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A Series Of Unfortunate Events

First there was a fortunate event. We found a giant piece of art in a pretty wood frame selling for $20 at a yard sale in our neighborhood. And when I say giant, I mean giant. It’s over 3 feet wide and 2 feet tall. The only issue with it was there was a small dent in the frame, which is totally not a big deal for us, so we went for it.

Cracked Painting

John wasn’t really a huge fan of the painting itself, but we figured you couldn’t even get a canvas this big and build a wood frame around it for $20, so it was a good deal if only for the “base” that it gave us (we could always paint over the artwork or place a large print over it, etc). And in the meantime, while we figured out what we wanted to frame/paint on top, I thought I would just lean it up on the back of the buffet to see how the scale looked since we were thinking about hanging it there. But before I could say crapIshouldbemorecareful I had somehow managed to knock the glass based lamp off the left side of the buffet while leaning the hulking new piece of art there.

Lamp Broken 1

Thank goodness Clara was sitting in her yellow highchair at the dining table eating (no worries about her bare feet and the glass) but we were having a random power outage (it only lasted about an hour) so that meant I had to sweep and sweep and sweep until I was sure all the glass was gone since I couldn’t vacuum that corner just to be sure until the power came back on. So that’s two unfortunate events going on (broken lamp + power outage). Not the end of the world, but… #Bummers.

Broken Lamp2

Bet you didn’t see this coming…

Second Lamp Issue1

Seriously, I couldn’t make this stuff up. The picture that had been leaning just fine against the wall for about thirty minutes while I cleaned up the broken lamp suddenly shifted, sending the other lamp flying over the edge along with the art itself, our bowl of postcards, and my little resin pineapple.

But somewhat miraculously, the cord for the lamp was juuuust short enough to keep it from shattering everywhere. #Luckylittlelamp

Second Lamp Issue2

As you can see from the picture above the last one, a few small pineapple points broke off in the fall, but thankfully it’s not noticeable. And the art (which doesn’t have a glass pane, just a wood frame around the perimeter) and the ceramic bowl full of postcards weren’t harmed in the fall. Whew. #CanThingsPleaseStopJumpingOffThisBuffet?

Around this time John came home from an errand he was running so I got to tell him about all the chaos he had missed. Thankfully the power was back on at this point so I vacuumed the corner while John used a heavy duty anchor to hang our jumpy little painting once and for all. Seemed like the only surefire way to get him under control (the painting, not John).

Hanging Painting

Then I let out more than a few sighs of relief. It’s not necessarily art we would have picked out in a store for $300, but for $20 from a yard sale it definitely works for now. And we’d love to use it as a backdrop for a print that’s more our speed someday – or even paint over it to see if we can whip up something more “us” eventually. Until then, I’m just happy he’s staying. on. the. friggin. wall.

Entryway Corner

So perhaps I jinxed that poor glass lamp when I mentioned that we had him for over five years in this post (they were actually from our wedding registry) but somebody was looking out for his twin brother.

Entryway Vertical

Thankfully all of the items on the buffet are just there on a “for now” basis, since we’re just working with things we already have. But someday I’d love to upgrade to two matching lamps that feel a little more special (maybe with sculptural bases like the artichoke ones in the bedroom, or a fun bold colored shade). You know we’ll keep you posted!

Art Wall Side Shot

I still kind of can’t believe that the frame somehow jumped over the faux coral and the ceramic leaf dish and only managed to topple the bowl and the lamp (neither of which broke). Maybe there were some fortunate events worked in there with the unfortunate ones.

Art Detail

And for anyone wondering where Clara was while I shot the after pics, I’ll give you a hint:

Wheres Waldo Clara

Yup, the girl likes to run through my shots. Sometimes while holding “her” iPad. Kids!

