Friday, August 24, 2012

Back to School Decorating and the vintage crisis hotline....



so i bought an orange chair.
a vintage orange chair.
a vintage orange grandma chair.
it even has a matching ottoman.

i may have fallen in your esteem at this point. who would buy an orange chair you might have asked yourself...especially THAT orange chair?

~i have considered blaming my purchase on the recent move of my daughter to college and the shopping trips we spent buying things for her first dorm room.
~it may also have something to do with this year is the first in 15 years i am not going back to school as a teacher, not decorating my classroom, not waiting at the door on that first day to welcome all the kids to share the wonder of the world with me.
~perhaps it is just because the darn thing is so comfy and that carries some decorating weight with me...

anyway, here it is~



my husband drove me to pick it up. it must be true love because he loaded it in the truck and drove me home, and carried it downstairs for me. as it sat there in the other room i had a moment when i would have called the vintage crisis hotline, hoping for some validation.

my daughters love it, tiny wants it in her room.
the boy said 'hideous' at first glance, then later in the evening he sat down in it and said 'its growing on me'



i assured them all i had a plan. i showed them this pillow from pillows4fun on etsy.
this is the color scheme i said. you'll like it.



then i showed them this photo and said, see orange chairs can be cool.
i want the family room to be a funky retro hang for the teenagers and their friends.
hope they are all not scared of the chair.



it will go perfect with my black world globe collection. this one is at $102.50 on ebay right now. who knew..
it will go with my vintage suitcases. this photo is from beephotography



i am also going to hang both my daughters portrait oils on one wall... should be wild. i already have a turquoise Formica game table.



add our vintage Nintendo 64 game system we have been collecting off ebay and this little orange mini fridge. who could say no?



here's to saying yes. its never too late to start choosing things that make you happy, creating a space that feels like you, and following a little different path.
even if it happens to include an orange chair.

all the best,
julie collings

3 comments:

  1. A cool, funky find! I love that old Formica kitchen table, by the way. (I retired from teaching six years ago and still feel a little odd on the first day of school since I'm no longer there. I wouldn't go back, though. I lasted 37 years in the profession - quite enough.)

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  2. I love it, the chair is great. You can type vintage orange chair on google images and find a variety of ways to decorate with it. You are reclaiming your family room, who knew 2012 would be your year. love ya!!
    candice

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  3. Your new ORANGE chair will help keep you from getting those back to school "blues". Relax in it with an ORANGE (no apple) teacher Julie!
    A new life ahead, I have no doubt you'll know what to do with it!

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