Everything Must Go!

This living room is inspired by The Weakerthans song Everything Must Go! The Weakerthans are my favorite band so it is only fitting that my first song inspired room would be in honor of them.

The song's opening line is: Garage Sale. Saturday.I need to pay My heart's outstanding bills.

I wanted to make everything in the room appear as if it could have been purchased at a garage sale. The coffee table is reminiscent of furniture at office surplus stores. I picture it once placed in a strip mall doctor's office. While the coffee table is from Walmart and inexpensive, the retro side table is a bit pricey but looks as if it once lived in the Brady Bunch home. The mid-century rocking chair would also be at home at the Brady's.

The next lines are: A cracked-up compass and a pocket watch, Some plastic daffodils. The cutlery and coffee cups I stole from all-night restaurants. A sense of wonder only slightly used
a year or two to haunt you in the dark.

The owner of this room is a collector of unique items. In order to display these artifacts they would of course need some sort of curio cabinet. Most curio cabinets I found were in the traditional style with glass doors. This one is more of a bookcase that could work as interesting display shelves. These shelves would house things like a vintage a compass and diner coffee cups. I love the antique cutlery print I found for this room and want one for my dining room. The pocket watch posed a problem because, as a rule, pocket watches aren't very decorative. I found numerous wall clocks that looked like pocket watches but they were too formal for this room. Instead I used a retro wall clock that is similar to the face of a pocket watch. The plastic daffodils also posed a problem. Plastic daffodils aren't so great looking so I chose a vintage daffodil print instead. I hope I succeeded in capturing a sense of wonder in this room but I don't want it to haunt anyone in the dark, especially not for a year or two.

Next line: For a phone call from far away with a 'Hi, how are you today?' and a sign recovery comes to the broken ones. A wage-slave forty-hour work week weighs a thousand kilograms.
So bend your knees comes with a free fake smile for all your dumb demands.

This line mentions a phone call so I selected a beautiful bright orange retro telephone to brighten up the room. I think the Fugitive Recovery sign adds a bit of strange whimsy and is fitting for the room. I found it on a law enforcement supply site. As you can probably tell from the 'kilograms" reference, The Weakerthans are not from the US but from Canada. So, in homage to their heritage, I included an embroidered Canada pillow and a rusty moose wall hook.

Last line: The cordless razor that my father bought when I turned 17, a puke-green sofa, and the outline to a complicated dream of dignity. For a laugh too loud and too long. For a place where awkward belongs, and a sign recovery comes to the broken ones. For the broken ones.
"Or Best Offer."

I wouldn't exactly call the sofa "puke green" but it is a certain shade of green that reminds me of sofas in rumpus rooms circa 1964. I think the rug's busy pattern borders on awkward but, like everything else in the room, just barely fits in ("where awkward belongs").

Paint color is Benjamin Moore "Old Pickup Blue"

Resources:

Star Oak finish coffee table ($148.99) from Walmart
Rolly Side Table ($380) from Design Within Reach
Mid-century Rocker Chair ($288) from Urban Outfitters
Muir Cabinet-Chocolate ($349.99) from Target
Monogrammed Mugs ($6 each) from Anthropologie
Compass by Match of Italy ($57) from Unica Home
Retro White Wall Clock ($29.99) from Target
Daffodils and Tulips Print ($7.99) from Art.com
Traditional Cutlery Print ($79.99 - framed) Allposters.com
Vintage Rotary Phone ($198) from Anthropologie
Thomas Paul Flora Rug 8x11 ($1464) from Design Public
Fugitive Recovery Aluminum Sign ($12.95) from NIC
Hand Embroidered Canada Pillow ($196) from Uncommon Goods
Canterbury Sofa in Moss ($1699) from Crate and Barrel
Moose Alley Wall Hook ($15.99) from Mod Cloth
Bauhaus Arc Floor Lamp ($199) from CB2