I know, i know! You probably think I'm nuts allowing a man to have any say regarding the overall look of a home, but let me stop you before you get all "that's a woman's thing. Guys should focus on the yard or cars or something." You may be right in some instances, but what if your man lives alone (a boyfriend, a good guy friend) or he has a space in your shared home (some men call these "man caves," but I prefer the term "gentleman's quarters." It sounds much more sophisticated.) Either way, giving an interested man a say in the design of a space, may be a building block for a relationship.
If there is one thing the Fox and I enjoy, separately from each other, it's style. In fact, it's one of the things that attracted us to each other. Since our time together, we have both taken an even stronger interest into the opposite sex's style. I've enhanced his horizons about the treasure to be found at thrift stores and yard saling, and he has taught me about shirt collar types, Billy Reid and the likes. It's been a very fascinating journey and one I thought was worth sharing.
In July, the Fox became a bachelor; he lost his roommate of over 4 years. Not only was he a bit lonely, but he found himself in a style-less home. 😞 Sad, but not defeated, he called up his savy, bargain hunter, decorator friend (me) for a little advice. Over the past few months, we have been on a mission to man-corate his place.
Last weekend we went to a yard sale that was the ultimate, Billy Reid-esque gold mine. I immediately grabbed up a vintage metal stool and a couple of weathered suitcases. Like most times, I hadn't had a purpose in mine, but you can't always wait for that. Thrift style doesn't lend itself to buy as you need decor items, it's buy as you see.
The lady hosting the sale had some great things, but they weren't all prices I was comfortable with, so I told the Fox we would come back later and maybe we could get some of the items at cheaper prices. A few hours later we did just that. After some brief haggling, we walked out of there with a solid wood desk, a trunk and four framed oil paintings for less than $100. You can't beat that kids!
We rushed home and soon the man-corating began! Our first order was finding a place for all those neat oil paintings. The Fox had an empty space in his breakfast nook, so I quickly devised a plan to take this blank canvas....
And turn it into...
Sorry for the poor quality photos. The end result turned out wonderfully! I need to take better pictures of the overall look of the breakfast nook, but for now, here you go!
We added the vintage stool in the corner ($15), the lamp and shade a total of $8, the picture collage and vintage suitcases (seen below that immediately snagged at the yard sale). It turned out so cozy!
So, it's coming together bit by bit. Stay tuned for posting of the other things we're doing in this "gentleman's quarters." If you missed the post on The Fox's awesome valance that we made, check it out here! It's so cool and we had a great time putting it together!
Happy Holidays, y'all. I'm going to try and put "post more often" on my list of new year's resolutions, but that was one for this year as well and.... ;/.
Merry Christmas!!
