skinny person. It's just an odd look.

So what's the plan now? To save up for a loveseat that I not only love now, but will love for many years. I am looking for an investment piece, one that will make me jump up and down for joy every time I see it. So that's what I will be doing for the next few months: saving and searching for that right piece. Gosh, it feels good to not cheap out for once. Some things are worth the wait.

What about you? Any mistakes you made that eventually led to something better? Or taught you a lesson along the way? Or just made me you at its ridiculousness?

The Amazing New Chair Appearing Act!

Warning! Gushing about to happen, but in all fairness, I have warned you. I don’t know which one I will gush about more, my husband or a chair. Gosh, after writing that it’s pretty obvious that which one I should actually gush about, right?! [Just to be clear, it should be the husband.]

It all began when my wonderful husband hatched the idea that we should make the carport room into a Mego Cave. So it began with this fabric art project, my new super-awesome door/desk, and then with this new layout that was just pleading for a nice comfy reading chair in the corner.

I began scouring local stores and online sites trying to find the perfect chair. Originally I was leaning towards a really nice and trendy patterned upholstered chair. There are many of these around with many dollar price tags. So while I saw some I liked, I wasn’t sold on any of them. These were some that I was considering:

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Since this would possibly be an investment piece, I wanted to wait for a ta-da moment. You know those moments when you look at something and you know it is absolutely perfect? So the search continued. Then the other weekend happened. Think you know what’s coming? You don’t. This story has a twist!

It was a lazy, late summer evening, perfect for reading on the back porch and for Eric to be playing around with his car, tweaking this and that. He comes to tell me that he is going to run up the road to take some pictures of his car. This happens frequently, so I said “Have fun!” and went back to reading. Not two minutes later my phone rings. It’s Eric. This is what he says: “Put your shoes on. I’m coming to get you.” Isn’t that probably the best thing you could hear from a guy? I love how spontaneous Eric is. He periodically does this, whether our destination is a pretty sunset or delicious ice cream. He has proven to me that I should just trust these spontaneous moments. So on went the shoes, and I hopped in the car as he pulled in the driveway.

Puzzled and always one to ruin a surprise, I peppered Eric with questions. “How long are we going to be gone? Where are we going? What’s happening?” All I got were, “I’ll have you home in 10 minutes. Technically we are going to see two things.”

Then I saw those two things as we crested a hill. Two vibrant, electric blue arm chairs sitting in someone’s driveway. The best thing about them? The sign that said “Free. You haul.” I squealed, jumped out of the car, and  began testing out the chairs in that person’s lawn. It is quite a feeling to lounge in a chair on a stranger’s front yard, all but spazzing out in excitement over someone’s trash. I am most definitely a believer in someone trash is another’s treasure. How I wish I had a picture of me on that front lawn, but in our haste we do not have pictures of the chair on the lawn or my hysterics over finding a free chair.

So after building you up like this, I am going to try and bring you back down. This chair is not the designer piece that I had been scouring stores trying to find. It is almost like nothing I had in mind. But it was free, it was fun, and it actually fit into the back of Eric’s car (well it actually wedged into the back of the car and we drove oh-so-slowly home). It has some imperfections, like a streak of yellow paint, a little bit of a lumpy cushion (not bad though!), and a few little stains. I think it makes me love it more.

So once the chair got home, I got to work. This was on someone’s lawn, and I have no idea what their hygiene situation is inside. So I used upholstery cleaner, a shop vacuum, and Febreeze to sterilize the little blue lady. Then I used my adrenaline to move the chairs around in the Mego Cave, as Eric was out on his picture adventure.

After looking at the above shot of the chair in the room, something was off to me. So I started playing with the items around it. I didn't like the lamp so near the window and how the desk hid the crate side table. So I started moving things around.

First it went behind.

Then it went left; and it stayed left! Perfect for proportions and showing all the items in the room.

Awesome right? In a very unexpected and not what I was going for at all way. But I love it. I think the story, adventure, and love behind the chair make me love it even more. The more I look at it in its space, the more I fall in love with it. It fits me like a glove. Perfect for curling up with a good book, a blanket, and some hot cocoa (okay, it was raining and slightly colder that day, so cut me some slack for doing that mid-summer!).

I do understand that it looks slightly outdated, so I have some plans to update it with a cute and modern pillow and thrown. I also think that I have too much blue furniture in the room. So I think I may switch the blue loveseat to the basement (which perfectly coordinates with the wall color) and take the ugly plaid one upstairs and slipcover it (which was already in the plan anyways). I am thinking a nice grey tone would be nice…if I can find one! I have been scouring online stores looking for a gray slipcover for T-cushions. Maybe I will switch to white. Any suggestions?

Before:

 

After:

Anyways, there ends the chair story! Quite an adventure! Have you ever found something on the side of the road and taken it? Any good finds out there?

New Layout in the Mego Cave

Another Mego Cave update coming at ya! Just to take you on the journey thus far, we have had the original carport room tour, the inspiration fabric artwork project to take us into the Mego Cave design project, and then the desk door to really set the foundation of the room. With the desk in place, it looked like this.

Definitely starting to look like a room with more purpose, but still feeling like a room with a bunch of random stuff thrown together. One of the biggest sore thumbs in the room?  That ole fireplace.  Here's a close up to really let you take a look at it.

Although I love fireplaces, this one was just not kickin’ it for me. It was old looking, took up valuable wall space, and was completely unnecessary in the room with the baseboard heating that can make it Megan hot (meaning way too hot for other people). So I thought, hey, why not list it on Craigslist and see if I can make a buck on it? So I posted it (my first time selling anything on Craigslist) and….someone emailed me within a week and said they would take it for its full asking price. Yahoo! Money in our pocket and one less thing cluttering up our house (have you caught on yet that I despise clutter?). So it opened up a big beautiful wall...

...that I immediately filled with the red bookcase...

...which I then I filled with lots of other stuff.

Here is my process shot.

How do I got about decorating shelves, bookcases, and the like which? I just grab everything in the house that is not being used, I want to use, or could possibly fit better in the place that I am decorating. Don't be afraid to move things around the house. It keeps things exciting. Then I begin playing around, trying something here and there until it just looks right. Which it will eventually if you keep trying. 

I started by positioning the books first (big items first), and then positioning the knick knacks around it. Try things at different levels and angles. Stacking and layering is your friend. Mine is definitely not perfect yet, but I will keep playing. I have ideas on painting the bookcase in a bright hue, perhaps even wallpapering or painting the back, so that would give me another chance to completely makeover the shelves.

Moving the bookcase opened up another prime real estate spot in the room. I moved the chair we had floating around in the room that I bought from Carrie over at DreamGreenDIY.

Right now it is just a place holder chair, as I dream of getting a big, cushy reading chair for the corner. I also made a little table from an antique crate that I bought when I redid my room in high school. Kudos to my mom for guiding me (aka picking me out and telling me to use it at as table) to that taste level when everything else at that age was bright, plastic, and not so classy.

Just to keep things fun, let's do a before and after from the original room.

By eliminating the fireplace, I was able to open up the room to a more inviting layout. Having the additional seating allows for an easier conversation area and makes better use of the space. The room is shaping up a little now! I have the layout and now it is about finding the right pieces to fill it. Then it is all about getting the right color in the room. Painting the walls, the bookcase, the desk, and getting some colorful accessories. Rugs and curtains are a must! Slow and steady wins the (design) race, right? Thanks Goofy!

Have you been moving things around in your home or life? I love using things in a different way. It feels like a new item - like shopping in your home! Or any feng shui lovers out there? I would love to learn more about that!