In every suburban den 1983-1989

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1. a child stares blankly at heavily pixelized boxers on the TV screen

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:12 (eighteen years ago)

2. leftover wood paneling

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:14 (eighteen years ago)

3. "mod" recliner

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:14 (eighteen years ago)

4. plastic needlepoint tissue covers

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 15:15 (eighteen years ago)

5. Aging turntable with cassettes stacked on top of it.

― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:30 (eighteen years ago)

6. jambox with dual cassette decks for making mixes.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:31 (eighteen years ago)

7 Seriously out of date Encyclopedias

― brownie, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:39 (eighteen years ago)

-Stuffed/ceramic ducks on the wall

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:43 (eighteen years ago)

7a. World Book

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:44 (eighteen years ago)

i was always both jealous and vaguely suspicious of anyone who had a room they called a "den", it sounded somewhat satanic

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:44 (eighteen years ago)

i mean, surely it's just a living room?

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:45 (eighteen years ago)

we have a living room in the front of the house where very little living goes in. In the back of the house we have a den, with less attractive furniture and a huge TV.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:46 (eighteen years ago)

i prefer 'rumpus room'

― blueski, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:47 (eighteen years ago)

Some houses had it separate rooms, where the living/family room was the big tv, hi-fi, shag carpet, and atari/NES.

The den was where the dad had his desk, bookshelves full of playboys, and materiel for assembling fishing lures.

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:47 (eighteen years ago)

"shenanigans nook"

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:50 (eighteen years ago)

fortunately G and I each have our own rooms for our indvidual shenanigans. In the future a child my force one of us out to the den, I guess.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:51 (eighteen years ago)

Hah, like Tracer, I was always jealous of kids who had dens, which always looked like these worn-out paradises of teenage fun. When my parents eventually got one, I found it pretty boring.

Wood panelling and knee-high carpets are U&K

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:53 (eighteen years ago)

In those years our TV/living room had a piano and an antique rocking chair that my mother re-caned (but no sofa or armchairs) and old, mouldering woolen rugs from maybe the '30s? with giant, faded cabbage roses all over them. We were kind of weird.

― Laurel, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:53 (eighteen years ago)

I should add: an upright grand player piano. A big, heavy one.

― Laurel, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:55 (eighteen years ago)

-historical family knick-knacks on the wall

(in our case, it was great-grandpa's infantry sabre and doughboy helmet. I wonder what my folks did with them when they sold the house)

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:55 (eighteen years ago)

a text-only adventure-puzzle game on the Apple II, like Zork for example.

― sleeve, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:57 (eighteen years ago)

drop ceilings

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:01 (eighteen years ago)

Uno deck

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:03 (eighteen years ago)

Guinness Book of World Records

― brownie, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:05 (eighteen years ago)

15) A wadded plastic baggie, despite the warning that "deliberate concentration and inhalation of vapors may be harmful or fatal."

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:08 (eighteen years ago)

16) A stained, ratty couch (plaid pattern? nubbly?) that neatly encapsulates the fact that certain people do not ever allow other people to have anything nice.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (eighteen years ago)

15) A sticker depicting C-3P0.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (eighteen years ago)

err make that 17)

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (eighteen years ago)

18) A brown beanbag chair from which small white "beans" periodically emerge.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (eighteen years ago)

17) VCR and VHS tapes

― o. nate, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:09 (eighteen years ago)

19) A moonboot.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:10 (eighteen years ago)

16. Some WWF action figures, lying abandonned in a corner.

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:10 (eighteen years ago)

20) Pitfall cartridge.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:10 (eighteen years ago)

Damn, nu-ILX = death to numbered lists.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:11 (eighteen years ago)

21) Dust-encrusted cobwebs in the ceiling corner, which, if you stare into them for long enough, become vast alien landscapes built around terrible geometeries that you think you might someday understand but wow ... just wow.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:14 (eighteen years ago)

22) Place on gross couch that is magical due to recent inhabitation by girl you will never actually see naked.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:15 (eighteen years ago)

23) Pringles can (not visible) directly under magical spot on couch.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:16 (eighteen years ago)

incorporating VCR/VHS and WWF dudes:

26) Burnt-orange macrame basket hanging from ceiling hook, decorated with large brown wooded beads, containing a white plastic pot with spider plant.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:19 (eighteen years ago)

27) Crayon-embellished copy of Where The Wild Things Are.

