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What is your favorite decorating style?

19K views 47 replies 39 participants last post by  Winston Smith 
#1 ·
I really love primitive/country style...and of course on a budget.
 
#2 · (Edited)
my style is relaxed georgian/ english country manor/williamsburg. very 1700-1820. i like jewel colors for paint colors. i like to buy "used" "salvation army traditional"-- for a shabby gentile look , like upper class homes in England. you can put your feet on the furniture and i don't flip out.


here is an old story i have told a few times.
i was lucky to spend the day in an english noble lord (hereditary lord) and lady's home when i lived there for halliburton. the lord of the manor worked for halliburton as an engineer and so invited my ex and I to a day at their home and lunch. this is where i learned to relax in the "matchy matchy everything has to be new" american thing that we do.

the home originally was a medieval timberframe - as you entered to the right, there was a BIG, huge, saggy, off center, classic medieval hall with the little rooms (buttery, bedroom, etc) off the end. Imagine the fire in the middle of the hall floor. Imagine a lady in a warm woolen houpeland and hennin hat telling her servants instructions for the day. Imagine everyone asleep in the hall. this room was used as a library.

then got added tudor/elizabethan addition with linen fold wooden paneling, flagstone floor, enormous fireplace, and the stairs which went up, which was presently the entry hall area. Then was a georgian addition to the rear, which was technically and for photographic purposes the front of the house. there was an upstairs to the georgian addition. It was long and one room led into the other, in the late baroque/early georgian style. To the left, a modern 1960 era addition with a real kitchen, heat, and plumbing trailing off the end.

all the plumbing was in that end of the house so if you wanted a toilet, radiator heat, or a shower you had to put on a robe and go to that end of the house. I'm sure there was heat elsewhere, i just didn't see it. in england there are these fancy white painted radiator covers you can get that look like furniture.

we weren't allowed upstairs. both the lord and lady worked for a living and i don't think they had time to clean up the upstairs. it was also private space. it wasn't that big, big enough for a normal (upper class) family. I am sure the former servants lived somewhere in the home.

i can't begin to imagine what the taxes were on that place or trying to comply with english heritage. there were miles of land associated with the estate and I'm sure that brought in an income.

what i learned was that everything doesn't have to match. that rich people use washable slipcovers in chintz and damask, and keep furniture for generations. it was interesting that 1960s furniture was in the medieval hall, that modern, jacobean, georgian, victorian and medieval furniture existed comfortably in the same room. It was ok that the paint was peeling, and that the walls weren't straight. All of these things would drive an american batty.

so learned to relax and paint my front door royal blue.
 
#4 ·
It's a sordid love triangle between cottage, traditional, and minimalist. I like charming, quirky, yet tidy and fresh/clean looking. Stuff doesn't have to match, but I don't do "shabby".
 
#13 ·
my house is mostly eclectic, but leans a bit more towards primitive/native american/hunting lodge in style. No camo or anything lol, but my dream catchers, medicine shields, wolf, horse, nature, and wildcrafted items lend that look. Also my interior colors are more toward natural colors, mainly burgundy and green with tan and navy blue accents and lots of natural wood furniture.
 
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#14 ·
~Know the set of the Dick Van **** Show? That. I like mid-century modern and stuff from the 30's to 50's as long as it doesn't come across as too retro/tacky. I like a room of mostly neutrals with just a couple splashes of color. And very minimal decor. I prefer to let the shape and style of the furniture pieces, the arrangement and the finish on the walls/floors/ceiling be the decor.~
 
#15 ·
well i buy stuff because I like it..don't really what to call it...

my up lr is a very big room with a large chocolate brown sectional and a glass and bronze coffee table....there is a cowboy lamp in a cornor on an old oak end table..( it is very cute hubs loves it) there is a entertainment cabinet withan 46' flat screen a fire place with a large bronze candle opera in it... I have a rocking chair with foot rest beside the coffe table I switch blue and red in the winter to perk me up and to leopard print in summer. also have about 30 crosses in here and tons of family pics. 2 cherry picture cabinets chest high also wind chimes hung in several places up stairs....angels, elephants, light houses, glass....

