Mark and I are going to be doing some remodeling on his house. We are removing the carpet and putting in Pergo type 'wood' floors. He's having new energy-efficient windows put in, and I'm going to do some painting, etc. We both have some fun ideas for different rooms. It will be a long slow process that may take a couple of years, but it will be fun working on it together.
I mentioned on Facebook that I wanted to do a Steampunk living room. I could hear the groans and gasps from the fam. And I have no idea why I feel the need to do this, ... some sort of weird approval thing I'm sure, ... but allow me to explain.
Let me me start by rephrasing my Facebook comment a little. I think I want to do a subtle Steampunk look in the living room.
Since it is human nature to fear what we don't understand, let me show you what Steampunk is.
From Wikipedia:
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery.Basically, Steampunk is a genre that is a combination of the Victorian era, the mechanical/steam age, and early sciences and exploration. It's 'modern history'.
(It's mostly reproductions of quite ornate and/or mechanical antiques, not a lot of genuine antiques.)
Like everything else in the world, there are 'varying degrees' of Steampunk.
This is 'extreme' Steampunk:
I think it's COOL, but it IS 'extreme'.
But first!
I have several reasons for wanting to do a Steampunk theme.
1. Because I love the flourish of the Victorian age, the parlors and the beautiful styles and fashions! And I'm fascinated by the music machines and animatronics and mechanical inventions of the era.
2. Because I love science, experimentation, maps, and exploration.
3. Because Mark likes antiques, machines, and aeronaughtical stuff.
4. This is a cool way to combine our favorite things into one room.
5. We already have a lot of the stuff to do it.
Subtle Steampunk: A small amount of bulky industrial pieces like the tripod lamp, (I believe I have a tripod in Jodi's barn), and a victorian touch in the old map on the wall and the ornate shelves.
Historical looking, and yet modern at the same time. It's also rustic enough for men to feel comfortable.
On this one, you have the industrial pulley lamp, the old hour glasses, and again, an old map on the wall.
This one has the industrial looking lamp, and even a dead animal on the wall! Now what man is gonna turn his nose up at that!
Next are a few random pieces that are very Steampunk. They can be very expensive pieces to acquire. But as luck would have it, I just happen to have some of these things. And they are not reproductions, they are the real deal.
I wish I had a picture of my clock to put here, but I can't find one! :o(
Ornate organs and pianos like this one are great steampunk pieces.
This beauty belonged to Mark's grandparents. It currently sits in the living room, looking completely out of place with everything else in there, but there is no other place for it to go, so it has to stay where it is. But it will look lovely once it's cleaned up and tied in with other cool stuff. I have already removed a lot of 'junk' off of it. It was such a 'catch all' that you could not tell it was an organ.
Here are 3 cool Steampunk Lamps. Gears and wheels are signature pieces of steampunk.
I'm thinking of doing something 'similar' to those with the pipes I found. I love the industrial cages and lightbulbs.
Ceiling fans from Airplane Propellers? Mark loves these! He also has some cool airplane parts that could be used in other ways.
I don't think this is really groan/gasp worthy. But really, it doesn't matter, because we like it.
