I have always considered myself someone who loved a mostly antique room when it came to decor. I’ve never been into sleek modern looks, metal, plastic, or even leather, no matter how “hot” it got. I have never liked “modern”, most especially mid-century. And that has not changed. I think because I grew up in a house full of mid-century modern furniture, it just doesn’t speak to me. However, I am realizing that I really gravitate to a room that has a piece of something modern or contemporary in style in the room. Whether that be the sofa or just one table, I love the idea of at least one piece of furniture in the room having really clean lines. I think a room full of antiques, and only antiques, can start to look a little fussy. Even, dare I say it, when it’s a room full of French antiques. If one clean-lined piece is added, it adds depth that just isn’t there otherwise. And I really mean one. If there were more, at least for me, that would be too much. I want the the room to still have that antique soul, but with a little edge.
Friday Favorites – The Numbers Game
Decorating with numbers is something I have been into for awhile now. I have several different numbers, in different forms, around our house. It all started when I bought an antique demijohn for my husband for our anniversary one year, and because it was our 20th, I wanted to incorporate the year somehow. I found a cute little vintage hotel room badge with the number 92 on it and I hung it on the bottle. That was it! After that, I was off and running. Since then, I’ve added some 3’s (the number of kids we have), 5’s (the number in our family) and several more 92’s. My husband even got me an antique French street sign with a 92 on it for another anniversary. For whatever reason, I love the feeling I get when I look across the room and see one of these! But really, I see a lot of numbers around now; it seems to fit the vintage/farmhouse aesthetic, not to mention the fact that the Pottery Barns and Home Goods of the world sell them in different iterations. I love it when I see my significant numbers used in different little ways around the house, but I also love numbered baskets, or large numbers on a wall in a play room, or a favorite number displayed in a kid’s bedroom. Like letters in decor (you can read my post about that here), they can be used in so many ways and add such charm to a space.
Friday Favorites – Vintage Botanicals
Art is always such a hard thing for me to find. I’m not big on just buying prints at Home Goods or Pier One or the like, so I’m usually looking for real art. And of course, in order to afford real art, I need to buy antique and that is not a hunt that is quick! It’s really a matter of having to wait awhile before the right thing comes along, and in the meantime, living with blank walls.
Friday Favorites – Outdoor Living
I have to apologize about not writing very much these last few weeks. Between the holidays and trying to clean out and organize in the New Year, I have gotten a little behind! I haven’t written a Friday Favorites post in awhile, so thought I would start with that today. You may be thinking “Outdoor living? Well, that’s not very seasonally appropriate!” And frankly, you would be right! However, we are contemplating re-doing our backyard and since I would need to get estimates and be ready to go in early spring for it to be ready for this summer, it’s actually the perfect time for me to be looking around at outdoor living spaces.
Green with Envy
I know green has not been the hottest color in the decor world as of late, but I’ve noticed it is slowly having a re-awakening. And I have to say, I for one am thrilled! I don’t know if it is because I love the outdoors and plants so much, or if it’s for some other reason, but a little green in a room really speaks to me.
Mantel Dilemma!
Usually I’m pretty sure of what direction I want to go when it comes to decorating. However, I am having a bit of a dilemma when it comes to re-decorating my living room mantel. To give you the back story, until recently I had a tall topiary in a black tole container on each side, and then next to those, a a pair of antique candlesticks. Anyway, I’ve always loved my topiaries but I wasn’t loving the black containers anymore. I bought them years ago and at that time, I had more black accessories in the room and they really worked. So at first, I thought I would just look for two vintage urns or something more interesting to put the topiaries in. I haven’t had any luck with that and now I’m unsure about keeping them at all. For one, I was thinking maybe they are a little dated, and secondly, I already have topiaries in the dining room which is right next to the living area. I’m not sure I should have them in both rooms. Since I wasn’t really sure what direction I wanted to go, I’ve been scouring all my Pins on Pinterest to look back and see the mantels that have spoken to me the most. Much to my surprise, many of my favorite rooms have very empty (or very layered) mantels. There seems to be not much in between!