also have green chaise loungs and a victorian love seat with a high glass round table on it..with 2 pretty tea cups and saucers. a mohagany (handmade by hubby) blanket chest in fornt of one of the windows.

bedroom is oak traditional with curtains and an old fashioned white wedding ring quilt with pink and green flower print very shabby chic. a Bible verse in a gold frame. a Thomas kinkaid painting, family pics and pictures of white lillies. my dolls on top of my dresser (they were my mommy's and my daughters) There is a Buddah, guardian angels, crossses and a huge bronze candle opera. also scattered about.

The bathroom is turquioze and chocolate brown. I have a white wicker shelve with assorted towels.a bronze wrought iron stool for folded towels. a wine rack for extra wash clothes/ shampoo/ soap. a huge chocolate brown basket on the sink with tolieteries and 2 Thomas Kincaid paintings all are light houses ( My mommys) and a glass vase full of seashells from our trips to the beach...with a blueish green shower curtain and no curtain hung yet..( we have lived her 1 1/2)

The kitchen is beige with white cabinets my applainces don't match white and black..with an oak table and bench (antique) 2 oak chairs with 2 high backer wicker chairs in brown my Lord's supper is on a doily with 2 crystal tea light candles... an oak buffet with a large painting of an arbor with flowers galore..in a heavy gold frame over it... my crosses again and a large collection of roosters..

my counters are orange and I have an orange red apple canister set .
my breakfast bar has 3 grey bar stools with a rooster napkin holder with orange red apple salt and pepper shakers

dwn bath is pepto bismol pink so everything in there is rasberry and white wicker.
now decorating the laundry room. this is my part of our home so what style is it?
 
#18 ·
My look right now is sort of Tuscan. I have some metal wall hangings but not a lot. I'm trying to not do anything too theme-like.
My favorite color is shades of orange, so my dining room and living room which are only sunny in the morning and dark the rest of the day are painted a sunny apricot color. Living room has a leather love seat with a big mirror over it and leather Italian side chair and an off white Italian (?) spindle leg chair I found cheap at an antique store. Tables are glass and iron. Curtains are J.C. Penney gold/tan sheers with swags that are gold on one side and rust on the other. Rug has brown, golden tan, and rust and so do the couch pillows, along with some pillows a funny shade of green that I repeat in the candles on the table. I also added some dark blue accents around the room, like in the flower pots and a vase.

Dining room - I changed the look by changing out the handles on my furniture. It's medium oak, sort of semi-formal, with Queen Anne style chairs. China cabinet has a rounded top. The original handles were more Early American country looking so I changed them. I actually saw this same exact furniture with a green wash on the front described as Country French in a store recently. My husband would kill me if I painted the furniture, so can't do that but the hardware change helped. Anyway, I have a couple of tall Tuscan looking candlesticks on the table and I recovered the chair seats in a gold fabric. I have a plant holder that is a face of an angel (Tuscan looking) that my sister found in a resale store with a plant hanging down, Tuscan urn (cheap at Old Time Pottery) picture of an Italian town in rust and gold. So, I think it looks sort of European country now without having to go buy new furniture.

Kitchen- off white walls, dark cabinets and tables and chairs, pot rack with copper pans I got years ago at, wait for it... Big Lots! They're actually pretty nice and were cheap (like $40 for a set of 3 pots with lids and fry pan) Oh, the good old days when you could find bargains like that! I've been adding to them with different copper pieces I've found over the years at resale shops, even Goodwill. I don't actually use them because they get too discolored. I clean them about every 6 mos. to keep them shiny. Pottery I've gotten cheap at an antique/junk shop I love is on top of the cabinets. My one big splurge-black granite countertop. Everything is pretty dark (but the room is so darn sunny I can barely stand it) , so I'm sticking with my white appliances.

