I just finished the new issue of
House Beautiful, which I look forward to reading every month. I always find wonderful ideas to take away. But I always feel a little put off when I see spread after spread of rooms which have been designed with all new furniture or completely refurbished furniture and fixtures. Isn't it okay to have old, worn pieces in our homes anymore? Of all the things in my home, the pieces I love most are worn, frayed and loved into aged perfection.
I must say that I agree with you wholeheartedly! A room with everything new and shiny can be pretty but I am always left feeling it lacks something. A piece with a bit of history, that looks like it was loved adds soul. Kind of like the velveteen rabbit.
ReplyDeleteRight you are! Some of my knicked up pieces hold great memories.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you. Virtually NONE of my furnishings are new, nor were they new when I acquired them. I prefer it that way.
ReplyDeleteThat said, perhaps the dilemma for the magazines is that they get revenues from the manufacturers for showing -- and crediting -- new pieces (?) and that without these revenues they wouldn't be able to continue publishing. Not sure, just a hypothesis. I suspect that magazines make far more money from ad revenues than from subsciption and news stand sales.
I used to fantasize about starting a magazine full of nothing but homes with worn/rescued/scavenged/second-hand interiors. Then I thought: great, but who would my advertisers be?
At least as long as this (and other) blogs continue, we can all get our 'fix' of the old and the worn and the beautifully patina'ed... as shown in these lovely photos!
Aye! Aye! Although I adore House Beautiful it seems that only every other issue for me is a hit. This past one kind of a miss, but the one before that....oh me oh my, I loved it all!
ReplyDeleteMost of the things in my home are second hand and I love being able to go around and remember what I paid for everything. "There's my $3 lamp, my spray painted $18 bar table, the $25 dollar on-sale Indian table, the $2 bamboo yard sale chair!"
I think this is my first comment on your blog but I've been following for a long while and you are daily read for me! :)
Completely agree. A home in which everything is brand-new and "perfect" does not look welcoming to me. Give me stuff that's a bit frayed around the edges, and I'm a happy girl.
ReplyDeleteYes! Especially when some of those 'aged to perfection' are relatives! :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Sarah.
ReplyDeleteWhen it is all new and perfect, to me it looks like you live in a furniture store.
Character!!!
I totally agree, nearly all of my furniture is well over 100 years old- even my house has windows and doors we collected over a three year period and all are 100's of years old with the original rim locks and brass door knobs, leadlights etc etc. I had to buy a new cabinet /dresser to house my collection of antique china and the like as I couldn't find an old one big enough in my budget but it marries well with my antiques as its French provincial. My dining table was built by my husband (in part and a joiner put it together)and we went to a salvage yard and found very old timber that was farm posts and slabs of very old timber for the top. It seats about 16 people and looks like an old French farmhouse table. So here I compromised but boy is it solid (still old) and you could dance on that baby. It'll live life for another 100+ years. You can't beat history and workmanship, thats what you generally get with aged pieces I am hooked. xxCorrina.
ReplyDeleteI would like to know the name of the style that consists of messy things (as the wall on the 1º picture). I had read an article about that
ReplyDeletebut never find again!
thank you very much
from Argentina
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