Thursday, June 26, 2014

The Decorating Muse - What's Yours?


My last post on lightening my colour palette has begat this post on what gets us going when we decorate.

I am no decorator.  While I have had help from time to time (see: coral debacle), 90%+ of our home is my vision, for good or bad.

My taste is like me - a collection of bits and bots, whims, fancies, tricks of light.  There is nothing prized except the art work in terms of value and the antiques because they are all family heirlooms.

I do not know really know decorators except for Canadian Sarah Richardson, Nate Berkus and Elsie deWolfe.

When I see others in your blogs and in the magazines I do pay attention, but I must be honest: I have pedestrian taste.  I cannot afford, nor would my good Scot blood allow, most things I see.

And actually, I am quite content with that, most of the time, though I admit to wishing I better understood principles of design, as it would no doubt hold me in good stead.  At present, when something works it is almost always accidental.   And when something bothers me, I cannot explain why it bothers me except it makes my stomach hurt, similar to bad writing and too many cheesies.

Often what starts me down a road is something that is kind of quirky.

This early 1960s toy kitchen (I had the yellow version)



and my parent's canisters from the same era


led to my kitchen:



And as much as the soothing blues have inspired me to paint the dining room, so too has the portrait of my mother in her blue sweater as a young girl:


old picture and excuse the mess!

As an aside, many of you will recall that My mom and her younger brother Barry (!) grew up with Donald Sutherland and were very good friends with him.



Sadly she never got to meet him again after he went Hollywood, which I think was always sad for her in some ways, and kind of a relief in others.  I was thinking of them the other day when I saw this preview for the next Hunger Games movie:


Josh Hutcherson and Donald Sutherland in 'Mockingjay – Part 1'


Donald just chews up the scenery in the best way possible in these movies!


But I digress....

Every Ralph Lauren lifestyle ad I've ever seen inspired me to paint our library a deep navy.



A sweater I have inspired the peacock-coloured walls of my bedroom:



As funds and time allow, we "upscale" a bit - get the better lamp, a window that actually opens and closes, trade in the old thing for something a little finer.  But generally, there is nothing fancy here and though I am often inspired by the nesting magazines I read, I do not always see myself in them because their spaces seem too perfect, too staged for my lackadaisical tendencies.  Even as I sit here writing this in my office I am looking down at an old business card I dropped three days ago by my feet and I notice the extension cord that needs to be wrapped up and put away.  

And if I tell the truth, I am most taken with spots with lots of imperfection, lots of character.  The dent for me is as interesting as the piece itself.  I am fascinated by what people collect and bare walls make me nervous; I feel they would swallow me whole!

So I would love to hear about what starts you decorating and how you choose your styles and colour schemes?  Do you copy many things?  Do you get help?  Please share!

Have a lovely evening and stay safe out there, especially all intrepid travellers!

xoxo wendy


23 comments:

  1. We live in a small arts and crafts 100+ year old home so we have collected arts and crafts style furnishings for the living and dining rooms. We have wool area carpets in organic colours of green and sienna and cream on a black background...drapes in the same shades.
    The only room that has more modern furnishings is the family room which has two linen slip covered love seats from IKEA.
    Being married to an architect helps in the home design with regards to placement and scale of the furniture...I looked at many books and magazines for many years while we were restoring our home and it is far from perfect but as you say it is cozy and reflects our habits and personalities.
    I could never live in a home decorated by a designer as I would feel like I was in someone else's home.
    Relatives of Donald's lived two blocks away from us for many years.
    A few years ago my friend saw Colin Firth walking on the beach and as I am a huge fan of his I was so disappointed that I never saw him and sadly his ex wife, one of the Tilley girls, I think it was Jennifer not Meg, and children have moved to Vancouver.
    Oh and you asked what starts decorating...a renovation or restoration starts the process and the bedroom is next.

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    1. Hostess, I have been carrying around a blueprint for an arts and crafts bungalow for 20 years - when my ship comes in, it will, too!!! Ah Colin Firth... Maybe it's good you didn;t see him - you can imagine him wearing that flowing white shirt on your shores....

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  2. The way you're approaching your decorating is actually the same way a professional does. Something always sparks the design scheme, and often it's something slightly odd, like your kitchen design scheme and childhood toy!
    For me, it's usually images I've collected. Pinterest is good for that… I just pin anything I like the look of, and when I go back for a bit of inspiration, there's usually a theme to it that points a direction I'd probably like to head to. Often a fabric is my starting point. Once I find one that has a strong pull on me, it spins off the scheme for an entire room. I also try to think about the mood I'd like to create in a room - calm/ cosy/ open/ airy etc and think about light and furniture placement to create that feeling.
    I think the main thing is that a house constantly evolves, so I don't think of anything as set in stone. While I don't like throwing things out furniture wise (so they are investment pieces on the whole), fabric or paint colours will change over time as your mood and place in life changes too. xx

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    1. Well there you go! I wish you could pop round now and then to chat with me, Heidi!

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  3. Wendy, your home is charming and welcoming and completely individual. That's what decorators and designers are supposed to do - express the client's personality. If the client doesn't have a personality, they'll put some African masks or model sailboats in the den.

