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Stitching & Crafting Room:  How do you decorate your home?????  |
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PJJ
True Blue Farmgirl
95 Posts
Paula
Bristow
OK
USA
95 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 13 2005 : 12:58:18 PM
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Great look. Mine is a work in progress, too. Today I'm putting a white glaze on the fronts of the kitchen cabinets. Probably won't get too much done, as I also have my cousin's two children here with my two. Mine has to be livable for kids and dogs -- adults rank a distant third, although I think it's possible to accommodate everyone!
What part of AR are you in?
Paula J.
[quote]Originally posted by Lazycreek
Our house is still a work in progress. Dh is still working on making the red oak floors and in the mean time, I have the subfloor painted a med tan. I think my style is closest to the "pottery barn" look. (snip)
Big deal with me is how easy it is to wash and keep clean.
Paula J., with Ty, Cara, Brody, Blue, and Fidget |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Aug 14 2005 : 12:52:00 PM
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Meadowlark - I wish I could look out my dormer and see farm fields! And about the crickets - down here in Florida we are used to living with bugs and tree frogs, and lizards. It is not unusual to see one flattened between the door and the door frame when I open it. I always think "well, that frog was in the wrong place at the wrong time!"
A house should look lived in and comfy. Most of my furniture is sure that.
If I could, I would have about five houses! I would have a log cabin that is cozy, not huge. I would have a southwestern adobe Texas style kind of house that speaks of the open range and desert, and I would have a farmhouse that looks like Iowa, and I would have the house I have now. Oh, and maybe a cottage/bungalow that looks arts and crafts style. My trouble is, I love so many styles! But whatever the house, I wish it looked out on the fields of a beautiful farm. I have to be content with lots of trees for now. Beautiful in their own way, for sure.
All of our houses sound so homey. This is fun to read about everyone's home and decor!
jpbluesky |
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Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - Aug 14 2005 : 12:59:53 PM
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Here's a silly solution JP: you find your farm land to build on, then you design a house that has as many sides and you want house styles, and each side is a style of your choosing! And they all meet in the middle somewhere with the best of all incorporated!  
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Aug 14 2005 : 1:02:49 PM
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Love it - Clare - also I could build a little village of my own houses, and live in each one at a time! I think Barbra Steisand did that same thing once.
Farm first, farm first! That will be my mantra! :)
jpbluesky |
Edited by - jpbluesky on Aug 14 2005 1:03:44 PM |
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ByHzGrace
True Blue Farmgirl
348 Posts
348 Posts |
Posted - Aug 14 2005 : 2:39:43 PM
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Just reading here and seeing the photos, I'm way out of the world ya'll call home. My style is Florida cracker tacky! I do so need your help!!
Does grapevines tied up and around the top count for treating the window? O and prism white lights so everybody can know when I want to be romantic.;0
We be nestled in back behind our grove with 3 acres of oak hammock to the intercoastal out back.
Jpbluesky I shrieked this morning when I went out the back door to church and jeepers creepers peepers stuck on my ear! Talk about being on a mission to God,Lord I was running!
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greyghost
True Blue Farmgirl
650 Posts
Lynn
Summerville
Georgia
USA
650 Posts |
Posted - Aug 14 2005 : 3:55:04 PM
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I call my style Sentimental Cottage. I'll describe my soon-to-be finished kitchen as an example:
I have a love for wainscotting, painted white. My kitchen will be a light French gray/blue which goes very well with cobalt dishware and glasses. I fell in love with the color (Benjamin Moore's "November Skies" - my b-day is in November and I love looking at the sky, so it fits) and my last kitchen was painted in this color. So it reminds me of my old home. The cabinets are white, with trim all around the windows. My whitewashed windowsills are deep to allow for potted plants like african violets, which I grow many of (my love of these stems from my grandmother, who still has her mother's violets in her kitchen window). I prefer true, old linens, and have an old linen tablecloth decorated in cobalt-blue flowers I got from my grandmother's cousin's house. It rests on an antique, handmade 5-legged table my hubby and I bought the first year we were married. It expands to seat 10! A handmade piesafe made by my old neighbor in Florida sits in one corner. Atop it always has rested either an antique bowl, or fresh flowers in a stoneware vase. My husband has finished putting new wood floors down in there now (he even created a design with different shades of wood in the middle of the floor).
I prefer nearly everything I have to have a happy memory. I have my grandmother-in-law's old potato masher, my mothers wooden rolling pin (which I use all the time), three framed postcards my ancestors sent to each other over 100 years ago hang in a line down a narrow wall. I keep clear of clutter, no more than three things ever sit on a surface.
