Contemplating Life in a Gas Station

Feel free to count “moving from my refinished 3 bedroom house into a half-finished one room gas station” among the things I thought I never be doing in my thirtieth year on this planet.

home_sweet_home

I also never thought I’d be planning to drive a pickup truck loaded with a couple of miniature donkeys back from Texas either, but hey, life takes us on mysterious journeys.

surrounded

But really, look at these guys. You’d take on the road trip of a lifetime for them too. (If you’ve been snooping around you’ll notice the donkeys have rated their own page around here, even though it’s just filled with to-die-for pictures of Cute for now.)

I suppose these are just a few of the things I’m lucky that this guy brought into my life.

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Nostalgia aside, all the minutes we were going to have this Winter to get things done in preparation for the big groundbreaking in Spring are slowly ticking away.

Or not-so-slowly, if you look at all of the projects we have yet to finish.

At the moment I’m most excited about getting to the final stages in the man-cave bathroom. When I posted my ideas for a little design help, you all jumped right in with some great thoughts.

Here’s my original color board. (You’ll notice I refuse to call it a “mood board” and I don’t know why I’m so reluctant except to say it brings to mind those cheap ’80’s mood rings. I think “badass board” is more appropriate, don’t you?)

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If you don’t have a flash viewer, you can see the static image here.

SmilingJudy and meryl rose suggested less yellow in the paint color, and a possible red accent.

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Static image here.

On the other end of the spectrum wanderluster and carrie thought the yellow should be a bit deeper, and I took the suggestion of Glidden’s Warm Caramel to heart…

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Static image here.

I’m still contemplating what will go best with the floor tones, and I may even give MysteryMan a say in the final product. Maybe.

I really loved the suggestion for some crusty rusty sign to tie the room together, which got me thinking about what other “art” may be appropriate.

I’m wondering if a couple of 50’s pinups should make an appearance…

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Or maybe some vintage Guinness posters?

wall_art

Finding the right style for the man-cave is turning out to be way more fun than I anticipated.

The six lineal feet of “kitchen” space we’re going to have in the station, on the other hand…whole different story.

8 Responses

  1. I still like the crusty sign idea, but I LOVE the idea of pinup AND vintage guinness signs together, plus they would give you that shot of red….

  2. I love Gil Elvgren. What about something less bath related & more tool related?

    I think something kinda ironic & cheeky would be funny. Like Elvgren’s “Help Wanted!” {http://www.thepinupfiles.com/images/elv09325.jpg}, “Wrong Nail” {http://www.thepinupfiles.com/images/elv66001.jpg}, or “An Unexpected Lift” {http://www.thepinupfiles.com/images/elv61001.jpg} {note the “Men Working” sign}.

    If less ironic is more your thing maybe try “Pretty Sharp” {http://www.thepinupfiles.com/images/c-ge_079.jpg} or “Quick Change Artist” {http://www.thepinupfiles.com/images/quickchangeartist.jpg}.

    “Well Built” {http://www.thepinupfiles.com/images/elv09377.jpg} & “Skirting the Issue” {http://www.thepinupfiles.com/images/elv69005.jpg} might be appropriate too.

    They’re all found here {http://www.thepinupfiles.com/elvgren3.html} in the 50’s & 60’s.

  3. That said, I have some extra large, red w/ black outline acrylic gas station numbers. I used them to “wallpaper” a wall in our old apartment. That might be a little much with the graphic shower curtain but maybe you do your house number or anniversary or something. Email me if you want pics.

  4. I agree with patti… pretty ‘badass’ ideas…

    I went to a shi shi party over the holidays and borrowed a bracelet from a friend – that bracelet was black circles – each about an inch in diameter – and each with a pin up girl front and center. Made me feel badass too… clearly a fine quality for a man-cave-esque bathroom.

    I’m also drawn to the vintage Guiness posters – nthey jive with the various colors you’re considering – and I love (good) beer & win – so I’m naturally drawn to quality dionysian art 😉

  5. Corey- Love the Texaco sign (particularly because there used to be old gravity-fed Texaco pumps out front.) Also… no updates to Baltimore Row House in 3 months?! Hopefully that means you’re busy with projects.

    Carrie- Awesome, awesome, awesome pinups. I love the girls with tools.

    Meredith- We’re also love a good beer (and we home-brew too!) which is why I love the Guinness posters. Decisions, decisions….

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