By Popular Demand — My Living Room (PT 1)

Submitted by Brother Cleve September 29th, 2011
Certifikitsch WinnerClassique d Camembert
Thanks for all the commentary about the curtains. Here’s a peek at one part of my living room, which now houses some fab thrift store art and our homemade curtains — made by my wife, the fabulously talented Diane Dodge . I found the beauty parlor chair at the Woonsocket, RI Salvation Army for $7. Unfortunately it  doesn’t work, as far as getting a permanent!! Fortunately I don’t have any hair, so this isn’t an issue. The Spanish guitar is in 3D. Yes, the walls are orange. Wait’ll you see the carpet! The house, btw, is a Victorian, built in 1892.

We will move on into the living room shortly, for those who dare……….

9 Responses to “By Popular Demand — My Living Room (PT 1)”

  1. Allee Willis

    Gorgeous, of course. I would expect no less!

    Is the Las Vegas poster vintage? Really an incredible travel piece.

    Was the beauty parlor chair in that condition for $7? I love that sparkle helmet. If it only cost $7 and was in that condition, working or not, I’m going to that thrift store my next time east.

    When you say the Spanish guitar is in 3-D, are the strings raised or what? Hard to tell from the photo but boy is it gorgeous!

    Can’t wait to see the carpet…

    Color scheme in this room is outrageous.

    • Brother Cleve

      Yes, the Vegas poster is vintage! I just found that last month at a small antique shop on the MA coast (framed!). I couldn’t resist (who could?) as it matched the living room color scheme and was “priced to move”

      Yup, the beauty parlor chair (I must photograph the name plate….it’s a “MODERNAIRE”) was in that condition, although i did use a vinyl cleaner on it to spruce it up a bit. And yes, that is one of my all-time fave thrift stores, out in the wilds of northwester Rhode Island. Combustible Edison front man The Millionaire turned me onto it nearly 20 years ago, and i can’t begin to tell you what incredible crap I have found there. It has 3 floors. There’s a good flea market across the street…plus a few blocks away you have Joe’s Moldy Oldies record store, where Joe, who looks/sounds like a French-Canadian Elvis impersonator, reminds customers of his Saturday night AM radio show where he and callers describe their visits with space aliens! Plus in Woonsocket you can get a Dynamite sandwich (http://tinyurl.com/5tbze6k), one of the specialties in the world of unique regional foods that Rhode Island excels in (johnnycakes, cabinets, stuffies, Dels lemonade, saugys, NY System Weiners….did you know there’s a hot dog stand called Wein-O-Rama in Cranston, RI?? Well, now you do! http://quahog.org/attractions/index.php?id=67)

      Spanish guitar is textured, made of various materials. The blue and orange parts, for example, appear to be a soft, rolled fabric. It’s unique, to say the least. I think I found that in Rhode Island as well.

      Almost forgot….there’s a drive-in movie theater on the road between Providence and Woonsocket, RI (Rte 146, which continues on to Worcester, MA, where the roadside diner was first built and located)

  2. Mark Milligan

    Fantastic stuff.

    Slow down, you’re overloading us! I’m still staring at the radiator. Haha!

    Seriously crazy about your hair dryer chair. When I was growing up in Nebraska, my Mom had a friend who fixed ladies’ hair in her home, and when we’d go to visit in the winter I’d sit under it and get warm in their old drafty cold farmhouse while the ladies played canasta and created a blue haze of cigarette smoke that permeated everything but seemingly the air that came out of those little holes.

    • k2dtw

      LOL… I’m dying, any photos of you keeping warm under the “Modernaire”….so sweet/funny!!!

      • Mark Milligan

        It was like sitting in a permanent solution incubator.
        My Mom wouldn’t be taking pictures while she was at an event like that. She’d say “don’t you want to take a book to read?” And most of the time I’d take a volume or two of my trusty “Art Linkletter’s Picture Encyclopedia for Boys & Girls” to read.

  3. Nessa

    Totally loooooooooove your living room! The beauty parlor chair is the tops and those curtains are amazing. I’ve been looking for fabric like that for a while. In my neck of the woods, hip fabric is really hard to come by.

    Also, I admire that it’s a Victorian house! I’ve always loved Victorian houses on the exterior, but I’m way more for mid-century interiors. I’m glad to see that it can be done.