Another beautiful morning. Another great walk with my husband.
It’s beautiful here.
We’ve walked six days in a row and we’ll probably take tomorrow off as it’s Farmers Market day and Don has to get going early in the morning. I’ll probably mow the lilac side of the front lawn, so that will give me some exercise.
There’s much I could and should be doing around here, but all I want to do is sit on the porch and read. Maybe I’ll clean somewhere in the house this morning so I’ll feel as if I’ve earned my reading time – maybe the bathroom – my least favorite thing to do around here.
I’ve been thinking about decorating and the continual emphasis on defining one’s style. I’ve never understood this need to categorize something. Is it that it makes one feel secure in a style choice? Like, “country” or “mid-century modern” or “boho?” Does it bring comfort to conform to one style? Or maybe it’s simply that the home/apartment owner likes that style exclusively?
As you know, I like things eclectic and undefined. I think it’s much more interesting, because that lack of confinement within just one style allows the owner’s personality and passions to shine through. We’ve definitely become more eclectic in the past several years. Almost everything here is vintage/used; different time periods, different styles. We have an overall color scheme and I think I have a pretty good eye for pulling it all together. You can’t look around our house and say that it is anything definitively. It’s just us.
You could say it’s funky, I guess. I’m fine with that.
And hopefully, cozy. I’m fine with that, too.
I’m always bemused by the whole ‘boho’ craze. I’m of an age, you know, and boho is basically the way everyone decorated their dorm rooms and apartments when I was in college. It was an inexpensive way to adorn a space. Been there, done that. And I have a confession to make: I was never a fan of macrame, except when necessary as a plant hanger. Macrame wall hangings? No. Houseplants, yes. But houseplants are eternal and are not defined by ‘bohemian’ or ‘boho’ even though we see a lot of them in those spaces.
But we know that decorating styles recycle and eventually become the hot ‘new’ look.
Except they aren’t.
It’s all personal taste, of course, and that particular look was never my taste even when I was living it in the seventies. Neither was mid-century modern, because my parents decorated in that style. And just as my mom eschewed her mother’s style, I’ve apparently done the same. The difference being that I admire the lines of certain mid-century furniture and like to see how homeowners use it in their living spaces. (And I like decorating my modern dollhouse in miniature versions of mid-century furniture, but that’s another story.)
Anyway, I’ve always tried to dodge any sort of label, whether it’s about me, my personality, my reading choices, my political beliefs, my spirituality, or my home. I think labels are limiting and we’re all much more complex and interesting than that.
Just a little of what I’ve been thinking about on a Saturday.
Happy Saturday.
I doubt my loft will ever be featured in a glossy magazine, but I like coming home to the paintings and furniture I’ve collected over the years. We’ve been looking at houses again (better suited for future endeavours), but I know I will find it difficult to give up the high ceilings and open plan of a loft.
Boho chic doesn’t really appeal to me, but I have always thought it might be fun to create a miniature version of Brenda’s apartment from that seventies TV show “Rhoda”. Growing up in a large, very conservative family, as a teenager I thought living on your own in a trendy apartment in the big city was “it”.
Brenda’s apartment was the equivalent of what Rhoda’s apartment was on Mary Tyler Moore. I love that they linked both apartments via style choices.
Your approach brings forth endless creative possibilities, celebrates uniqueness and you bring it together beautifully…Like your gardening where the adaptability and patience come in too,while things are not necessarily manifested comes into play as well.The dreaming up ideas is pleasurable to in that case (I know,haha). I love your way of decorating Claudia.
Thank you so much, Grace.
I actually like your way of decorating. I think because what you have tells a story. I love that. Never liked macrame either.
Thank you, Trina!
Thanks for mentioning your dolls house. I worked on mine today. It’s fun knowing I can decorate each room how ever I like.
Isn’t it? And much more cheaply than in real life!
Whenever someone in the past has asked me what style my home was, I just always said it was eclectic. It seemed like the best overall term for my comfy, colorful and mismatched furniture and things. I personally think it’s all in how we put those objects and furniture together that defines our style. Why does it have to have a name?
I do remember the bead covered dorm rooms of my college days…but I love the texture that boho decorating brings. And macrame? I think it’s lovely! I can’t be the only one out there…am I?
