spinoff "frugal is fun" thread on "thoughts on compromising"

[ladykemma2]

i have posted this before, but her thread prompted me to repost it.

My style is : colonial willamsburg meets "the day I got to spend in an english lord's house"

if you have ever been to colonial willamsburg, that's my style. I have a dining room the color of the vivid prussian blue ballroom in the governors palace with rich crown moulding and chair railing. (the same turquoise color as the stairwell in powderham castle)

My master bedroom is pepto bismol pink after a georgian/federal home in washington DC. maple furniture, 4 poster bed, etc. think gwyneth paltrow's emma-- the pink bedroom.

I used to be all "matchy matchy" until something happened that broke me of that. Americans have this "thing" about everything being new. I used to freak if the furniture got used or scratched.

What happened was, when I lived in london, my ex-husband worked for halliburton and shared an office with "Bob". Bob invited us to luncheon at his home on a saturday. I had no idea...

we go to Bob's house. Turned out he was Lord Bob, british aristocracy, but living under modern economic constraints. His wife ran the estate while he worked for a living. he owned all the land as far as you could see.

The room we entered in the estate was the medieval part of the house, back in the days when a grand house was a large hall with a buttery and a bedroom off to the side for the lord and lady. firepit in the middle of the floor. this hall was used as a library. then you entered an elizabethan addition which was the entrance hall, grand stairway. timber framed, with a fireplace you could walk into.

the georgian wing which was the official "front of the house" was outstanding. Long and rooms connected by doorways, typical of that period. circular drive in front with a sweeping view of kent.

The 1950s wing had a working kitchen, central heat, and bathrooms with plumbing. In that house, if you wanted a bath, you had to go to that wing in your jammies and robe.

i got to spend an entire day in this glorious house.

the whole point of this diatribe was that it broke me of the american thing of everything had to be matchy matchy and new. This house had battered 500 year old table next to the slipcovered battered chippendale sofa, next to the jacobean chair, next to the 1960s sideboard. everything was slightly askew and nothing was level. gleaming with wax.

so now my home is slipcovered, used, battered, and well loved. I am so lucky to have had that opportunity that day. i don't come unglued anymore if everything isn't perfect or exactly matched. None of my furniture was bought from the same place. side of the road finds, with thrift store finds or furniture my ex-husband made.

[jas]

Sounds like a great place!

[oheoh's momma]

your home sounds lovely... I hate matchy matchy stuff. Sheets and bedclothes and curtains in the same color family. I oak, glass, and maghony woods all in the same room. And we love it it was frugal and we think it is lovely.

[pinecone]

I love the Williamsburg look. Growing up my mother did the diningroom using repro Williamsburg wallpaper. My diningroom has Williamsburg blue Toile paper. With the exception of the dining table and chairs (that match) my house is early attic meets flea market with a few antique shops sprinkled in for good measure. My grandmother needle pointed a camel-back sofa that I now have. My house was first built c. 1850 then added on over the years and I have the quilt that the first lady of my home made. Love local history.

piney

[VanO62]

I have to admit I find a lot of people's houses boring because they go for a style. After a couple of years they get tired of that style or collecting that item and out it goes and they do a complete overhaul.

Waste of money and the thing is someone could go to a store and recplicate your home. Sure a few things might be different, but essentially it's about the style, not about who you are and what you love.

My home is primitive/country and I love it. I have things I bought 25-30 years ago and I still love them. Antiques and old collectibles never lose their charm.