One of the things I loved about this house when we first looked at it was the bonus room upstairs.  I think it took us all of 5 minutes to decide it would be a game room for our family and guests to enjoy.  This month, we celebrate 20 years of living in this house – I can’t even believe it!  Over those 20 years, the game room remained very plain and even a little junky.  It often became a catch all room, which I loathe.  Always in the back of my mind were the items I had carefully collected for the room, stored away in boxes in the guest room closet, just waiting to adorn the walls and every little nook of the room.

I started really getting into thrifting, flea markets and antique stores when my son was elementary school age.  We found that it was something fun for all three of us to do on the weekends, and it is something I enjoy doing alone as well.  So many things in our game room were thrifted or are antique store/flea market finds. I can almost remember where every single item came from, even the ones I purchased on my 40th birthday road trip to Texas and back! I could walk you through the room and tell a story about each and every item.

Would you believe that “someday” finally happened this year?  The timing was perfect, as last year, we had the interior of the house painted in the Spring, and then had our hardwood floors installed upstairs last Fall, so the room had to be put back together anyway.  Here is a photo of the room with the carpet pulled up, but the padding is still down.  This is the only “before” photo I had on hand!

This room is full of memories of our married life together and things that we both love.  Only a very few items were acquired before we started dating.  I wanted a bar/pub feel to the room, with plenty of seating and lots of choices for fun entertainment.

My goal was not to spend a lot of money on the project.  After all, I had been collecting things for 20 years, so there wasn’t much that was needed. Almost all of the furniture was purchased years ago. For instance, I found the church pew on Craigslist years ago for under $100.  Corkey and his Dad went and picked it up for me at an AME church that was closing south of Hartsfield Airport.

The bar cabinet was our TV armoire in our family room for many years, until Corkey upgraded to a bigger, wall mounted TV over the fireplace.  The board games are our family collection, purchased over the years mostly as Christmas and birthday gifts to one another.  We have enjoyed countless hours of fun playing those!  We aren’t big drinkers, but we love to entertain, so I try to keep beer and wine on hand and a few liquors for mixed drinks.  Now that our son is of legal age, we don’t feel the need to hide the liquor or keep it under lock and key as we once did. This has also helped free up some storage in my kitchen cabinets, refrigerator, and pantry where we used to store things.

The pool table was a rogue purchase I made on credit without Corkey’s approval very shortly after we moved in. (I’m sure he will tell you all about it if you ask him!)  We later found a ping pong table topper that has received a TON of play time over the years! We store it in the basement when not in use. The bar top flips over to display a roulette wheel, craps, or a blackjack table.  We had a casino party for my business many years ago and have often said we should do that again because it was so much fun!

The whiskey barrels I purchased for my wedding business many years ago when barn weddings really took off as a trend.  They were freighted in from Kentucky long before you could find those locally.  We used them for a few weddings, but otherwise, they sat in our basement for years.  I knew I wanted to use them as bar tables in the game room eventually.  Corkey and I made the bar tops together. Now I think they bring so much character to the room!

We made the shelving together too; you may recall my blog post and video on how we burned the wood instead of staining or painting it to get this unique look.  I think it ties the whiskey barrels in so well and is a great showcase for our album covers and autograph collection. The albums are just a few of my favorites I have collected over the years.  We have collected all the autographs together, so we were either dating or newly married for every one of those concerts/meet and greets with our favorite country music performers.

The corbels that hold the shelving are from Southern Living at Home, the direct sales division of Southern Living Magazine that I was a consultant for in the early 2000’s.  I bought them and stored them away all these years specifically to use in the game room.  I was so excited to find two more that a friend was selling recently for a steal!

I have two original photographs of Louis Armstrong that I purchased in New Orleans the year I turned 21 that are dear to me.  Those photographs were purchased with foolish, young and broke money – haha! Those finally came out of storage and now have a place of prominence in the room, I will always treasure them. Louis is hands down my favorite jazz artist.

There are two artwork prints from Norman Rockwell of a young boy and girl that have a great story behind them. I have always loved Norman Rockwell and I purchased these when we were newly married, long before we had our son. I told Corkey at the time, “This is what our kids will be like.” Our son did learn to ride and show horses for several years, and he brought home a blue ribbon every time.  I have photos of him from those years that look just like the Norman Rockwell drawing.  We tried for another baby for years after our son was born. I had trouble getting pregnant and we never had another, but in May, 2003, we lost a confirmed pregnancy.  It was early, so we have no idea if it was a boy or girl, but I picture this little girl every time I think of that baby.  A little blonde girl, with her Daddy’s blue eyes and his best fishing buddy. So these prints have come to mean so much to me and they make me smile every time. It feels like God gave me a picture of what might have been and I’d rather have that than nothing at all. ♥️ 

The only new items in the room are the poufs and the refrigerator for the bar cabinet.  The poufs are from Miranda Lambert’s “Wanda June Home” line.  I saw them at her store, The Pink Pistol in Lindale, Texas this past June and was so impressed with the quality once I saw them in person.  I knew I wanted a couple for extra seating in the game room, and they are light weight enough that we could move them around the house as needed.  The refrigerator we found at a great price after looking for one with specific dimensions to fit the bar cabinet.

It isn’t a very frequently used room, but it is easily one of my favorite rooms of the house.  I can’t tell you how good it feels to have it complete after all these years of dreaming about pulling it all together.  Over time I may add more of our personal items – for instance, I told Corkey I would love to have some of his high school trophies on the shelves, and I would definitely love to add more photographs of us through the years all over the room.

For your convenience, I created a storefront where you can check out all of the retail items we have in the game room.  The collection includes links for you to purchase any item that you want.  Keep in mind that many of these items are one of a kind and were thrifted or found at antique stores or flea markets, so I can’t provide a link to those items.

What is your favorite room of your house, and why?  I’d love to hear all about it – please comment below or email me at hello@kinshipandvine.com

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