I have to agree new homes have no soul. They're all about pretense and "look at me" rather than "come in, have a cup of tea and a nice chat." I also have a very good understanding of construction, and can tell you these new homes will never last as long as those beautiful ones built in the 1940s and earlier. |
Edited by - greyghost on Aug 14 2005 4:08:19 PM |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2005 : 05:26:12 AM
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greyghost - I agree with you on the construction of newer homes. I have a good friend who is a designer, and he calls them "plastic houses". The woodwork is really plasticwork, and the fireplaces are built-ins, and they are cold places to be. Much of them are facade. I can say one for them, they are big!!! And the furniture they sell now to fill them is huge! But I would not choose to live in one of these type homes.
I am sure they provide wonderful homes to many families, though, so do not want to badmouth them too much; they are just not for me!
By the way, your home sounds really nice and I love the November Skies paint you described. May have to look for that color for one of my rooms!
jpbluesky |
Edited by - jpbluesky on Aug 15 2005 05:27:30 AM |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2005 : 05:32:22 AM
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And to ByHzGrace - Three acres of hammock to the intercoastal is prime, girl. I like the hammock woods because they are so primitive. And I love to see places in Florida that are "real" Florida. Hammock oaks are just that. And you have a grove!
I bet some people here do not know what Florida "crackers" are. Maybe you should explain!
jpbluesky |
Edited by - jpbluesky on Aug 15 2005 05:36:06 AM |
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Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2005 : 07:02:34 AM
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Yes, please explain! Not intending to insult, but this was "real southern" for me, one who speaks "northwestern!"
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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FarrarFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
330 Posts
Lynda
Frohna
Missouri
USA
330 Posts |
Posted - Aug 15 2005 : 09:13:17 AM
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I am just now catching up on this forum. I had lots to do over the weekend so didn't get to check in as I usually do. I LOVE this topic,my heart truly is my home and visa versa. That's all I think of even when at my FT job. If the chance ever did present itself to be able to visit anyone, I think I would already feel at home in each of your homes. Everyone's place sounds very inviting and fitting to your personalities - very loving, welcoming, comfortable and relaxing. Oh, to sit on a big porch and look out upon the land......ah-h-h, now that's a nice feeling already.
I would like to extend an invitation to all of you, as well, that if you are ever passing through the middle of America and find yourself in St. Louis, I hope you will have a minute to stop in for a rest. It's very easy to find, close to any major highway you would be traveling from any direction. I would love to visit for a while and meet you and your families. When I was a young girl we lived in a subdivision and that's what our moms would do in the morning, just pop in on each other for a cup of coffee and a visit. That has always stayed with me, unfortunately, that is not so much the way anymore. Maybe that depends on where you live.
Well, my house is a cottage/ranch style house with part red brick and the rest yellow siding with a gigantic oak tree right out the front door that provides an umbrella shade for the fron yard. It's a cute little house in an older residential area of the suburbs. Very quiet neighborhood, which I enjoy and no room for commercial development - which is even better. Well, it's quite when there's not an ambulance racing by in the front or a train running on schedule in the back - other than that....OH, there is a man who lives somewhere in the subdivision behind us who has a few chickens, every once in a great while I can hear a rooster. I was so happy the first time I heard it, music to the ears.
When you come inside you will be surprised that it is bigger than it looks, not over sized, but adequate. It has two small bedrooms, a bath, dining room, front room and a family room that was added on later. I'm not too proud of my kitchen even though that is where I enjoy being, matter of fact, that is (IMO) the weakest part of the whole house. IT's a galley kitchen (which means a hallway with appliances and small inserts of countertop), very impractible for anykind of major cooking or entertaining. Okay, now that I have that out of the way, come into my favorite room of the house, our famly room. This is where we do most of our living.
I would say it is farmstyle country. Originally it was a breezeway between the house and the garage, but a couple of owners before us expanded the breezeway to make it as wide as the house and opened up the side of the one-car garage. The ceiling in the garage part has the shape of a barn (sort of)- it goes up at an angle and flattens out at the top. Let's just say we can easily put up a 10 ft Christmas tree in there - and we do - so much fun!