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:20 (eighteen years ago)

23: Christmas tree

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 17:25 (eighteen years ago)

29) stack of tupperware boxes filled with mom's arts & crafts supplies (pipe cleaners, glitter)
30) a neon bar sign that 'my dad's gonna fix up'
31) water heater
32) christmas decorations
33a) a drinking glass half-filled with tepid fruit punch
33b) a crate of ecto-cooler juice boxes purchased in bulk at Sam's Club
34) a sidewise cable-spool used as a coffee table

― remy bean, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:03 (eighteen years ago)

35) a hutch

― remy bean, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:03 (eighteen years ago)

I was still drinking Ecto-Coolers in 1996.

― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:17 (eighteen years ago)

They still make it, don't they? They only changed the name.

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:20 (eighteen years ago)

copies of ranger rick magazine

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:20 (eighteen years ago)

a short magazine tray with as many old Vogues, Better Homes and Gardens, and Westways as it could carry without toppling over.

― tremendoid, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:23 (eighteen years ago)

various star wars/g.i. joe weapons embedded in shag carpet

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:27 (eighteen years ago)

confusing post-cube Rubik's puzzle.

― .stet., Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:29 (eighteen years ago)

Pocket-sized "Three Musketeers" chocolate bars, left over from last year's Halloween bounty.

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:33 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2006/09/nes_power_pad-thumb.jpg

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:38 (eighteen years ago)

various star wars/g.i. joe weapons embedded in shag carpet

also legos

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:43 (eighteen years ago)

Empty Capri Sun pouch lodged under couch

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:48 (eighteen years ago)

you guys lived in some messy-ass houses

― strongohulkington, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:49 (eighteen years ago)

ha yeah. half drunk juice cups sitting around didn't cut it in my house.

― andrew m., Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:52 (eighteen years ago)

inspired by reader's digest thread:

3?. bookshelf lined with unthumbed reader's digest condensed books.

― andrew m., Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:53 (eighteen years ago)

Messy nothing. You shove it under the couch, Mom doesn't find it for 3 weeks until she decides to vacuum under there for some reason, then she gets mad and yells out w/ stress on alternating words.

"WHO put THIS here?!"

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:58 (eighteen years ago)

you guys lived in some messy-ass houses

I think pye poudre is describing his current den.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 18:59 (eighteen years ago)

you guys lived in some messy-ass houses

I think pye poudre is describing his current den.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:11 (eighteen years ago)

you guys lived in some messy-ass houses

I think pye poudre is describing his current den.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:11 (eighteen years ago)

you guys lived in some messy-ass houses

I think pye poudre is describing his current den.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:12 (eighteen years ago)

shelf of National Geographics no one ever reads, originally acquired under the pretext of being useful for writing school papers and the like

hutch contains super 8 films, projector and screen, never to be removed again until selling the house

Trivial Pursuit

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:12 (eighteen years ago)

expanding that: shelves of board games in varying states of rapidly decomposing cardboard.

board games migrate between storage in den to storage on shelf in closet about once every 5 years.

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:15 (eighteen years ago)

this, stuffed with a few john jakes bicentennial series novels, uno, triominoes, rook, loose family pictures, a sas shoes shoebox with old broken pine scented candles in it, redbook magazines, etc.
http://www.georgeswood.com/georgeswoodcrafts076006.jpg

― andrew m., Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:19 (eighteen years ago)

andrew m, did you grow up at my house? Ours also held a giant (but disintegrating) King James Bible.

― Sara R-C, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

Large parts of this thread remind me of my grandparents' house, but my own parents never had any such thing! Parents were kind of throw-backs to a prev era/generation. Hmmph.

