Thursday, October 14, 2010

Notes From A Bohemian Cottage

Happy AlphabeThursday! Today my D is for Decorating. I am not good at decorating. I have good taste, don't get me wrong, of course I have good taste. I just do not know how to put it all together. Also, my taste is very...um...shall we say...eclectic. It is my mom's fault.
Growing up we always had a strange assemblage of furnishings and decor. A mixture of family pieces, antiques and odds and ends. A combination my mom's diverse flair for decorating and a lack of financing. Bookshelves in every nook and cranny, including the hallway! Nothing matched. I hated it. I just wanted everything to match. One year we bought a whole living room set, straight off the showroom floor. Overstuffed sectional sofa with matching (yes matching) end tables, coffee table and lamps. It was the one and only time I remember having a whole room in our house that...ya, you guessed it...matched. We moved shortly thereafter and that living room set was quickly pieced out, servicing new rooms and odd corners of the new house. We never matched again.
I knew that when I grew up and had a home of my own I would drive straight to the nearest furniture store, find my favorite grouping, wrap it up and take it home. Each room of my house would look just like a showroom. Sofas purposefully flanked by matching end tables. Headboards purposefully flanked by matching end tables, with matching dresser against the opposite wall. Everything. would. be. perfect. But as it turns out. I hate it. I hate matching furniture. Oh, do not get me wrong. It looks amazing at the store. It even looks amazing in my friends' homes. But it isn't me. Come on! Who was I kidding, my clothes never even match!
So here I sit, in my little bohemian cottage, full of hand-me-downs, thrift store finds and odds and ends. Bookshelves in every corner and a dining table in the middle of the living room.No real antiques because I am way cheaper than my mom. Nothing matches. Well except one sofa table and one end table that I bought together for our first home. They are in different rooms. I became my mother. Good thing. She lives in a wonderful space that really suits her. That is it I guess. Our space, our homes, our rooms must authentically reflect who we are. I was trying to make my outside into something that did not jive with my inside. I do not know why yet, perhaps just to rebel against my upbringing. I will have to explore that. But finally I have begun to make peace with my insides and am becoming more comfortable with showing that to the world. So, letting my inner bohemian shine through is a step toward living more authentically I guess. Well, that is all I have to say on the matter. For now anyway.
Quote of the Day: "I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
--Anna Quindlen author

15 comments:

  1. Well, my idea of great decorating is having enough bookshelves, LOL...

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  2. oh I am so glad i am not the only one ... i have nothing that matches, yet i am at home in my mismatched non designer rooms, filling them with little treasures, handmedowns and whatnots that make my heart sing!

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  3. I am not good at decorating either..
    beautiful reminder.
    Thanks for sharing!

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  4. my kinda girl...great post...

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  5. My house has hand me downs in most of the rooms. It some how works.

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  6. Oh I so love this post- and the ethos behind it. Well done!

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  7. Oh but now I want to see your eclectic home. I love eclectic.
    Dana

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  8. I LIKE eclectic. It's so much more interesting and tells more about the person who lives there.

    And, of course, there should be lots of bookshelves...with eclectic books on them.

    =)

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  9. Good quote today! My decor is quite eclectic. Sometimes I can pull something together that looks like it belongs in the same room. Paint, paint.

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  10. I can put the furniture together, but I am horrible at drapes! I got wooden blinds instead. A copout, I know.

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  11. You will be happy to know that I recently read an article on current trends in decorating learned that matching is OUT! Having a "collectible" look is in. So--there you have it--you are on the cutting edge of decorating!

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  12. I have never been cutting edge...apparently my mother was WAY ahead of her time...LOL

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  13. LOL! Are we twins?
    I don't have a single room that matches. Well, my sons bedroom/guest room might after we move the new (to us) furniture in there.
    To answer your question about the children's card games... Almost all of the ones I own were straight from my grandmothers house. But I did find some at a little antique/vintage store last summer, and I gave those to my sister for her ever growing collection. She found some of hers on e-bay and at garage sales too.

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  14. It's nice to finally be comfortable with your own taste. I have put everything on hold for 3 years while we've been renting and can't wait to see how that has changed my own designing instincts.

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  15. I love Bohemian decorating. If you mix what you love I think it always matches!

    I want pictures, though! I bet your house is cool since you are such a neat person!

    Thanks for linking to Alphabe-Thursday.

    A+

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