With that to work with, I had an idea to turn it into a barn. So we got some old barn wood from the farm and put that half way up on the outer long wall. DH put a small ledge on the top of the barn wood so I could put framed pictures of the barns I have photographed along with some other "farm things"; a horse bridal, an awl, those metal stars. My husband cut some beams to make "stalls" and frame the edges of the rest of the walls. It is painted light brown with darker brown accents. On one end we put 3 industrial strength black wire shelves to hold all of my "collectibles" (old books, cow skull, candles, a miniature barn, pictures, kerosene lantern from my grandmother, etc). Above that we have a wallpaper border with farm animals and barns that go across just that end. My furniture is well worn and gets moved around alot, but always very comfy, covered with blankets and pillows. It is a sectional sofa (that's always in sections, hardly ever connected) with 2 recliners with denim blue colored covering. On the opposite end wall of the shelving, hangs two rusty tractor seats with a pitch fork between them. Other furniture consists of a small wooden table that is 100+ years old where we can sit and play cards, look at pictures, play games, read the paper, etc. I have an old buffet that my step mom gave me and in it are all my linens and candles. On top are lots and lots and lots of family pictures with lace table runner to cover the top of the buffet. This is all in the area that was once the garage. You take a step down and that is where the "office" is for Pampered Chef stuff, personal files, our computer, the piano, a bookshelf and all the baby stuff for the twin grandsons (a couple of portable cribs, toys, clothes, books and an rocker).
I make the valances for my windows. Actually, the ones in the family room are kind of unique and fun. A long time ago I bought those honeycombed frames that were popular for making a variety of curtain tops without having to sew - just pull fabric through the holes in a variety of ways and - wa-la - you have curtains. Present day: I took red bandanas and draped them across the top of the frames in half and then tied strips of fabric with jute string just up under the edge of the hankies so that you couldn't see the string. There are 4 different fabrics; a red gingham and a blue one and then a red bandana print and a blue one - one strip of each in each bundle. Kind of confusing, I know, but really it looks cute. I have an idea for using the straps of old overalls, too, but don't have enough yet.
Anyway the rest of the house if very colorful, the dining room is a bright french/robin's egg blue, the hallway is yellow and the brick walls of the family room are brick red. Someone had painted the bricks white, so we had to repaint. The front room has not been repainted yet due to cracks in the plaster needing to be fixed first, but it is my sewing room with a fireplace. My bedroom hasn't changed since I moved in 9 years ago, it is a dingy peach color that I'm not at all thrilled about, just haven't made the effort to change it yet. My dream bedroom is blue and yellow. I have the paint picked out, the wallpaper border, curtain material, and fabric bought to make a quilt. Why haven't I done it yet? I don't know....but hearing about all of the work you are doing to your places, and how your bedrooms are your sanctuaries, I think I'm going to bump this project way up on the priority list. My father is going to build me some closet space this fall, so maybe that will be the time to start. Being an older house, as you all know, lacks greatly in closet space.
As for the house in general, I love it - hardwood floors throughout, curved archways between the rooms, glass doorknobs, marble windowsills, glass block windows by the fireplace and a big heavy wooden front door. It was built in the 50's so it is also all plaster, that part I don't care for too much, makes it hard to decorate the walls without going through too much trouble and damage.
And it is right across the street from the high school that our children attended, which was a blessing all on it's own since they were so involved and we usually had more than one in there at the same time (2 years of 3 highschoolers at once-whew) And it was convenient to be the gathering house before and after dances and games and such. God was so good to make it possible to purchase this house when we did.
Now the kids are mostly on their own so our focus is on our dreams for building on the farm. We are talking of building a 2 story timber frame home. MY mind is just reeling with ideas, so keep them coming. You can all help make it come true.
Aren't you glad I don't have a bigger house? I didn't realize how much room it took to give you the nickel tour with words, I've never done that before. So I apologize for the length, but I hope you have been able to pick out your favorite place to sit for when you stop by. The tea is made, cookies are in the jar, I'm just waiting for you.... :o)
God bless all your homes to the brim with love and laughter and memories that will stand through time and find a place in the heart of each person in your family. Our families are gifts from God. Have you ever seen this? I'm sure many of you have: FAMILY=Father And Mother, I Love You.
In His hands,
Lynda
Pray in faith and you will not live in doubt. |
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Lazycreek
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Charlee
Mt Ida
AR
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Aug 17 2005 : 8:54:01 PM
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We are between Mt Ida and Hot Springs Arkansas.