― Laurel, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

haha, trionimoes

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:24 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.oaktreeent.com/web_photos/1-PPA/MB_Fireball-Island_4708_game_web.jpg

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:26 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.georgeswood.com/georgeswoodcrafts076006.jpg

The hell is that thing called anyway? It used to make for a good hiding place.

― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:35 (eighteen years ago)

don't know what it's called. found it by googling hexagon end table. turns out that's what it's called.

― andrew m., Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:37 (eighteen years ago)

z-brick

― dice in my pockets, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:41 (eighteen years ago)

Wurlitzer organ with cassette player built right in!

― en i see kay, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:43 (eighteen years ago)

-tv tray
-remote control the size of the Washington Monument
-blinds drawn to keep the sun off the big screen (28") tv
-photo of random family member with Jimmy Carter
-cable box with two rows of buttons -- 1 for the x- digit, the other for the -x digit

― nickalicious, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:53 (eighteen years ago)

It used to make for a good hiding place...for WEED.

― nickalicious, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:53 (eighteen years ago)

god, that end table, yeah. Also the giant tv built into the huge heavy wooden cabinet.

― luna, Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:25 (eighteen years ago)

Three-dimensional piece of "art" depicting a sailboat. Sails are formed from heavy twine tied around nails.

― Pleasant Plains, Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:32 (eighteen years ago)

...or thin copper wire on black felt

― andrew m., Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:36 (eighteen years ago)

Giving up on the numbering:

Something made of molded plastic that has been fashioned to resemble something made of wood
"The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind"
A copy of Omni magazine
Chia Pet
A God's eye made of twigs and yellow yarn.
A C-90 with Van Halen's first album on one side, Def Leppard's High 'n' Dry on the other
Dog hair -- lots and lots of dog hair
A copy of the Dungeon Master's Guide
A pair of Boffers (significant wear and tear)
A white cardboard box containing a hockey puck, a cast that once encased a cat's leg (saved for sentimental reasons), three wire hangers, and a Lite Brite bord with a picture of Ms. Pac man on it (all other Lite Brite pieces missing).

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:41 (eighteen years ago)

Genius

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:44 (eighteen years ago)

(all other Lite Brite pieces missing).

haha

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:45 (eighteen years ago)

macrame owl

― andrew m., Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:47 (eighteen years ago)

A copy of the Dungeon Master's Guide

In a perfect world there is one of these in every room of ever house.

― nickalicious, Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:48 (eighteen years ago)

a remote control/tv guide holder that hangs over the arm of the recliner (empty, because well-thumbed tv guide is always out on the coffee table and remote control is usually missing).

― lauren, Thursday, 15 March 2007 20:55 (eighteen years ago)

I think it was 1989 when my dad bought some big clipboard that had a storage bin in it and some velcro and built this great remote control storage unit, all the remotes velcroed to the top and you could put your tv guides etc inside it. It lasted well into the 90s in our house.

― nickalicious, Thursday, 15 March 2007 21:00 (eighteen years ago)

ours had a mallard embroidered on it.

― lauren, Thursday, 15 March 2007 21:01 (eighteen years ago)

touche!

― nickalicious, Thursday, 15 March 2007 21:03 (eighteen years ago)

every single piece of furniture that you didn't sit on made of pressboard/particleboard

(this may be valid for more decades)

― kingfish, Thursday, 15 March 2007 21:07 (eighteen years ago)

This even now describes all the leftover shit in my parents garage (inc the way out of date world books, dungeon master guide etc)

Also:
speak and spell (does not work)
merlin (also does not work)
half the bits of an old scalectrix kit (road parts missing)
a guitar practise amp
some dogy casettes of bands like Stryper

― Trayce, Thursday, 15 March 2007 21:08 (eighteen years ago)

what was that shit made from the little round beads you'd put on pegs and iron

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Thursday, 15 March 2007 21:09 (eighteen years ago)

Rich or just plain spoiled families would have two Nintendos -- so that the kids didn't fight. That seemed so hugely wasteful at the time.

