How do you know?

[farmerswife]

How do you know what style of home to build and decorate is right for you. I have been searching this out for sometime. I keep buying stuff for the house I live in now (traditional) and it seems nothing like when I see a picture in a magazine and think, "that is gorgeous".

I have certain preferances like, a must have for my next home is a light kitchen with light colors that make the room bright and comfy at the same time.

But yet I like the warm feeling of distressed dark woods and bright colors to compliment them.

And as far as architecture? I bounce back and forth between cottage to farmhouse to ranch to bungalow back to cottage. I wish I could magically know the right choice for me.

[memmey]

You know I understand what your saying. I collect vintage and I love the look and the quirkiness of the collecting BUT I may look at a slick beautiful Paris apartment with the cool blues and icey beiges and I get dreamy.
I don't live in a Paris apartment area...LOL. I have to make myself realize that I should be true to the era of my home. I guess that is why I had a hard time embracing the Cottage Living athestic. It was too modern for my home. I loved the look of it but I would have to remodel and it would change my house forever.
This little ole house house was built in 1937. It was a simple sturdy home. Plain Jane and strong. Kinda like Olive Oil ( remember her?oohhh Popeye)

I guess going with what is practical is boring but it is always a good choice and with the economy in peril it is probably the right choice.:)

[LindaLK]

Hi Farmerswife, :)


Oh come on now Memmey, you are being too modest. Your house is not Plain Jane. I think the red makes it pop, and it screams ``Look at me!`` I also love the interior. It says you are home.
Farmerswife, take a peek at Memmey`s house and see if you agree with me. I think it is soooo cute!

I think it is all in your personal preference. Like Memmey had stated, I also wouldn`t go and change the architecture on an old house to make it look ultra modern. Nor would I try to make an ultra modern house look old. But what you can do, is inside, use bits and pieces of things that you like, that can co~exist with one another. Just my opinion.


The old homes are harder to find intact, and I get so upset when I see one gutted and made modern. Why buy old if you are going to do that? Build a new house and make it the way you like.



Hugs,
Linda :)

[Zuzu's Garden]

Hi farmerswife!

I had the same problem, so I started a three-ring binder with clear photo pages, and whenever I found a "that is gorgeous!" pic in a magazine, I added it to the binder. This helped me to focus in on what colors and styles I liked best, which turns out not to be one specific design style.

I have a new home, and am just now priming the kit cabinets to paint them a creamy white. The farm table that will go in the kitchen has a dark distressed top, and I plan to change out bright accents with the change of the seasons. The only way I could be so sure of what I like is that binder full of pics that I've been collecting for years.

So, you might give it a try. It's a fun process and it really can help you define your style.

:)
Zuzu

[Lisa S]

That's exactly what I did too. In fact, my husband and I sat down this weekend and looked through my folder of pictures. Our lake house is going to be very plain jane when it's first built, but over time we hope to add an englenook (picture taken from Cottage Living), built in bunk beds (from Mary Englebreit's) and finish the fronts of cabinets in a hobo art kind of way (Country Living).

[farmerswife]

Great ideas! Thanks everyone!

I think alot of the problem is that I know where we are going to end up one day and I already know how I want that house to be one day. Its an old ranch house that my husbands grandfather built and lived in, then when he died my inlaws bought moved in to farm the ranch and did a remodel on the house. So, when (God willing alot of years from now) my inlaws pass, we will buy and take over the ranch and house.

I have grown to appreciate original architecture and would like to stay close to that as possible, but being there was already one remodel about 30 years ago, I know it will be difficult to restore. Breezeways were built in and rooms were added on to which means alot of moved walls. I might have to just make a "new" version of the old and get as close as I can.

But like I said thats alot of years from now, hopefully. And in the mean time we are stuck in a house in town that we dont really love. I mean, its new and gorgeous, but its not the feel good home I dreamed of. So, we either make do here til we move to the ranch, or we find something we would be more at home in. In this market I think our best bet is to stay put for now unless something we cant live without comes up.

So I am now going to decide on a new color for the walls in my living room. I picked brown for every room when we built the home but now all it feels like is that my house threw up brown. Im not feeling it.

I thought I wanted a new fancy house. I found out all I want is an old comfy house.

[chyna]

Hopefully you don't take this wrong but you need to quit thinking abotu the someday and the last home you'll own. Look at the current house and say hey this would look good and do it. If it won't work in the last home, well oh well. Have a garage sale, give the stuff you don't want or will work away. In other words live today not tomorrow. Now why don't you like the brown anymore? Not saying a color can fall from grace (and we all know that happens around my house alot but then again I'm a paintaholic) but what about it doesn't work with you? could you change out some accessories? Maybe the color just isn't right for the location and you just need a lighter tone.