Believe in the power of your dreams |
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primjillie
True Blue Farmgirl
138 Posts
Jill
Antelope
CA
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - Aug 19 2005 : 3:20:47 PM
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| I love to talk decorating! My house is very primitive ~ a little bit colonial and a little bit farmhouse. I love braided rugs, quilts, yellowware, old wooden bowls, enamelware, stitcheries, lots of textiles ~ I could go on and on! We live in an 11 year old house that we are trying to make look old. We are replacing the carpet with wide pine flooring and painting the oak cupboards in colors like mustard, black, dark blue, etc. We are also tearing down the ugly light fixtures and putting up tin or wooden chandeliers. We took down all the blinds and put up homespun curtains and ticking valances. Most of my furniture is antique or antique reproductions that have been distressed. I have lots of peg racks with old aprons and bonnets hanging on them. I have also spread my primitives to the outside. I have a peely, distressed farm table on my back porch with benches and old metal chairs. Our garden has an old picket fence around it and I have lots of old "garden art" - ladders, chicken feeders, old farm tools and birdhouses. My mom says my house reminds her of her old farm and I take that as a compliment! (She didn't mean it that way, since she hates old things!) |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Aug 19 2005 : 5:54:14 PM
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Now your house sounds like one I would just love!!!!
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things |
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Fabulous Farm Femmes
True Blue Farmgirl
792 Posts
Diane
Lakebay, Tacoma
WA
792 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 01:54:27 AM
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My hubby says our home looks like Pottery Barn collided with Granny's attic...I am always trying to style it more modern... but darn it I like the old & cutesy stuff!
We too are trying to make our new house look old. Our last house was an Arts and Crafts Bungalow that we totally restored.Don't know which way takes more work honestly.Where we moved to was pretty much all raw land, very few old homes, so we started with a new manufactured home that we customized as much as we could and are still working on it.
My mother says I am the only one who can buy a brand new house and remodel it right into a fixer-upper!! |
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hapyhrt
True Blue Farmgirl
129 Posts
USA
129 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 04:08:15 AM
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Wow! The response to my question of how you decorate has been fantastic! Thank you all so much for sharing! Your home descriptions are so filled with warmth and love, that it just gives my heart a smile reading these posts, it's great! Through your descriptions I have learned that this saying is so true "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like H O M E!!!" 
I almost feel sorry for the richest of this land who live in huge mansions filled with gold and finery. In my humble opinion I'd much rather walk on wooden floors worn from years of love shared by family and friends footsteps than the purest white marble in all the world that can never hold the warmth left by the heart and paths of those we hold most dear.
~ "May the Blessings of Home, Love, Happiness, Health and Peace forever reside at each hearth and in our hearts for always"! ~
"Think HAPPY Thoughts...any others aren't worth your time!" Ü |
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ByHzGrace
True Blue Farmgirl
348 Posts
348 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 08:19:16 AM
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Hi JPbluesky and Clare,
Trying to understand what was "not to insult"???
You want me tell what my place translate into??? boy howdy kinda feel all over again like when I'm  nerdy freshmen and I'm all alone at the seniors class party!?!
When I hear the word Primitive it takes me back to this drawing art class.The boy next to me is drawing stick people and we had a beautiful girl sitting naked modeling. The teacher said "look we got a primitive." So you betcha I do live in the sticks.
We call her papaya place. We have over 10acre under grove, plus the 3 in hammocks behind us to lagoon. This is citrus off season. My mango and papayas have had me truckin to market...75cents you pick along with orchid selling at the show.
Tacky cracker comes from my tin roof and cypress big overhangshack. We have a two chimmey freestanding fireplace in the center of our one room. No central heat/ac.
 We believe cool comes eating some salted watermelon with our afternoon thunderboomer blowing in from the lagoon.
We got 2 bedrooms one for us one for the boys who go figure beat the drum to get out of here fast and on to college!
Reading my prattling and it sounds more primevial?  |
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Clare
True Blue Farmgirl
2173 Posts
NC WA State
USA
2173 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 10:11:53 AM
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ByHzGrace: Don't feel bad or out of place. If anything it's my language linguistic ability that is not as well versed as it could be. I'll catch up. 
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Aug 20 2005 : 12:07:35 PM
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byhzgrace - I love reading about your place! Your style of writing and descriptions is, simultaneously, simple and quite sophisticated. Your homeplace sounds fascinating - how long have you and your family lived on that land? I want to hear more!
In fact I really enjoy reading about all of your houses - and you all are funny too! Pottery Barn collided with Grannies Attic - LOL! Taking something new and making it a fixer upper! :) You guys are hiarious! But your homes all sound like they have something in common - they are loved and lived in and cared for!
jpbluesky
heartland girl |
Edited by - jpbluesky on Aug 20 2005 12:15:08 PM |
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ByHzGrace
True Blue Farmgirl
348 Posts
348 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2005 : 12:55:49 PM
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Clare and JPbluesky
Bless your hearts, sweetpeas!