    That said, I have found decorators helpful in thinking about proportion, sizes, and high pieces/low pieces, like what height should the seats of these chairs be to seat us comfortably at the dining table. And I've found a couple who were completely counterproductive, obstructionist, having only one "look," unreliable.

    So I think it's great that your home looks like you, and that it is set in a magical garden that looks like the house, that has all the rooms that look like Wendy.

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    1. Then again, I can also imagine you and Barry King of the Wild North living happily in that treehouse in the Bay Area.

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    2. oh you make me laugh! african masks and sailboats! I agree about decorators adding some good ideas. When I have worked with one, they always look at space differently than I do! Barry would happily live in the treehouse, but I want to be in an pied-a-terre in Paris!

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  4. I say just go with what you like that always seems to work as it is coming from you so there is usually a method. Anytime I tried to emulate it comes out wrong plus i end up not liking it. Your house looks lovely so far so go with your gut!

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    1. Thanks Naomi - hope all is well at the clinic! I always get hungry thinking of you being there!

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  5. I love your place. I've had a binder of likes I've kept since high school as inspiration but I let the home I'm in dictate style. I had a lot of modern before but when I moved into my current 1920s house, I replaced it all w girly antiques. Gave ex hub the modern art so the kids can still enjoy though.

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    1. Jen - I think you are so right - the house does dictate. Our house was a blank slate of 1970s vintage, so any charm has had to be added by us! When we moved in there was blood red shag carpet in the basement (and the basement bathroom!)

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  6. Our biggest struggle is Hunter loves orange and red (such passion) and I am a blue green girl (yeah, cold fish). Anyway, I did have some one come out once and rearrange my stuff on the bookcases...more a stylist than a decorator. I am a typical American, if all my rooms were just two feet wider and longer my crap would look great.

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    1. BB - I am not an American, but I feel the same way!!!! What I really want is a sun room! oh and a greenhouse... and a huge bedroom and a WIC...

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  7. I love serene colors, and order,but am surrounded by boys and relative chaos. I love certain modern interiors but have a transitional home. I always admire your art. It adds so much personality.

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    1. Oh, and I love the picture of your mom with Donald Sutherland. Unlikely casting, I know, but I liked him in Pride and Prejudice!

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    2. I loved him in Pride and Prejudice too! Our chaos seems to be coming to an end (for awhile!), but I think that also dictated previous colour schemes!

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  8. I think your house is very personal, as I think mine is. We've all been in impersonal spaces, where any one could be living, you can't tell. Hotel lobby houses. There are people who really feel at home in these spaces, but I never could.

    We both love house stuff/building/old things so our house reflects this. We used to be antique dealers in our spare time, years ago before the internet! I once worked with a friend/decorator in Providence when I could not find a chair I liked; she loved old houses and even though mine was not one of the grand ones she usually worked on, she provided various items I still have today. She insisted on working slowly, knowing as much as possible about her clients; once, she turned down a job where she was given a big blank house, huge budget and no personal info-- not for her.

    I don't subscribe to the blue and white by the sea with anchor and seahorse cushions that seems everywhere up here.

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    1. Lane - so interesting! My grandmother was THE antiques expert in NB up until her death in 1982 - in fact she wrote the definitive book about New Brunswick antiques. Some of the pieces we have are things she got for my parents, but to be honest, she sold lots and my relatives who lived closer got most things, as it was easier for them to take them home. Almost all of our pieces are from my Dad's side - we are so lucky to have my great-grandparent's dining room set and bedroom set!

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  9. I sit here reading this lovely post while the floors I just mopped dry. I got the cleaning bug this am and when that hits I have to go with it since I am never sure when it will come back again. I love homes (like yours) where the personality of the folks who live there shines through. A planned and carefully executed interior decorated home is often just a show piece and although I steal ideas whenever I am taken with something I never want one of those places. I get my best ideas from someone else's house where I know the people who live there. Hope you agree that copying is the best form of flattery!!

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    1. Well I think I have stolen ideas from you and Mike, so there you go and I do feel the same way about your house - it "feels" like you and Mike! The houses that look like Canadian House and Home give me the heebie-jeebies!

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  10. Hi Wendy, I'm a binder girl, I have many, many tear-out sheets of things I like. (I'm trying out Pinterest too, but not really comfortable yet.) However, I find that we've been constrained by moving so often - we have basically been renters with a mortgage all these years, so there's never any time to make real changes. Luckily, our new house is quite a different style to all the others, more modern, cleaner lines - and I realize now that it reminds me of homes I knew when I lived in Germany. We won't be making any structural changes for a long time (hopefully), but we'll definitely be painting at some point - the house is quite beige/taupe, and I prefer light blues and whites. (Now - in the past I've done a lot of yellows, especially in our kitchens.) I agree also with Jen - we will try to pare down to match the lines of the house.

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    1. Patricia - I am hoping you are getting closer to the last stop? I have a little accordion binder with tear sheets as well!

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  11. A nice trip through your house! I love the stories behind your decorating decisions.

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