― Chris H., Thursday, 15 March 2007 21:57 (eighteen years ago)

This may be getting into territory much more specific to my individual den, but: a large and, amazingly, ever-growing collection of Bossons Wall Masks.

http://www.bossons.com/set2/page4/photo_89.jpg

also: thick, dull-looking guidebooks to carpentry, ham radio, and circuitry, dating from the early 70s and presumably so fully absorbed by your dad before you were born that he never actually needs to look at them, because they certainly don't move.

photo albums jacketed in paisleys, with clingy, almost certainly acidic plastic sheets 'protecting' the photos

drawer yielding progressively arcane Commodore 64 peripherals, starting with various joysticks (each has a different flaw) and continuing through the Koalapad to the cassette tape drive and a mysterious clackety number keypad of unknown purpose

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 15 March 2007 22:03 (eighteen years ago)

Gigantic remote control that had to be held in two hands or was attached to the TV/VCR by a wire.

― Chris H., Thursday, 15 March 2007 22:04 (eighteen years ago)

Football phone that came free with a subscription to Sports Illustrated.

― Chris H., Thursday, 15 March 2007 22:06 (eighteen years ago)

One videtape containing footage of 5 years worth of Christmas mornings -- the only time the camera is ever used.

― Chris H., Thursday, 15 March 2007 22:10 (eighteen years ago)

A long black church pew, a fireplace with "geese in flight" brass and iron screen, a farmhouse hutch full of sheet music and ca 1930s women's fiction. No?? Damn.

― Laurel, Thursday, 15 March 2007 22:11 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.georgeswood.com/georgeswoodcrafts076006.jpg
omg my family had those! where did they come from?!?!

― abanana, Thursday, 15 March 2007 22:11 (eighteen years ago)

That poster with the porsches and ferraris that says "justification for higher education"

― Chris H., Thursday, 15 March 2007 22:11 (eighteen years ago)

christi brinkley poster

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 15 March 2007 23:22 (eighteen years ago)

haha, I used to have cub scout meetings in a lot of dens like these – they were friggin' wonderful! also:

cross-country ski pole, used 'to get that fucking bat, if he comes back'
a used baking soda/vinegar volcano
swear jar
dad's half-built home bar
a collapsed card table with duct-taped leg
carom board against the wall
all sorts of wacky 'kiss me i'm irish' stuff
faint musty cat-pee smell
handheld water-jet games, without water. (remember these? little game-boy sized things filled with water, and two buttons on the bottom, each of which would create a jet that would send upright a bunch of rings (coins, darts) that would land on platforms of various configurations, point values, etc.)

http://i19.ebayimg.com/04/i/06/81/81/65_1.JPG

somebody's omigod so stupid kid brother
a bowl of werthers originals
laundry waiting to be brought upstairs

― remy bean, Friday, 16 March 2007 01:30 (eighteen years ago)

amber-colored ashtray with stubs of newport lights
older brother's vaguely gay bodybuilding magazines
view through the window of a beat-up corvette, rusty, on cinderblocks
those little elastic bands they use for braces, flizzing through the air

― remy bean, Friday, 16 March 2007 01:33 (eighteen years ago)

22) Place on gross couch that is magical due to recent inhabitation by girl you will never actually see naked.

see also: scratch-and-sniff place on the corduroy cushion's wale where babysitter did 'it' with melanie's older brother matty.

― remy bean, Friday, 16 March 2007 01:36 (eighteen years ago)

Hahah oh yeah on that last one :D

― Trayce, Friday, 16 March 2007 01:37 (eighteen years ago)

doh xpost! I mean the elastic bands thing!

― Trayce, Friday, 16 March 2007 01:38 (eighteen years ago)

Football phone that came free with a subscription to Sports Illustrated.

haha I remember wanting one from the commercial(that ran for years), it would have totally made it worth it even though I couldn't give a shit about sports at the time.
I thought their 'gifts' couldn't get more chintzy until they came out with that sticky wall poster ('big head'? that moron kept repeating it in the commercial) a couple years ago.