I guess what I'd do is leaf thru loads of magazines or books and see what you like and what you like but could never live with. By traditional are you talking Federal or somehting along those lines or are you talking rancher? What colors do you like? What colors do you wish Crayola never discovered? Something around your house has to be inspirational or even a pic in a magazine could make it click. Case in point, last winter there was an article on using red in your home. Now this is hardly somehting that would really get my attention since I seem to have little problem with using color however the cover had this room with red striped (tone on tone) wallpaper, red chair and red accessories. I loved it and yearned to paint some room red but what room then it came to me. My master bathroom had been pretty stagnant for me, boring and hohum city and I could only have some many rooms in Sand Dunes of Durango Dusk or soft yellow. And so the red walls were born, my accent color is white with gold (rest of the house is chrome) fixtures (well ok the sink fixtures). The ceiling will be the Dusk color since you can still see it from outside the room and the flooring will be a white vinyl with dusty rose corners. All this from a magazine cover.

OK enough talk from me, anyone else care to jump in here. :o

[Breezy]

farmerswife - my tastes have changed through the years. The house we lived in before this one was an 1892 Victorian which was great. I decorated in a more feminine way - lace curtains etc. - but since moving here that's all changed. This Craftsman is way different from the Victorian but I love it too. I didn't even know I liked Craftsman style till I saw this house! We downsized to half the house size and kept the things we really liked. The only room in the old house that was not feminine was the den and the furnishings from that room are the things we kept for this house. The point is our tastes can change thru the years so just enjoy the house you have now and make it the way you want - paint is a relatively cheap and easy way to start - do you watch the shows on HGTV? You can get a lot of great ideas that way. Try not to worry about the someday house and make the one you're in a warm & cozy home. Just go with things you like and colors you love. Best wishes :)

[Lynzee]

Hi farmerswife!

It's not uncommon to second and even third guess yourself. My husband was military and we lived in rental houses the entire 20+ years he was on active duty so by the time we bought our house I could tell you exactly what I didn't want. That was the easy part!

I had done exactly the same thing Zu and Lisa did though. I started a notebook years ago and collected magazine and catalog pictures of rooms and things that I loved. When I look through that binder now, I'm amazed that the things I "loved" through the years are still the same things I love and want to use now. I just wish I could afford them all. :D

Best wishes to you! :)

[chyna]

You can also do those light and bright walls with dark woods in your kitchen. It works in countless craftsmans, it should work fine for your current home.

[Breezy]

farmerswife - just remember there are no hard & fast rules when it comes to decorating your own space. No one's gonna throw you in decorating jail for doing your own thing. Just have fun!;)

[memmey]

LOL LOL:p:p I have been into some peoples houses who should go to decorating jail..LOL LOL or maybe there is a jail for not keeping house.
I'm too much of a show -off not to clean my house. Besides I like to sit in a nice place myself and as MaMa would say ....you never know who is gonna drop by. That's the same life lesson as always wear nice panties cause you never know when you will be in a wreck...LOL:p:D:

Oh this is a great idea for a thread..........:

[LindaLK]

Hi Everyone, :)


I also like to show~off my house and keep it spotless. Being in a clean house makes me happy, and it is my pride of place.


I have to wonder who came up with that idea about having clean underwear, so if you were ever in a car accident? lf you are in a car wreck, most likely you`re gonna soil yourself. Who`s gonna know if they were dirty before or after? :D


If bad decorating were a crime, the woman that owned our house before us, would be doing life with no chance for parole. :D



Hugs,
Linda :)

[farmerswife]

You can also do those light and bright walls with dark woods in your kitchen. It works in countless craftsmans, it should work fine for your current home.

Do you have a link where I can see what you mean?

[chyna]

That house I get the heebee jeebees about would be perfect for a decorating jail. Let the convicted live in a the red room (red rum, red rum. Here's Jack-y), the blue drowning room or the family room with the stuffed family dog who sits next to you as you watch tv. That would convince a few to get magazine subscriptions. :p

farmerswife

I really don't have a link per se but just about every pic you'd ever see of a craftsman bungalow has the dark stained wood with pale painted walls. If it makes any difference, the color is more than likely Sherwin-Williams Buckram. Don't remember what the green color is called, I'm not much of a green fan.