Yesterday I was cleaning the family room at the back of the house.
It’s hard to explain, but this room has two sections. One you’ve seen a thousand times with tufted couches and coffee tables and swivel chairs and the prettiest khaki and white rugs.
But there’s another area of the family room that never gets a starring role on the blog.
It is tucked back in the corner of the room in front of the French doors facing the hutch with all the houses. I kind of shared it when I shared a table faux finish recently, but it certainly doesn’t get a lot of press.
I have set up this space for all the puzzlers and game players in this house.
We’re all about a good card game or a board game like Catton or a 500-piece puzzle featuring cupcakes with sprinkles.
I never really photograph this area.
It is usually covered in puzzle pieces.
Or crumbs from a late-night snack.
But mostly?
I don’t photograph it because it has the most imperfect yard sale find I’ve ever brought home in the back of my car.
A few years ago, I found a set of 4 of these chairs at a yard sale.
And in surprising news?
This is how they appeared.
Cheepy and wonderful and distressed and strangely strong (Which is the best passion ever).
Have you ever seen such a beautiful finish?
It looks like they have my name on them.
They were $20 a piece.
But wait. Before you get too excited. You say Texas has the best yard sales (which it actually does).
Let’s keep it yard sale real.
These chairs came with a challenge.
There were three white ones and one that was strangely turquoise.
right?
So random? Why can’t they all be the same color?
At that time? I didn’t hesitate – what I saw was $20 and strong and distressed and those lines.
So I brought them home and changed the chair seats. you can See how I rearranged the chair seats here.
And then I told myself that I would paint the turquoise chair white.
Except.
Except about two years ago.
And for about two years, I puzzled and played games and asked if spades were trumps and if I could get a ticket from California to Maine and if I could buy the Reading Railroad for $200. And I did it all in a turquoise chair that didn’t match anything else in the entire room.
sigh
You’ve never seen this super unfinished chair before because I removed it.
It was waaaaaaay too turquoise to make the cut.
But somewhere in between all that play?
I decided I liked it.
I know, random, right? I lived with that chair, and I felt something strange about the courage that stood out from everything else. To not match. to stand out. to be different To be unique.
There is such a life lesson.
indeed.
Sometimes we are so busy focusing on all the perfection and matching and decorating that we wish we could change.
That we miss the beauty that is already there.
We let that imperfection rob us of our joy.
Instead of trying to change the chair?
I rather celebrate.
I swept the floor, cleaned the chairs, and put the games in the drawer, and packed a puzzle.
And when I stepped back and looked at this section of the room with fresh eyes.
The light fixture flashed and the hand-painted table top sparkled and the other chairs smiled at me, and the turquoise chair waved.
It didn’t look perfect.
It was not like a showroom.
It didn’t look like it belonged in a magazine.
the truth?
She looked better than anything else.
It looked like home. 🙂
PS But don’t you think I never look for yard sales?
Here are some of my favorites.
The painted armoire
you can see Full before and after here.
Bar stool makeover
you can See the entire DIY project here.
The farmhouse hutch makeover
you can Check it out here.
This slatted farmhouse table
You can see the before and after here.
The stenciled dresser thrift store furniture makeover
You can see the before and after here.
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