― tremendoid, Friday, 16 March 2007 07:15 (eighteen years ago)

* Glazed seashell ashtray, unused.

― Pleasant Plains, Friday, 16 March 2007 22:34 (eighteen years ago)

Hungry Hungry Hippos

― calstars, Saturday, 17 March 2007 00:45 (eighteen years ago)

i grew up in urban apartments. the concept of "a den" seems so foreign to me. what is a den for that you can't do in either your bedroom or your living room?

― get bent, Saturday, 17 March 2007 03:24 (eighteen years ago)

A place where all the crap gets shoved, basically (well, it was for me). We don't have (or call them) dens here, though, but I am guessing a family room is the same idea.

― Trayce, Saturday, 17 March 2007 03:28 (eighteen years ago)

We never had a den either. Most of my contributions on this thread come from observations I made at sleep-overs.

― Pleasant Plains, Saturday, 17 March 2007 03:53 (eighteen years ago)

JBR, I am equally left out of this listing and I'm not even urban!

― Laurel, Saturday, 17 March 2007 04:01 (eighteen years ago)

yeah we called it a family room xxpost. where the tv watching gets done.

― tremendoid, Saturday, 17 March 2007 05:06 (eighteen years ago)

five months pass...

http://www.georgeswood.com/georgeswoodcrafts076006.jpg

I TOTALLY JUST GOT ONE OF THESE! Was laying by a dumpster in the alley behind my apartment, during the recent annual student move-out free stuff binge. I have NO idea what I need it for but it was love at first sight. The door being a single piece taking up two sides of the hexagon is so ridiculously inefficient and awkward when you open the thing, and yet so adorable.

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 04:21 (eighteen years ago)

The "den" is where the lion of the household enjoys his solitary time. The family room is the playpen for the entire clan.

― libcrypt, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 06:31 (eighteen years ago)

Congrats, Doctor Casino!

...so what is the "living room" all about?

― dell, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 06:36 (eighteen years ago)

You are so going to bruise yourself eventually on that thing, DC.

― Pleasant Plains, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 12:07 (eighteen years ago)

If my friends and I during middle-school managed to have mock-pro wrestling matches in a room where such a hexagonal devil sat perilously close, then I trust that DC will be alright. (That being said, those are some sharp-ass corners; ouch)

― dell, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 12:11 (eighteen years ago)

seven months pass...

I'm thinking of turning my spare room into a den... I'll take furnsihing tips from this thread

― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 11:39 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.georgeswood.com/georgeswoodcrafts076006.jpg

had one of those too

― warmsherry, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 12:33 (seventeen years ago)

34) a sidewise cable-spool used as a coffee table

Also in every college apt / dorm room 1990-1998

― David R., Tuesday, 15 April 2008 12:59 (seventeen years ago)

Are you, perchance, Catholic?

If so please install red naugahyde mini bar or similar in basement. Two barstools optional.

See also box full of Barbie dolls in closet with mangled hair, in various states of undress.

― suzy, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 13:15 (seventeen years ago)

209ish. https://www.audiolinks.com/Califone/4-1300AV.jpg (battery panel snapped off)
210. square of stair carpet, originally golden, now brown and sticky and curled at edges
211. clutch of spiral-bound notebooks (from which all paper has been removed)
212. scattering of fuses
213. marbles

― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 13:34 (seventeen years ago)

1 to 5 curiosity-piece knick-knacks purchased from either Spencer Gifts or The Sharper Image: plasma balls; stretchably gelatinous "stress-reliever" paperweights; one of those "pin impression" things; and, of course, the grandaddy of them all, a set of hanging "clack" balls

― Pillbox, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 18:50 (seventeen years ago)

13 years worth of National Geographic and Reader's Digest (Word Power feature already filled in).

― kate78, Tuesday, 15 April 2008 23:47 (seventeen years ago)

Also in every college apt / dorm room 1990-1998

I vote "yes" on somebody starting this thread. Maybe broadening the time range a bit (I dormed 2000-2002 so...).