Enjoy your day! ;)
No, Donnamae, you aren’t alone. Though I haven’t done any for years, I went through a macrame period of my own—couldn’t make enough of it! From plant slings to wall hangings and even one year an eight and-a half-foot tall macrame Christmas tree. It was glorious!
I don’t currently have any, but not because I don’t like it.
And Barbara, I miss my city loft, too. We sold it thirteen years ago and I still return to it very often, but in my dreams.
Then start making some more macrame, Shanna!
Well…I plan on teaching myself this winter. I’d love to make a wall hanging. ;)
Go for it, Donnamae!
I’m sure you’re not alone! I have a feeling that it is I who am the exception! xoxo
I never tire of looking at the inside or the outside of your cottage, Claudia; I think it’s perfect, so stay undefined – – that’s not even the right word; you’re actually very defined, as in your place is YOU, at least the you we somewhat know. It reflects you and what you love and find soothing. You have really special ‘finds’ in your home. I think corraling your egg cups in that one sumptuous cabinet under the stairs was one of the most meant-to-be things for you, too. Anyway, home as haven; nest. Your special place, which our homes should be for us, always. Sanctuary.
I’ve often noticed how you decorate inside with a continuing them of color, like the aqua-green which is so nice and it connects your rooms. Your home is overall inviting. Come on in, have a seat, have a chat and a cup of coffee. Welcoming. I also love that you named your cottage. When I had one, I wish I’d come up with a name for mine; just, at the time, never thought of it. I just generically refer to it sometimes as Hill House.
Never had authentic macrame in the 70s; just not a lot of hanging plants in the ever-present macrame plant hangers because of being hard to reach for me. But, yes, first apartment in 1976 was full of houseplants (inexpensive) and my little dining table had wooden ladderback chairs with those straw-like woven seats; took me forever to save up enough money to buy them at a local discount house and replace my camp stools as seating. I grew plants in anything; even had a spider plant growing out of a beach shell my cousin brought back to me from a Mexican beach. Everything back then was about earthen colors and natural materials.
I would drape muted/faded paisley scarves over lampshades and I also hung an oversized Japanese paper umbrella upside down from the ceiling so that I could see the beautiful hand-painted paper (got it at Pier 1). I’ve always had a thing for paper lanterns, too; would decorate with those (inside, from the ceiling). But it was a time when we did NOT have the little porcelain figurines sitting around, nothing shiny-ceramic; no shabby chic of the next decade with pinks and blues. Not a lot of white either (like white wall colors) and certainly not white furniture. Even dinner plates at the 1970s table were earthenware; my friend had a set of Fiesta that was tans and brown with only a hint of yellow and certainly not floral. Matched her harvest-yellow kitchen appliances like the frig. And she had a for-real carousel horse from the 1800s that she left stripped, no painted colors; just the soft pale-brown woods and his buff-colored tail. My boyfriend covered the living room walls of his townhouse with wood planks. (Is fun to remember this stuff!)
It’s so good you are making yourself walk in the morning while you still have good weather. Having Don as a walking partner has to be motivating.
I pulled my hip lifting too many boxes to storage and had to take the day off. I try to not take a lot of prescription ibuprofen but, man, did I need it, and it worked like a miracle, so I’m back at it today and hoping my husband and I survive this ordeal of essentially moving out of our house but I’m SO excited to FINALLY finish the remodeling ahead; it’s been a long 6-year wait, so thank goodness for retirement when my husband now has the dayside time to do the work. The thrill of getting done, getting my beloved books in cases, my little collections of thing inside cabinets, gathering all the photos for scrapbooks, organizing my Christmas stuff, living normally with my ‘things’ around me, SO much to look forward to; I’m excited. I’ve had a sort of temporary existence and it’s been a drought for a homebody like me.
Have a wonderful weekend; glad you’re far enough inland to escape effects of Dorian.
I have some dinnerware that I bought in the seventies. Much of it broke over the years, but I still have a bowl and some plates. It was made by Dansk, and it was very chunky – in earth tones. I LOVED it. I still do, which is why I hang on to the remaining pieces that I have. I’ll take a picture of it and post it someday.
So glad you’re going to get going on the remodeling and that eventually you can have all your things around you. You deserve it!
