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Work & Play Home Tours

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Today Lindsay of The White Buffalo Styling Company is hosting a different kind of Blogger Stylin’ Home Tours. The theme is work and play. You might be coming from Emily Clark and I’m giving you a warm welcome. Being the next one on the list after such a talented blogger is a tough one to follow. I love everything she does. Isn’t Emily the best?

Today’s theme changes things a bit for me because I’m used to styling my house pretty for the standard home tours the way I like it and this tour of our little corner of family life gets the most wear and tear. My husband, kids and I play and work down here. I usually blog upstairs in my “blogging chair” but in the space I’m sharing today I also have my little Etsy shop work space.

I’m talking about the mancave family room again today and believe me it’s so hard to take photos down there because of the lack of natural lighting. I hope the photos aren’t too awful.

I recently shared the space before we painted it (click HERE). It was two-toned grey but I wanted to simplify and brighten it up a bit which we just finished with the color Quail Egg 7002-12 by Valspar. I wanted something warm, almost white that would go with our new sectional (click HERE to see how I cut the sofa apart to get it into the basement) and this is the perfect tone don’t you think so? The basement had been so many colors before, from bright yellow to red and the two-toned grey. Brightening this space up with this new color was the right thing to do.

Steeler Country Mancave

It looks white in the photo but if you look down to the baseboards then you see that it’s definitely not white and a different shade.

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The sectional is from American Signature furniture (in some areas known as Value City Furniture) which is the Athens 6 Pc. Sectional by Koehler, you can find the rug HERE, the lamps HERE and the ottoman fur HERE. All the pillows are from H&M but not available anymore but you can find similar one on their website HERE.

My son is a really good drum player and his second set of drums is set up across the room from the sectional so we can watch him play. It’s so so loud!

Behind that half wall is another one of my desks and crafting areas. It’s a tad bit of a mess. I have to share it soon though again too. I have my sewing machine, printer, mailing supplies and craft supplies stored there. Do you see our caricatures my husband and I had drawn when we got married? Those were the good old days.

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This is not a trick on your eyes…we have a supporting pole in the middle of the room.

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I will soon share with you guys the secret of how easily I hung up my husband’s favorite Sports Illustrated Magazines. It looks tricky but believe me it’s not at all. We had to take them all down, fill the holes before painting and then rehang them again because I didn’t want them to hang in the same location again.
It looks super time consuming and like there was a lot of planning involved but it really wasn’t.

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I placed my favorite Jonathan Adler anger pillow on the couch because my husband tends to get very angry when he watches sports. So I feel like it is very fitting and funny.

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Remember the tulip table and chairs I bought at the auction two years ago for $75. The table now serves as my working and cutting area for my Etsy shop. It’s functional and pretty.

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The bar area I built for my husband doesn’t get that much use anymore lately but that’s ok too.

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You can find some similar bar stools HERE and a similar chandelier HERE.

 

Yes this might be a Christmas leftover sign (cough cough) but I just love it and feel like it applies to the rest of my life LOL.
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The other spot in hour home that we play and live hard in is our living room (click HERE).

Cuckoo4Design Glitter Guide

{photo credit Alison Conklin}

I mostly blog in the grey chair below:

neutral living room decor with black and white accents, Beni Ourain rug, letter sofa - Cuckoo4Design

And sometimes I also sit at my little desk (see more HERE):

secretary desk styling - Cuckoo4Design

Basement man-cave decor idea with Sports Illustrated collection - Cuckoo4Design
Since we are talking about work today too, guess what I did this past weekend? I worked on our porch. I’ve been wanting to paint the concrete for the longest time and I finally had the perfect weather. Warm, no wind and the trees didn’t shed their blooms. So I spent my time on my hands and knees painting the porch in a bold black and white striped pattern which is my all time favorite. {UPDATE: read HERE about the secret of my crisp lines and how I painted the porch)

Black and white striped painted concrete porch - Cuckoo4Design

Wish me the best that my family doesn’t ruin it in a short amount of time because I really really love it.
I will hopefully blog about the process on Wednesday.

 

Tschüß,

 

(Youleeya)

 

39 Comments
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Comments

    • Julia says

      April 18, 2016 at 8:48 am

      Thanks! My husband has so many collections and I promised him to somehow incorporate some of it in his mancave. 😉

  4. Kristin Cadwallader says

    April 18, 2016 at 7:38 am

    You have made that space function for so many uses and it looks so clean and crisp! Well done friend! xo

    • Julia says

      April 18, 2016 at 8:49 am

      Thanks Jennifer, I still need to tackle the other side of the room and put up more shelving. Probably won’t happen until the fall though.

  7. Tori says

    April 18, 2016 at 8:23 am

    Julia, I’ve been reading your blog for so long and I never knew you were a Steelers family! LOL! I live in Pittsburgh so that first image caught my eye in the Bloglovin preview! I’m not a big sports fan, but it amazing how you can find Pittsburgh fans every where you go.

    • Julia says

      April 18, 2016 at 8:51 am

      Oh really? you live in Pittsburg! Cool! My husband is a huge Steelers fan. I’m indifferent to football and all other sports unless my kids or their friends are in it 😉 He’s happy to have a Steelers cave.

  9. Lindsay says

    April 18, 2016 at 8:45 am

    I love these spaces, Julia! I always am so in love with your living room. You do neutrals so beautifully! But I am loving that man cave! You’ve done such an awesome job infusing pretty style into a space like that 🙂 Thanks so much for joining!!!

    • Julia says

      April 18, 2016 at 8:52 am

      Thanks so much for having me again Lindsay. My hubby really wanted a typical mancave and I’m glad that he let me put it together and I think he is too.

  11. Sueli says

    April 18, 2016 at 9:47 am

    As with the rest of your home, the mancave is perfect, stylish and comfortable.
    The porch looks amazing – looking forward to learn all about it.
    xx

  13. Amber says

    April 18, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    I just want to curl up on that beautiful couch! You made a man cave look absolutely beautiful! Cannot wait to hear your hanging trick!

  16. Jennifer Bridgman says

    April 18, 2016 at 7:23 pm

    Scott is ALL OVER ME about building a bar as part of the basement project. Why don’t you use yours much anymore? I’m on the fence about it. Did you put a sink in? I want to see more of your crafting space!! Love the way those stripes came out, can’t wait to see more!!

  17. [email protected] says

    April 19, 2016 at 6:05 am

    Seriously, love this space! I love that this space is functional, warm yet perfect for family time. Plus, I could actually see our basement turning into this space eventually.

    • Julia says

      April 20, 2016 at 5:51 am

      Thank you Aniko, I still have to blog about the bar. Maybe this will push me to do it finally

  20. Freckles Chick says

    April 19, 2016 at 10:10 am

    Anger pillow lol. I could use one of those. Love the evolution of this space J!! It doesn’t have the feel of a typical basement, you’ve made it so bright and airy yet cozy chic.

    You know I’d take advantage of that bar area 😉

  21. Beth Barden says

    April 20, 2016 at 5:29 am

    Is it weird that I am most impressed y that huge grid of frames?! They are so perfectly aligned and I would never have the patience to do that! The basement looks great…my sons and husband would love down there. And I am in love with your striped floor!!

    • Julia says

      April 20, 2016 at 5:49 am

      Believe me there was no patience needed to hang these type of frames. So so easy! And thanks so much, the boys tend to love basements like this which is so odd 😉

  22. Shauna says

    April 20, 2016 at 7:23 am

    What a fun hang out spot for your basement! Love the gallery wall! That’s so cool that your son plays the drums too! Do you walk around with ear plugs on? Haha! So fun being on this tour with you!
    xo