What kind of style and influences do you like in your house?
As far as decorating I like the country look but as far as furniture it's kind of a mixmatch look.
I like to decorate with candles, potpourri, throw pillows and blankets, cookbooks and Taste of Home Magazines. I like cookie jars and my tea party cups and plates! I would love to have plants in the house if our cat would not eat them!!
Alexandra Stoddard is very influencial to me tho I can't afford most of her decorating ideas. I do like her idea of having a pretty desk area to write and journal at. That, I do have, having inherited my grandma's old fashioned desk. Pretty pens and stationary don't cost a lot and that is something I enjoy buying for myself for special treats.
Emily Barnes and Susan Branch are more down to earth and more affordable to me! I reread their books every spring right before I do my springcleaning to get motivated!
Trainlady...my decorating style is very much like yours. I like comfort - pillows, afghans, candles, books and magazines on display. I also like to display family photos in groups.
However, liking these "extras" can also mean clutter! So I keep my magazines in a big wicker basket by the fireplace, and the books stacked neatly on the coffee table or in the bookcase.
I like the same cozy decorating style as both of you. I'm really into country plaids and ginghams and book cases. My next decorating project is building a shelf above my sliding glass doors with a rod below the shelf for hanging curtains (tab style). I currently have vertical blinds that seem stark to me so the tab curtains should give it a homier touch.
I refer to my style as "Early American Newlywed" You know, where everything you own came from someone else? We've been married 22 years and I have spent the last 4 or 5 years replacing major appliances (one by precious one) and getting 2 luxuries. A video camera and this year a digital camera. I am not planning on replacing my furniture until my children are a bit older. (My oldest is 19 and my youngest -- the only boy -- is 11) We don't have much in the way of knickknacks or throws but I like earthy tones and the natural, lived in look. I also try to not do anything that will keep my kids from being able to just be kids. I have painted wood floors and tiles in the kitchen that are easy to replace if one gets damaged. I keep saying someday; but I suspect that someday the grandkids will start coming and I'll be in the same boat. LOL. My fantasy is someday to have a living room/dining room done in a southwest style; a yellow bathroom with seashells in a net for decoration and a bright red strawberry theme in the kitchen. I have the right colors just no extra decorating touches yet. Someday . . . someday. . .
I call my style classic and bold. The trim in my house is all the same shade of gray. Each room is painted a bold yet classic color. The living room is hunter green and we just tiled it and the tile is gray. The dining room/Kitchen/Laundry rooms are sheffield green. The tile in the dining room looks like wood. Its really cool looking. The tile in the kitchen is white which I didnt choose it was there when we bought this house, even though we are the only owners, this was going to be a model home for some builders so we got a good deal and were not able to choose the tile in the bathrooms or kitchen. My bedroom is Red Rouge and light tan rug, havent gotten to tile it yet. My bathroom is also green, the color is close to sheffield green but I cant recall the name of it now. My oldest childs room is Burgundy red tan rug, havent tiled that bedroom yet either. My sons room is a smoky blue with the same gray tile that is in the living room and hallway. The kids bathroom is the same blue as my sons room. The other girls are in what used to be my two car garage, which is now a bed room. It has paneling and shelves so it hasnt been done as a room. It was going to be a den so it has a huge 100"tv out there. The only theme out there is my husbands collection of Toys from spawn to kiss to monsters....yikes! We need to build another room just for his toys. Even my hallway has a theme, its a dark navy blue and we call it the monster hallway. It has pictures of Nosfaratu my favorite vampire, Frankenstein my husbands fav, we have our collective toys on a shelf and my dau Samantha is an artist and drew me a photo of Frankenstein. We have pictures of spiders and anything spooky. For decorations we collect Dali prints, the living room has the family wall with photos of all of us. I have book cases with lots of nick nacks. Mostly Candle holders, candles, photos of us all and in my dining room I have a glass book case with all my glasses I collect, they are alcohol glasses such as shot glasses and the ones you buy in the gift sets at christmas time like from Baileys etc. In another smaller glass book case we have Mickey mouse figurines and disney memorobila. Disney globes etc. Last book case has my china. I keep live plants on top of the bookshelves mostly vines that drape down which I like. In my living room we have high ceilings so I have what they call plant shelves around the top but I keep my porcelian doll collections up there. I have no couch....only because we just redid the living room and we havent found one we like. We have one chair out there....lol good thing we all have tvs in our rooms. but I want to pick a couch that goes with the paint scheme and not just settle. Pictures would be easier I guess because I dont know if I did a good description. And I would love to see everyone elses rooms and who knows maybe get an idea or two.
felicia
I like the country look and have the country look....in oaks and pine... country curtains....etc.... I like a lived in house, not a house where it looks like a museum and you can't enjoy it.... know what I mean? *s*
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"A hundred years from now, it will not matter the sort of house I lived in, what my bank account was, or the car I drove....but the world may be different because I was important in the life of the animals and the creatures on this earth."
My style in my house is what I has been referred to as "Eclectic"--a little of everything. I have a little bit of everything all around. The only room that is only one style is my kittchen. It is strawberry city in there. They are hard to find, but when I find one I usually buy it.
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The decorating style in my house is a mixture of country, antiques and formal. My kitchen has the country kitchen table and chairs. The den is a mixture of new furniture and antique furniture. The living room is a formal living room, all white sofas, (3), 2 sets mixed together with a few special pieces such as a floor model globe and old pictures, a large gold framed picture of Pres. John F. Kennedy along with an original oil painting of a winter snow scene in a gold plated ornate frame.
My home is decorated in a primitive fashion. I like shaker style furniture. One color I have throughout my home is wine/burgundy. LR=wine & hunter green with folk art prints, candles, berries, beams from a 200 year-old barn in ceiling with baskets hanging from them, etc. Den=wine & blue in the Americana style. I can't forget my husband's collection of wildlife on the walls of the Den. Kitchen=Hunter green cabinets on pine plank walls. with wine accents-like a wine jelly cupboard, a farm theme. -Roosters, etc. (I'd have a real stone floor if my dh would allow me but instead I have stone-look linoleum. I guess you get the picture.
For Christmas I have a fan of fruit (pineapple, apples, grapes and nuts) above my door with a spot light on it and grapevine reindeer with a spot light on them as well and white candle lights in the windows. I also have an old sled with a bow displayed.
I have a 7-8 foot tree in my LR with white lights, a garland of raffia and an assorment of primitive ornaments. There is a nativity scene under the tree. In the Den the children decorate their own small tree with colored blinking lights and tacky, but fun ornaments. They each have a small tree in their bedrooms.
I have a pretty big village displayed and all throughout the house I have my snowman collection displayed.
Guess I am traditional but still have my modern black breakfront from when I first got married in 1955. Brought it with me when I moved to Florida. Always liked polishing my silver plate coffee set every year. Gives the room a homey feeling. Have all light beige carpeting through out the house & white walls. Have tile in the kitchen easier to keep clean.
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Sueanne