I have come to the conclusion that my style can best be described by the types of decor books and magazines I am drawn to and have an affinity with, namely english country. This includes a certain eccentricity and non-conformity that allows a wide range of colors and patterns and is not influenced by current homogenized trends. As I keep reelin’ in the years, I am both comfortable and comforted by what surrounds me, a good place to be.
Sounds lovely, Anne. And I love the words ‘homogenized trends.’ So true.
I don’t have a particular decorating style either. I simply decorate with what I like. And the thing is, I pretty much like it all. Except for primitive and formal. I like cottage, mid-century modern, modern itself (to a certain extent), traditional with antiques, and yes, even a little bit of that “boho” look. Tired of the farmhouse look. So I guess my house could be called Cozy Eclectic. Hey, maybe I just invented a new decorating craze! ;-)
Sounds perfect to me! I hope that’s what my house is, as well!
I’m not sure what our style is. I love yours! I think there are individuals and designers who believe in one particular look but we prefer to live with what we like, not what the latest and greatest trends are. We are both very visuals, as artists always are! So our style is colorful, but selective, vintage and solid but functional and comfortable. I’m sure our builder’s wife had a few sleepless nights when we kept rejecting her ideas for what our house should look like ….. but no regrets as it’s our house to live in and in time, if we do ever sell it, the sellers will be either intrigued and embrace this property or move on to something more contemporary and ordinary! Our walls are lavender, our kitchen/bath/built ins are all a sage green and we have archways, wood floors, classic touches and vintage lighting …. definitely NOT the trend!!
Great post. Keep decorating the way you love!
X Chy
We use a lot of color, too, and prefer to be surrounded by things we love. (I dislike trends!)
Thanks, Chy!
I love your home Claudia. I see happy and cozy, that’s the “style” I see. I don’t even like the word decorate some times. It makes me feel pressured and judged. Lol. I also like macrame and wouldn’t mind a plant hanger or two around the place.
I’m not especially fond of that word either, Deb! Thanks so much!
Interesting NYT article the other day about Instagram/blogging “influencers.” One woman, “has tried mixing darker blues and greens into the decor…but they don’t play well with her 447,000 Instagram followers. So she sticks with a soft blush palette, the millennial pink that is ubiquitous on Instagram.” I love color, deep, rich, warm color, and have no interest in what’s “trending.” The farmhouse look, that seems as if it will never run its course, with its pale, monochromatic palette and galvanized bits and pieces from chain stores (when you can find it at Walmart, folks, it’s time to jump on the next design bandwagon) and antiqued signs proclaiming “Fresh Produce,” etc., bears little resemblance to actual farmhouses. It makes me think of one of the characters in Louisa May Alcott’s “Jack and Jill,” the only daughter in a farming family who was eager to prettify the kitchen and parlor. After a few disasters, she did introduce some comforts for both body and soul, but in a realistic way. As a postscript, I fall clearly into the anti-macrame camp, didn’t like it in the Sixties/Seventies, don’t like it now.
I so agree. Farmhouse isn’t really farmhouse. It’s someone’s idea of it. And everyone, like lemmings, jumps on board.
I’m appalled that someone sticks to a certain palette because its what her followers want. Are you kidding me?
If there is ANY label to my decor, it’s eclectic. Possibly eccentric! A mix of antique store finds, things from mom and dad, too many books (no, you can’t have too many books), too many art supplies (you can have too many of those!), chairs well loved by Lizzie (time to get a new slip cover). Doesn’t matter. My style is Jeanie. And it changes like I do!
Perfect! My style is Claudia (and Don because he’s very much a part of it all!)
Hi Claudia. I love your house and style which reminds me of our 150 yr. old farmhouse and property and gardens!
My (our) styles have changed over the past almost 50 years. We too have mostly vintage/antique items, but also whatever catches my eye. When I go out with my good friend to vintage shops, fleas, I’ll “oooh I like” something and she says “I thought I had your taste pegged, but then you throw me for a loop with something totally “not you”! If I like it I’ll try to make it work with what I have.
I only wish I could pull it all together for a more cohesive, complimenting look. I need a decorating Jeannie to come and move and arrange what I have. I agree, plants add warmth and good energy to a home. It’s satisfying to nurture them, like a pet! Take care.
I bet you could pull it together, Penny. Just go for it!