Any fortunate or unfortunate events going on at your house? Did you see the third unfortunate event coming after I shared those first two? I didn’t. That’s for sure. Scared the bejeesus out of me. Although I gotta admit Clara was some good comic relief. She totally shouted “oh no, it fall down!” from her high chair. And then she went on to mutter something about “the picture fell down and hurt the head.” Pretty cute…

Comments

  1. Julia @ Chris Loves Julia says

    Just when I thought nothing more could happen, MORE stuff fell. It’s sad and unfortunate… and a little funny? We were recently hanging some photo ledges in our stairway and just when I got everything leaning and the way I wanted to, I snapped a photo and then TIMBER!!! I swear, I watched a Ribba frame crash to its death in slow motion. I remedied with sticky tack (and a new frame) and we have been smooth sailing since.

    http://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2012/07/photo-ledges-o-fun.html

    Reply

  3. Clare says

    A good tip for cleaning up broken glass is to use a slice of white bread (Wonderbread if you have it) and press it all over the area — it should pick up any shards missed by the broom!

    Reply

  8. Reenie says

    Actually, I like it better with just one lamp. The pic you posted the other day with both lamps…..I thought it looked too crowded. But, that’s just my opinion ;)

    Reply

    • Meg says

      I agree with Reenie! I actually like the new set-up better than the two-lamp set-up, but I know it’s what $her-dog and J-Boom prefer that matters.
      I hate when something I own breaks – we try to only keep things we love in our house to avoid clutter, but that means it hurts a little more every time something gets broken.

  9. bridget b. says

    glad to hear that i’m not the only one suffering a pile-on of unfortunate events lately. we moved recently, and it seems like everything that could go wrong with this move, has. from freak torrential downpours on the day of our move a month ago, to having to put our stuff in storage and live with a relative for 2 1/2 weeks, we thought it couldn’t get any worse.

    then, when we finally moved in our new home less than a week ago, bought and stocked our refrigerator, an unexpected power outage ruined all the food and a leak from the freezer warped some of the hardwood floor planks. :S

    p.s. i forgot to mention that i’m 8 months prego and have been prevented from fulfilling some SERIOUS nesting instincts for over a month now.

    surely we’ve hit bottom?

    Reply

  10. Brenda says

    I think you mean you couldn’t vacuum until the power came on. That’s insane. I definitely did not see the art knocking over lamp #2. It’s random posts like these that are some of my favorites. :)

    Reply

    • Jillian says

      I love the bird and the dog, but I think perhaps they compete for the spotlight. Please don’t take this the wrong way! I don’t want to sound critical, (because I really do love everything you guys do and it is *your* house afterall!) but I wouldn’t mind seeing the dog moved somewhere; perhaps to the right of the buffet? Maybe stick a small ottoman or stool under the bird as a place to sit and take off your shoes? Of course, I have zero decorating/staging experience so I could be way wrong. But in all seriousness, keep doin’ what you’re doin’. One of my favorite things about your blog is how your house is constantly changing, and you’re not afraid to switch things up, and admit to loving the new placement or arrangement or color (etc) more than the original. You guys rock :)

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, things move around a lot so I wouldn’t be surprised! The dog was in the living room but Clara kept messing with him so over by the door is more out of the way for now. Haha. As for a place to sit to take shoes off, we enter in and out of the side door (laundry room) so we have a shoe bin in there! But who knows where we’ll end up with that sliver of wall!

      xo,
      s

    • Missy D says

      Flygirl, I agree with you on this and a few other things but I love YHL, just some of the citrus color choices are not my style

    • Heather W says

      I am shocked that someone that goes by the name flygirl doesn’t like a bird on a wall?????

  12. Katy says

    An older friend once told me to always register for things in odd numbers, this way when something breaks you have an even set. Smartest advice I have ever received. I buy everything now in odd numbers. (well, not shoes.)

    ~Katy

    Reply

  14. natalie says

    i felt like you were playing a “where’s clara?” game because i didn’t even see her until you pointed it out. too cute :)

    Reply

  15. Ally says

    Yes, I agree with above commenter. Maybe you should have the picture “cleansed” by a spiritualist or something. Lest it attack you on your way out the door.