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 00:58 (seventeen years ago)

I can't believe no one has yet mentioned: lots of circular trays full of kodachrome slides, boxed and labled with reference to date/vaction spot/family event. In my family these were kept inside an end table/storage device as shown above.

― Pillbox, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 01:04 (seventeen years ago)

218. Jane Fonda aerobics videocassette
219. Giant binoculars

― felicity, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 02:01 (seventeen years ago)

220. Granny square or zig-zag pattern crocheted afghan

― felicity, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 02:03 (seventeen years ago)

221. Loose D battery

― felicity, Wednesday, 16 April 2008 02:04 (seventeen years ago)

nine months pass...

How does one install wood panelling and would it be a good idea?

― baaderonixx, Friday, 16 January 2009 16:22 (seventeen years ago)

"A long black church pew"
I thought we were the only ones.

― Trip Maker, Friday, 16 January 2009 16:49 (seventeen years ago)

http://www.georgeswood.com/georgeswoodcrafts076006.jpg

My grandparents had one of these on each side of the living room. One was full of Disneyland-label LPs.

― ^likes tilt-a-whirls (Pancakes Hackman), Friday, 16 January 2009 16:59 (seventeen years ago)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Macintosh_classic.jpg

had one of these in our den... used to play carmen sandiego on it and also use it to write some truly bizarre stories. my parents still have it at their house, it comes in a cute carrying case!

― homosexual II, Friday, 16 January 2009 17:40 (seventeen years ago)

Box of Smurfs.

― M.V., Friday, 16 January 2009 19:25 (seventeen years ago)

two years pass...

224 (maybe?). At least three or four of these movies: WORST of the Best Picture Oscar Noms (Only The '80s Edition) on VHS stored in some kind of hutch, cabinet or credenza, watched once (at most) since they were acquired.

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 29 July 2011 17:57 (fourteen years ago)

our hexagon end table pix keep disappearing, so here's a new one.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4vgeDIHkOVE/TjMAqd6kYOI/AAAAAAAABDE/EicOXDI-8k8/s512/endtable01.jpg
i can still smell it. well, the overall potpourri of its contents anyway.

― andrew m., Friday, 29 July 2011 18:51 (fourteen years ago)

Ceiling fan with 3 postionable "can" lights.
Pressboard coffee table and entertainment unit with smoked glass inserts and fake gold "chrome" edging.
Fabric vertical blinds over sliding glass doors.
Huge ginger jar style lamp.
The colour peach.
A souvenir from "South of the Border"

― Manitobiloba (Kim), Friday, 29 July 2011 18:52 (fourteen years ago)

One Wednesday night, once a month: Your mom and 4 of her ladies playing Bunko. (No guys allowed.)

― andrew m., Friday, 29 July 2011 18:53 (fourteen years ago)

I want to run my fingernail across the top of that hexagon, dig up some furniture tar.

― ≝ (Pleasant Plains), Friday, 29 July 2011 18:54 (fourteen years ago)

My grandmother still has those hexagon endtables, which she has had since as far back as I can remember. I want them when she's gone.

― Dave Zuul (Phil D.), Friday, 29 July 2011 19:24 (fourteen years ago)

Wicker magazine holder with People magazines, this month's Cable Guide (we couldn't wait until this arrived to see what "adult" offerings were available to the underaged eye) and the latest Spiegel catalog. Rocking chair with padded seat and foofy skirt.

― Always a Bigger and Better Dog (Mount Cleaners), Friday, 29 July 2011 19:59 (fourteen years ago)

My mother's hexagon end table is in the living room, next to the 'reading chair' (not a La-Z-Boy). It holds embroidery/crochet stuff and a family bible passed down from my grandmother's Huguenot ancestors.

― murdoch most foul (suzy), Friday, 29 July 2011 20:10 (fourteen years ago)

this, but actually taped off of hbo, or regular tv with pause button gaps where the commercials should be, three to a tape so the picture quality is about as good as in the edison days.