JPbluesky is the bluesky from the allman's brothers?
We be islanders since 1989. Take the sand+pineneedle drive by the big sawtooth palm and honeysuckle. The mailbox has passionflower vine wrapped on it.You pick mango sign hammered into the tree.
Clare Looky here I found a cracker picture book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/156164014X/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-0041122-8923044#reader-page
My porch is deeper and the tin shiny.We lost the old that looked like this before Hurricane Charley,Frances and Jeanne.Anybody else have tin? When you get rain, Our Lord is hammering! We still are clearing prairie and runnin canals for the groves.
Clare not the little house on the prairie west kind, us crackers say prairie for what you say swamp?
What makes country cottage primitive rustic french farmhome?The colors you pick? Wood finish? Fabrics?
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ByHzGrace
True Blue Farmgirl
348 Posts
348 Posts |
Posted - Aug 21 2005 : 12:59:03 PM
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| I forgot to say my girlfriend said to say it is shacky chic. |
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sqrl
True Blue Farmgirl
605 Posts
Melissa
Northern California
USA
605 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2005 : 10:17:10 AM
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Well since we live in a apartment and we know we will be moving around still for a couple of year before we settle, things aren't exactly how I would like them to be, but we make due. Much of our furniture can be taken a part so we can travel with it. I'm a big fan of real wood. We have a two bedroom apt. one bedroom is my husbands workshop and the other is our cozy bedroom, Andrew(husband) built the bed and we painted it with this sage green milk paint, and since I always wanted a headbord he made one and cut a crescent moon out of it like a stencil. Blankets are colorful, but an autumn colorful not a bright summer colorful and sheer sage(same as bed) curtains floor length. The kitchen is full of my handmade pottery with all kinds of differnt ecletic pictures and pots hanging, a lot of my Moms stiched picture (love them). Living room has my workshop in the one corner which is always bursting with paint, fabric, paper, you names it's there. Besides that corner which I try to control there are lots of plants and old red oxide colored metal trunk that we use as coffee table, two handmade wooden book shelves, trinkets everywhere and natural linen curtains. All the walls are covered in our own art mix with my Moms and Andrew's Moms art. Our kitchen table (borrowed from friends) is always colorful with with a set of candle sticks. I would say our home looks like an artists studio if I had to give a name.
Blessed Be
www.sqrlbee.com/artisan
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2005 : 1:17:43 PM
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sqrl - that is because your home IS an artist's studio/nest! It sounds so full of love, too.
jpbluesky
heartland girl |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Aug 22 2005 : 1:20:57 PM
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byhzgraze - you know, the Allman Brothers are homeboys, right? One of them started a still existing recording studio right here in my area. I know this is the wrong place to post this but, .....
There are many reasons why bluesky is my name, but the lyrics of that song sum them all up.
"Walk along the river, sweet lullaby, it just keeps on flowing,
It don't worry bout where it's going, no, no.
Don;t fly, mister blue bird, I'm just walking down the road,
Early morning sunshine tell me all I need to know.
"You're my blue sky, you're my sunny day.
Lord, you know it makes me high when you turn your love my way,
Turn your love my way, yeah.
"Good old Sunday morning, bells are ringing everywhere
Goin to Carolina, it won't be long and I'll be there."
jpbluesky
heartland girl |
Edited by - jpbluesky on Aug 22 2005 1:42:16 PM |
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ByHzGrace
True Blue Farmgirl
348 Posts
348 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 7:53:07 PM
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I'm reading and y'all are better homes and gardens!So many beautiful homes.I'd like an artists studio. Wow.
I don't have a clue to this here stylin and decorating. They all look and sound like mansions.
Really, I want to know what makes it rustic or primitive or country and is it color or style or furniture? My colors are red and yellow of cypress. I have no style, maybe *early college* cuz that's how old my handmedowns are?!
hey sistah bluesky!
you like allman bro me too! I play soul, country, gut-wrenching blues guitar, and for a girl wail on slide skydoglike. do you remember the fringe leathers from back then? I still have my mini suede skirt. It could be a small pillow LOL. |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Aug 24 2005 : 8:15:53 PM
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Was Greg Allman an Allman brother? He was the blonde guy married to Cher? Lord I was born a ramblin man... tryin to make a livin doin the best I can...
Being is what it is. Jean Paul Sartre |
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Stitching & Crafting Room: How do you decorate your home????? |
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How do you decorate your home?????