    Reply

  16. Allyn says

    We had a kombucha explosion the other day, which went all over our cream couch, and wool rug, and clean laundry. Yes, I had a total blond moment and didn’t think to put the top back on for a solid 30 seconds I’d say. It was like watching Mt Vesuvius erupt in slow motion. Sigh. As my sweet (and very patient) husband remarked, “of all the drinks that could have spilled, did it have to be the one that smells like foot?!”
    Good thing he loves me.

    Reply

  17. Casey @ wafflingdesign says

    Oh no! so sad!

    When I first moved into my condo I was putting away a corningware dish with a glass lid and the lid slipped and shatttered everywhere (it was apparently tempered glass). Glass flew from the front door to the back and into every single bin and box i was unpacking. and I had no broom!!!

    I am still finding glass 3 years later

    Reply

  19. Sandy says

    That would be such a cool painting to paint the frame a darker (or a color), tape or vinyl over a design or word on the painting itself, paint the whole thing white, and remove the tape or vinyl! (sorry if that made no sense! I get excited!)

    Sorry about the lamp, and my son totally thinks our ipad is his too!

    Reply

  20. Lori says

    Oh no! So sorry about the lamp, but that is pretty amazing how the cord saved the other one! We have a friend who is adamant that a friendly ghost lives in her house so maybe you’ve got one too :-)

    Reply

  22. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    Aw! I’m sorry! That’s so frustrating! Since I hold the gold medal for clumsiest person on earth this kind of stuff is ALWAYS happening around the Little House. I swear things jut throw themselves on the floor out of sheer dread of getting broken by me. Good thing most of our stuff is thrift or hand-me-downs.

    Reply

  23. Kelly says

    Oh noes! We have disasters like that all.the.time it seems.

    I love the shot of Clara with ‘her’ iPad. Those kids and their tech. ;)

    Reply

  25. Karen says

    Not nearly as epic as yours, but this mornings funny event in our house involved our 15lb cat Charlie (aka Bear). He LOVES baskets, boxes, whatever he can sit in. Over the weekend I picked up 2 non-matching lamps. The shades were different colors, so I ran out to get 2 matching shades to unify the lamps. I left the extra shades on the floor while I made up my mind about the shades. See where this is going? Well, this morning, Charlie discovered the shades and decided it looked like a good basket to sit in. or try to at least. When he jumped in, he got caught up in the metal, knocked the shade on its side and ran away startled. I was already at work when this happened, but Hubby called me laughing hysterically. I need to inspect the shade this evening for any Bear damage.

    Reply

  26. Rebecca says

    Didn’t even read the whole post yet, but LOVE the art! I need to start hitting up yard sales/thrift stores to get some good (and cheap) finds.

    Reply

  28. Erin says

    After a recent post where you explained how you guys need a new TV console table, I got to thinking about this new [old?] buffet. I have one that is now painted fire engine red living in my kithen [love it!] but a good friend is about to convert hers into a TV table, with the help of another blog post she found, see below. I immediately thought of you guys & your new purchase/living room.

    http://lollyjane.com/mustard-yellow-buffet/

    Reply

    • Sabrina says

      I also am in the midst of converting my aunt’s old dresser into a tv console table. It’s one of those baroque deals that were so popular in the 60’s. I totally need it for storage of DVD’s since my 18 month old thinks it is hilarious to toss them everywhere! Right now we have a cheap black on from Walmart and it is not working out lol

  29. JK says

    I’ve had the same thing happen with a framed painting that was temporarily leaning on a dresser until I was able to get to it. Luckily, it was in a carpeted room so everything survived. Then last week my bf dropped a glass of water on our huge ottoman that ran under our Mac, and bam, $800 to fix it. Utter fail.

    But a least your new buffet didn’t get damaged!

    Reply

  30. Kelly says

    I’d say that the frame may have the “clumsy” gene. Maybe that is how it got it’s first “dent” in the wood. Here’s to hoping no more “clumsies” for it.