― apichathong song (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Friday, 29 July 2011 20:15 (fourteen years ago)

OTM

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 29 July 2011 20:21 (fourteen years ago)

one year passes...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e1/Leisure_Suit_Larry_1.jpg/220px-Leisure_Suit_Larry_1.jpg

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 24 May 2013 01:03 (twelve years ago)

three years pass...

Some form of sand-based arts or crafts object. Maybe the real deluxe frame containing different shades of gray sand that you flip over to watch a magical landscape transformation... but at a minimum, one to three glass vials containing three colors of sand dyed different colors, piled up in rainbow strata and sold by an eleven-year-old at some kind of spring fair day.

― ✓ (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 9 May 2017 03:16 (eight years ago)

Collections - a few books each but never comprehensive and often extremely gappy - of paperback, wide-format Garfield and The Far Side reprints. Thinner, printed-on-newsprint and falling-to-pieces 1960s and 70s editions of Peanuts may also appear, along with exactly one volume of a little-beloved recent strip.

Jokily-titled collection of columns by regional newspaper humor columnist - Dave Barry, Lewis Grizzard, etc.

Ebert or Maltin home-movie rental guide, somehow already several years out of date.

― ✓ (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 9 May 2017 03:24 (eight years ago)

one year passes...

The shaggy den life painted in this thread feels mighty appealing right now

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Monday, 8 October 2018 12:54 (seven years ago)

TV Guide

― rip van wanko, Monday, 8 October 2018 13:45 (seven years ago)

love this thread

Georgia O'Keefe vagina flower

― rip van wanko, Monday, 8 October 2018 14:10 (seven years ago)

Good lord almighty this thread makes me feel olde

― F# A# (∞), Monday, 8 October 2018 16:03 (seven years ago)

Specifically old TV Guides turned to half-finished crosswords.

― maura, Monday, 8 October 2018 16:17 (seven years ago)

A crocheted throw

― maura, Monday, 8 October 2018 16:17 (seven years ago)

A well-chewed dog toy wedged under the couch.

― nickn, Monday, 8 October 2018 16:26 (seven years ago)

Something as-seen-on-TV and barely used since it initially arrived (sorry, no C.O.D.s), like Flexi Blocks or those whatsits for making Princess Leia hairdos and applying poofy flower things to clothes (might be imagining both of these or conflating multiple products), or an incomplete set of cassettes from a themed Time-Life or K-Tel volume.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wbIIYUVgxTY/S8bqkac5L5I/AAAAAAAACYY/a5AdyIE_hz4/s400/hifi.jpg

― omar little, Monday, 8 October 2018 17:18 (seven years ago)

^^^ a true thing of beauty

i can smell the SMELL of these dens

― marcos, Monday, 8 October 2018 17:50 (seven years ago)

How long before we try to identify the LPs and cassettes in that cabinet?

― nickn, Monday, 8 October 2018 17:51 (seven years ago)

At least one of those cassettes will be an Andy Williams album.

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Monday, 8 October 2018 17:51 (seven years ago)

A stain

― calstars, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:14 (seven years ago)

That floral furniture

― F# A# (∞), Monday, 8 October 2018 18:19 (seven years ago)

Large mirror

― rb (soda), Monday, 8 October 2018 18:25 (seven years ago)

http://laurelleaffarm.com/item-photos/vintage-amber-glass-tumblers-stacked-ring-base-spiral-optic-pattern-Libbey-drinking-glasses-Laurel-Leaf-Farm-item-no-z71347-1.jpg

― rb (soda), Monday, 8 October 2018 18:26 (seven years ago)

^^^

― marcos, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:29 (seven years ago)

Hidden crawlspace behind a bookshelf

― calstars, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:35 (seven years ago)

The shaggy den life painted in this thread feels mighty appealing right now

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx),

read this as "appalling"

― You like queer? I like queer. Still like queer. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 8 October 2018 18:37 (seven years ago)

Mr LaPage’s VHS collection

― calstars, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:39 (seven years ago)

hidden crawlspace awesomely otm

omg soda what did you even google to get that

― rip van wanko, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:49 (seven years ago)

