It hurt to do so, but I completely dismantled The Gothic Grind to make a winter haven... and then I put it right back AND with better furniture!
The video is below, but I recorded the whole process (making the haven, then upgrading The Gothic Grind) as a "fall asleep to" video. The final product of the haven is complete at 48:20 in the video.
Also included the images below. The proper guide/rationale for what makes it a haven is written below the Blue Sky post. I say all this in the video, but the written summary should save ya some time :)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/aC97DmNqHAQ?feature=oembedhttps://embed.bsky.app/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbsky.app%2Fprofile%2Flylesmokey.bsky.social%2Fpost%2F3liqgb56m622hWhen I think "Winter Haven" I don't think winter themed or winter colors, I think of a diner at 6,000 feet elevation that has been around since 1973. Hardly anything matches, the things that do match have various degrees of discoloration, and there is a clear mixing of home made and store bought peppered into the timeline.
The stuffing is poking out of some chairs, young people who have long since moved away are still remembered by the initials they carved into the surface of booth tables, all the faults you may find fade away in a truly cozy winter haven over time.
On my bottom level, there are mismatched tables and chairs serving function over fashion. The four seater table by the window has three chairs of the same color, one slightly off color to denote a different age, reupholstering or staining, and a fourth just completely different. The couch by the door is the classic "grandma" couch that is gaudy and lost its cushion's softness in the 80's. The carpet by the cash register and the door USED to be the same color, but from muddy, snowy boots, the one by the door has lost its luster.
The way I imagined it is that the upper area is the "critter party" rentable space, so it's somewhat more uniform, designed for large groups, but even still, the "wine auntie" corner (as I called it in the video) is a mix of different patterns, and one of the stools at the tables against the wall is also off color. They tried their hardest to make the furniture match, but the carpets and table cloths are still just a LITTLE different. The critter play area is made of a mix of handmade and store bought apparatuses.
Finally, on both levels, pictures. Every rural diner and cafe I've ever been to has dozens if not scores of pictures. There aren't VERY many different frame options in Critter Cafe, so I went sparingly, but ideally, every wall would be covered in frames and memorabilia of all sizes.
That's what I think of when I think winter haven. Janky, possibly even ugly, but home.
