Kids Lodge

I wanted to share with you a little corner of our finished basement that I have set aside for my four sweet great nieces & nephews.  We entertain my family quite a bit and I wanted a special spot for the little ones to eat, do coloring & crafts, and generally hang out.  The oldest is five, his brother is four, and then the two little girls are 18 & 9 months.  So sweet!

The large cooler is filled with all sorts of crayons, markers, and coloring "stuff."  The thermos is filled with plastic bugs & dinos & fun trinkets.  The coolers sit on an antique checkerboard which will be fun to play when they are older.

Since this room has a lodge feel, I really wanted a mismatched, "gathered" look.  My goal was to put together my table & chair collection for less than $75 and every piece needed to be vintage, but sturdy.  The table was $12.00 and I found the chairs for $8.00 to $15.00 each...well within my budget, but it took me eight months to do it!  I also wanted each chair to have it's own personality.  Here, a weathered blue hoop back chair and a maple stained chair.  Cute!

Here, an oak hoop back chair and the cutest all-metal chair you ever did see! Have to give kudos to my daughter who spotted it a flea market booth (I missed it completely!).  I think it is my fave!

Here is a bigger view of the area.  So sunny this afternoon after a morning of storms that the window & lamp are causing quite the glare!  I will share the rest of the basement area another day.  This is part of a larger TV viewing room and that connects to a northwoods pub.  Uh oh.....I see this picture shows a dirty little secret and quite possibly the bane of my existence......

Yes, I have fish on my wall.  Walleyes & muskies.  Three of them.  And yes, there are more.  Four to be exact and two deer heads thrown in for good measure.  Bleck.  However, I do share the house with my husband and plan to continue to do so, which leaves me with no choice but to include these "treasures" in the downstairs decor.  Thankfully, this is the only area taxidermy decorating is a "must-have!"  Years ago, we lived in a home that did not have a finished basement (we put one in eventually), and I had two of these beauties in my great room.  Picture them married with mauve and country blue floral (hey, don't look down on me - it was the 80's!) - talk about classy.  I used to tie bows on them for Christmas.  Oh my.


Lastly, I have to apologize for being MIA for so many days. Oh boy - what a week! Mr. Bluebird was in SC for a business/golf trip and wound up hurting his back so badly he was in a wheelchair/bedridden for the entire trip.  After a five hour ride to the airport, then two flights home, he wound up in the hospital for five days! Yikes!  Drs. are still trying to avoid surgery, but he is home with a walker and still in intense pain.  Not his way of doing things that's for sure.  He has missed only one day of work in his entire 56 years on this earth and that was for outpatient knee surgery!  Hopefully we will have some answers soon. 

Wishing you happiness,
Jane

Linking to Debbie's fun Newbie Party


Linking to the always-inspiring Rohda's Today's Thrifty Treasures  http://southernhospitalityblog.com/thrifty-treasures-5-6/




Linking to Susan's awesome Met Monday



Liking to Kim's super fun Wow Us Wednesday