    Reply

  31. Susanna says

    A few weeks ago my kitty got very excited about the first cool night/open window in awhile and knocked over my totally-a-splurge Viva Terra bottle lamp http://www.polyvore.com/vivaterra_vivaterra-small_french_bottle_lamp/thing?id=28833226. The base came unstuck from the bottom of the bottle (I think some gorilla glue can fix that) and the very top of the bottle chipped, leaving the shade and actual light seriously crooked. I’m trying to figure out what I need to level off the top of the bottle so the whole things works again…right now it’s being temporarily steadied by an old eye pencil shoved between the bottle and the lamp harp. Surprisingly, it’s working.

    Reply

  32. Liz says

    That sucks! I would have been so frustrated.

    Also, are you back to using the slip covers? I thought you had spray painted them all ORB because you didn’t like the covers anymore?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I’m just lazy and we put those on for Clara’s birthday party since we brought the chairs outside and with a bunch of toddlers and cupcakes we wanted them to be washable- still haven’t taken those covers off and washed them! Hahah. We don’t love them either way, but they work for now :)

      xo,
      s

    • kate says

      Thanks. Neither is my real name- I try to remain anonymous where possible on the web. This was not a snarky comment, but you obviously took it as such by trying to “out” me.

      I’m sorry if the comment offended you in some way, it was not meant to do so. I, as one of your readers, simply wanted to share a message of acceptance. I don’t expect you to be perfect with your decorating choices or diy projects, but I’m getting the feeling that there’s a level of fear of being wrong here. To me, you’ve come off a bit defensive lately with your design choices. It’s almost as if you don’t think it’s okay to be wrong about things without having an instant solution to the problem. Like with the bedroom choices- you defended them for months in the comments and then finally changed your tune once everything was (or was about to be) painted, rearranged, and reconfigured.

      This probably still sounds like snark, but it’s just me saying that I think it’s okay for you to decide that a soft fabric cover is much easier to sit on than a spray painted one… or that the spray painted ones don’t photograph well for the blog. Heck, I wouldn’t care if you spent $500/ chair to replace the set if that’s what would work best for you.

    • kate says

      I know that you took that as a snarky comment, but I was honestly trying to give you a message of acceptance. I wanted you to know that I, as one of your readers, would be fine with you admitting when you’ve made design choices that you’ve had second thoughts about. From what I’ve read recently, it seems as if you have a very hard time admitting that your original idea wasn’t working out *without already having a solution on hand*. For example, you were very firm on all of your bedroom choices in the comments and very defensive towards naysayers right up until the point where you made all of the recent changes.

      I got the sense that you were too embarrassed (or something) to say, “yeah, we’re having second thoughts.” Today, I made a comment showing my support of those type of admissions. Maybe the spray painted chairs aren’t as soft as the slipcovers, maybe they don’t photograph well for the blog, or maybe you really don’t want to take the five minutes to pull the covers off and I was totally off base in thinking that you would have done it months ago when people first started commenting on the covers? Either way, I’m sorry that my comment hurt your feelings.

      Also, I know you were trying to “out” me with the name thing, but neither of those names are my real name. I try to keep my privacy on the web and don’t want any of my user names connected back to my private email, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

      I obviously cared enough to type out this long response so I hope you took the time to read this. I do not plan to make further comments on this issue or others, but feel free to block this IP address as well.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      No worries Kate! Your comments weren’t blocked, they were just in moderation since we were eating dinner :)

      It’s definitely true that someone may suggest something that we can’t “see” right away, and after living with something the light bulb finally goes on. We hardly ever get things right the first time! I promise you it’s never a malicious “we’re afraid to be wrong” thing (we often do things thanks to commenters and call them out to say thanks!)- it’s just a “we can be slow to realize something else works better” thing. Also, sometimes it’s not post-worthy to write “we don’t love our old tv stand anymore” so we’ll wait to get a new one and then write a “we’ve wanted a new tv stand and here’s how we found one” post, since it’s more of a complete story.