8th grade Ryan's gym socks that you definitely want to let him take care of

― rip van wanko, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:52 (seven years ago)

if the "den" is in the basement, a humming dehumidifier that does nothing to alter the cold, damp air

― marcos, Monday, 8 October 2018 18:57 (seven years ago)

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/XRAAAOSwT-FZAjin/s-l300.jpg

― omar little, Monday, 8 October 2018 20:45 (seven years ago)

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/161045485100_/Space-1st-EdJames-A-Michener-Random-House.jpg

― omar little, Monday, 8 October 2018 20:45 (seven years ago)

I kind of want to crawl into one of these family rooms in the 80s now and play a big old stereo and read REaders Digests.

― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 05:32 (seven years ago)

Bliss

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 06:36 (seven years ago)

http://www.game-show-utopia.net/homegames/wof/WOF%20deluxe%20gameplay.jpg

― Ubering With The King (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 07:51 (seven years ago)

also Connect Four!

― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 13:24 (seven years ago)

Trivial Pursuit

― calstars, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 15:53 (seven years ago)

the reagan-ready GAME OF LIFE ftw. ahhh, the ratcheting sound of that spinner.

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/pict/323292971239_/Red-Storm-Rising-by-Tom-Clancy-1987-Paperback.jpg

https://www.simplyeighties.com/resources/Waddingtons%20Mastermind%20Game.jpg

1989, late at night. flip on the TV in the den:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4lkkYO3TXY

― omar little, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 16:22 (seven years ago)

Master Mind was hella fun

― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 16:24 (seven years ago)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41B107Q4N7L._SX425_.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tZweJPy.jpg

― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 17:10 (seven years ago)

I have one of those hexagon end tables in my house. It used to belong to my girlfriend's grandmother. No idea how old it is.

― silverfish, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 17:20 (seven years ago)

Can't forget this one.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61ov9uJv78L._SX425_.jpg

― nickn, Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:05 (seven years ago)

List games your family own but no longer play

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:14 (seven years ago)

https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0614/26/complete-set-1969-readers-digest_1_2204248c5409f8e34658bf86a25d3fb0.jpg

― Plinka Trinka Banga Tink (Eliza D.), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:17 (seven years ago)

Chronically faded Book Club Associates editions, mostly unread and with the pages stuck together with mildew.

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:21 (seven years ago)

Ice bucket with lid that has never had ice in it. 1970s glassware that's never been used.

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:24 (seven years ago)

particularly...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/British_dimpled_glass_pint_jug_with_ale.jpg/170px-British_dimpled_glass_pint_jug_with_ale.jpg

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:27 (seven years ago)

(even though no-one in the house drinks beer and when they do occasionally drink lager or cider it's from a straight glass)

― Visibly Over 25 (snoball), Tuesday, 9 October 2018 18:28 (seven years ago)

some kinda big decorative glass jar with sand and shells from a special beach trip. bonus for whole sand dollar.

― andrew m., Tuesday, 9 October 2018 20:22 (seven years ago)

a piece of driftwood art

― andrew m., Tuesday, 9 October 2018 20:23 (seven years ago)

Pinkie and Blue Boy.

(whipeepo)

― andrew m., Tuesday, 9 October 2018 20:26 (seven years ago)

man labyrinth. what a frustrating game. if i could get it down one side and take a break in the corner i was doing good.

― andrew m., Tuesday, 9 October 2018 20:28 (seven years ago)

one year passes...

You've been to this house.

I've been to this house.

One night, you crashed in this room:

https://i.imgur.com/TxvV3Wm.jpg

But when you woke up, we were in this room:

https://i.imgur.com/slWgqL8.jpg

― pplains, Saturday, 11 April 2020 02:56 (five years ago)

I grew up a little earlier and dens weren’t my own personal experience, but the suburban dens from the 70s my friends’ parents had were small and cozy and they were much darker

― Dan S, Saturday, 11 April 2020 03:30 (five years ago)

Rec room life

― calstars, Saturday, 11 April 2020 11:35 (five years ago)

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