Our Cozy Den

So...in the last few days, our outside projects have taken off, and the transformation of our home's dated 80's exterior is well underway...but I'm going to give it a few more days before I write about any of that;)

Instead, I thought I would share with you a little makeover that happened spontaneously at the beginning of this week in our den.

BUT, before I show you pics of our den, I have a small disclaimer...

the pictures of our den represent the downstairs of our home only...the Adirondack/cabin-y style in this room is not a true glimpse into the style of our home...the rest of the house is more like what you see here in this post.  Just so that you don't think we are total rednecks (hehe, only partial).

Ok, now that that is cleared up...

This little makeover began when Mike and I were browsing our local thrift store and came across this beauty made completely of solid oak with lots of nice scroll-y detail at the top...

I fell in love instantly=) and knew it would be the perfect addition to our den, as well as a welcome upgrade from what we had, which was an oak dresser (on the outside) with a particleboard/cardboard interior, that had a tendency to fall apart when the drawers were opened..not pretty...or practical...

Here it is...

So although it was love at first site, we weren't really in a position to spend very much at all, and since it wasn't a total necessity, we were a little hesitant. It wasn't marked with a price tag, so Mike and I delineated before approaching the salesman, and decided that our max budget for the big guy would be $100, which in all reality would be a steal, and a highly unlikely price...

So I prayed silently as the man examined the piece to determine a fair price...and I prayed, and prayed...and lo and behold the words "ninety-five dollars" came out of his mouth...

Wooooohooo! I tried to contain my enthusiasm and act calm as I replied, "ok, we'll take it"...

and so we did take it, to it's new home in our den.

Here is a pic of us doing the swap...look at the difference in stature of the two pieces...doesn't the one look like the grown up version of the other? I LOVE IT=)

The excitement doesn't end there though...nope it just kept on getting better when I received a call from one of my girlfriends asking if Mike and I would be interested in taking a beautiful, leather recliner of their hands...oh and did I mention...it matches our sofa almost to a tee? oh and did I mention it was free??

Here it is...and just like our new entertainment center...I LOVE IT=)

So now that you have seen the two newest, most wonderful additions to our den, I thought I would just give you a little photo tour of the rest of the room. (sorry for the overexposed portions of the pictures, the den was getting very intense morning sunlight pouring through the windows while I was taking the pictures:)

Here is just another view of the new guy...

The dark blob in this picture is Sadie's crate... she loves it, and basically, this whole room is hers anyway=)

Here are the built in bookshelves on the one side of the den, which are filled with deer antlers, shotgun shells from prior hunts, sepia-toned pictures, hunting books and decorative decoys..oh and of course, the mug on top of the books is filled with treats for Sadie=)

Here is the other side of the room, where we spend so much time cuddled up with Sadie, who at that moment was wistfully looking out the window at her dad who was working on the house...hehe...

See the great big safe behind our new recliner? here is whats on top of that...more antlers and decoys of course!

Here is a close up of some of the lamps in the room, although the picture quality is bad, you get the idea... The antler lamp was a handmade gift from Mike's pop-pop, and it has survived a few near-death experiences, like moving day, and Sadie knocking it over when she was little. The rustic twine wrapped around it is hiding some of the repair work that I have had to do in the last year;)

The other two lamps were big splurges from when we first bought the house...we just couldn't resist! In case you can't see it very well in the picture, the one has a deer head engraved in the base, and the other has a sweet little bear clinging to its post:)

 One of our favorite things about or den is this...the wood stove...

In the winter, this stove provides the absolute coziest environment, and we all hunker down in the den every evening.

The branch-like thing that you see on the one side of the wood stove is this guy...

My grandfather made it years before I was born...He had good taste:)

So there you have it...our den, one of the most well loved corners of our home=)

Oh and Sadie wanted me to leave you with this...

She posed only under the pretense that it would make it onto this post..hehe...

Have a great night!