      I do think we end posts without the perfect solution though! Our chair painting and chair spraying posts both ended without any success/long term solution (we said “we’re on the fence – we’ll probably recover/replace them down the line.” We’ve also shared a bad shower curtain we bought (a pure we-picked-the-wrong-thing admission) and our failed deck inspection post listed all of our regrets/mistakes. So we do try to call out where we go wrong, and will take your note to embrace that even more!

      xo,
      s

  34. Staci @ My Friend Staci says

    What a wacky series of events! Sorry your pretty lamp had to bite the dust, but I’m with the other commenter that likes the buffet-scape better with one lamp and the yellow jar balancing it out. You have matching lamps in the bedroom and living room, so it might be good to have a lone ranger in this spot ;)
    As for the picture, you could stencil a phrase on it like Emily Henderson did here! http://www.stylebyemilyhenderson.com/storage/JR0M8533.jpg

    Reply

  35. Belle says

    For safety, after sweeping and vacumming broken glass, wipe the area with a damp paper towel to pick up any tiny remnants that could be left over. Then put the towel straight into a bag (don’t carry it to the bin in case glass shards/chips fall off) and put it in the bin :)

    Reply

  36. SerendipityRefined says

    I’m so sorry about the lamp but I’m glad that everyone’s okay. I LOVE your hutch and and your “for now” is beautiful! I’m about to hang a 12 foot long x 1 foot tall chalkboard in my studio: 9 feet off of the floor above a table full of supplies. Your post came as a sad but timely reminder. I’m purchasing heavy hooks and mirror hangers for this bad boy! xo, Kimberlyg

    Reply

  38. Kristen H says

    I got a bug up my tush last night to clean out my kitchen tool drawers. Unfortunately, I forgot about the 8 inch chef’s knife I had shoved into one of them. I still have a thumb, but also now have a 1/2 inch long gash in the side of it to remind me to be more careful! Thankfully nothing a couple tightly wrapped bandages couldn’t control. :)

    Reply

  39. Chelsea says

    I kid you not, Sherry, I broke TWO glasses vases in less than 24 hours while rearranging a shelves in our living room. SO unfortunate. Luckily, both were thrift store finds (great ones at that), so the damages weren’t as debilitating considering I think I only paid like $4 total for both. Either way, a blow to a glass object is definitely a pain in the *you know what*. Clean up is a real pain (literally, I actually stepped on a piece of glass during my catastrophe). Glad everything is back to normal now…great find on the artwork!

    Reply

  40. Ann says

    Sometimes we just can’t keep up with the little catastrophies. Things got pretty crazy there for a little while! I definitely didn’t see that coming! That is amazing it didn’t break everything up there. But, I like one lamp better. I would prefer the other not be broken of course, maybe just in another spot. :) Hoping for smooth sailing for you now!
    Ann
    Shabby French Country Cottage Basement

    Reply

  41. MegP says

    We once had a large, heavy picture fall down from a high spot on the wall, shattering the glass and setting off our burglar alarm, since we weren’t home. We were able to re-hang the picture without the glass, so now it weighs less, and honestly looks fine without glass since it’s so high on the wall (we have a 2 story ceiling there).

    This may not have helped with your picture falling situation, but something I find super helpful for anchoring fragile decor items is a product called Museum Wax. I found it at Amazon and it is super cheap since you use it in very tiny amounts. It helps keep stuff from slipping or toppling over. I use it on lamps and other stuff I’m afraid people will bump into accidentally.

    Reply

  42. Magda says

    I have to tell you that I like it more with one lamp and this beautiful yellow vase instead. The red coral is also my favorite! This buffet looks more fun now!
    xo,
    Magda

    Reply

  43. Sunny says

    I’ve read that a piece (or pieces) of bread are great for getting little shards of glass off the ground since they can stick around for months and you don’t even know it! So if the power goes out again and you break another lamp (knock on wood that it doesn’t happen) you can sweep and then use some bread to get up the smaller bits!

    Reply

  44. Jessica says

    Haunted?? lol. Oh, and love that Clara calls it “her” ipad. My little one calls it “my PIE pad” hahaha

    Reply

  46. Gretchen says

    I swear, every time the vacuum is broken or the power is out, I manage to break a glass something. I’ve found that a wet paper towel works really well at getting up the teeny tiny pieces. I’ve even used is after vacuuming and gotten up some shiny bits. It’s a life saver and keeps the pups paws intact. They all come running anytime they hear a crash.

    Reply

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