I also changed the handles on my cabinets to old fashioned bin pulls and black handles. I don't even want new cabinets, I like the ones I've got because the dark wood looks sort of rustic European to me. I'm strange like that. I don't have to have the latest style as long as something fits my fantasy. LOL I've lived in my house for 22 years so the last few years I've changed a lot of my light fixtures and wallplates and outlet plates. The ones in the kitchen are copper. Oh, and also the floor vents because I think details mean a lot and can really change the look. Same goes for light fixtures.

Powder room has rust colored walls and I just changed all the faucets in the bathrooms to that dark almost black antique color. To save money I bought some metal paint at Ben Franklin and I'm going to mix brown and black and try it on my bathtub faucets and handles in the other bathrooms...a lot cheaper than buying new fixtures and having a plumber come out and change it all. Yikes..that would costs hundreds of dollars. They are antique brass right now and I think the paint will work and match the new sink faucets. I will keep mixing the colors until I get it just right.

Bedrooms all have metal headboards, won't go into details but I did Tuscan looks there too. Found a couple of nice comforter sets on sale at Garden Ridge a few years ago that work really well.

Okay, so you get the point about the Tuscan look. I won't describe the family rm. it's off- white color walls (not everything is orange!) .
I do want to add that my laundry room is painted a sunny light orange because there is no window. I wanted to keep my American country washboard on the wall so I found a little picture of an Italian town (just the right size and scale) at a Goodwill for $1.00. I cut it to size and modgepodged it into the top part of the washboard that had the advertising on it. Lots of baskets (Goodwill of course) on top of the shelf above the washer and dryer. An antique Italian looking wall pocket with a vine in it is on another wall.

Oh, and I love to collect storage tins that I store things in the kitchen pantry in. I've gotten compliments on how the inside of my pantry looks. I found several Italian looking ones (pasta and biscotti etc. came in them originally) and some French looking ones at my local Salvation Army. They were like 50 cents to $1.00. Couldn't believe I was finding them there all the time for a while.

If you concentrate on something and picture it in your mind, sometimes it materializes for you in your local thrift shop...try it.
 
#20 ·
I love all of your descriptions. I can close my eyes and sort of picture your rooms.

Celine I've never been a big fan of oranges but lately it is growing on me. The roof on our new house is copper so we painted the front door a dark orange and it looks pretty good. The vinyl siding color is pearl (its an off white color). I'm looking forward to decorating the wrap around porches for fall with that orange door.
 
#23 ·
Country/primitive rustic. Living room is white with brown leather couch, two tan rocker/recliners (want to replace with leather ones when I have some $). End tables are all different. One is a sewing machine base painted black with butcher block top, one is an old green with white top table, the other is small plain wood one. The accent colors are mainly barn red, that old green color, and mustard in accessories. I change out the curtains for the seasons. Right now there are sagey green/white stripe toppers with wood button trim. Carpet is beige and needs replaced badly. Want to do hardwood. Sigh.........

My kitchen is painted tan beadboard on the bottom and barn red on the top. Oak cabinets and black appliances. I have all sorts of signs, baskets, country prints and barn stars hanging about. In the middle of the room I have two old unmatching ladder-back chairs and a small black table in the center of the room. The other side is the dining portion with black chairs and a butcher block top table with black legs. Walls are floor to ceiling tan beadboard. Have an antique sideboard, an antique black painted bookcase/desk and a glass front china cabinet with all sorts of antique/vintage kitchen tools, baskets, quilt shelf with a vintage quilt on the walls. Love my kitchen!
 
#27 ·
I don't have a style. I have what I like and what strikes me. For example, I've had two bent twig end tables (I think they're called bent twig) that I picked up at a flea market almost 20 years ago. Most people would have them outside, I have them inside and I love them. They don't exactly go with my sofa, but I don't care. I have a mission style coffee table I dearly love. It was cheap to begin with. A week ago, a friend's dog knocked over a cup of coffee and ruined the finish. I'm going to refinish it. I could probably replace it rather cheaply, but I love the table so the work will be worth it to me.

As for colors, I tend to gravitate towards the jewel tones...deep reds, purples, blues, greens. I don't care for pastels in clothing or furniture.
 
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#29 ·
i prefer jewel tones too. pastels not for me.
 
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