Your Interior Decorating Style...

[Melisande]

I am dying for this lamp. Why is it $400?!?!

I was discussing the topic recently with some architects and interior designers, who all agreed that Ikea lamps are the best value, by a huge margin!

I haven't used any personally so I don't know from experience, but you can customize them to your liking.

 

[Belowen]

Dramatique please quote the source of your image, or it will be removed. Thankyou.

 

[dramatique]

Opps, sorry, picture credit for post #259 is Anthropologie

 

[from: sophia]

my own photos. Basically I like to decorate the opposite of how I dress lol. I love to clash and use bright colors.

I really like these pieces from Anthropologie home

 

[Guessgirl96]

^ I agree ... I don't do placeholders either. Better to just have a blank spot till you figure it out.

The issue I have with IKEA is their stuff isn't solid wood (typically), so it off-gasses ... I refuse to allow any MDF into my home.

PS See the clutter-clearing thread for tips on shedding books you no longer really need

I just moved into my brothers old apartment, very similar layout but bigger... I really dont like to use placeholders either but I cant afford all the stuff I really like right away. It'll take years before I can get all the things I want so I have to get place holders and slowly purchase the things I actually want I have a few things I really like with some filler ikea and hand me downs.

When I first started buying furniture I didnt really know the look I was going for and didnt plan so well. I cringe when I think I could have gotten the togo couch for what I spent on my couch and chairs. I like them but it's not really the look I want.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I believe in living with 'white space' while figuring it all out I didn't even own a couch till 8 1/2 years ago. I'm replacing some of the slipcovers so I just got a copy of my original order ... I noticed I hadn't closed on my house yet when I ordered it, but I had made up my mind & had the contract on it The house has a real personality & helped clarify for me what I wanted.

I had to kind of separate myself from my parents' style ... I grew up with a Duncan Phyfe sofa with visible wood, and spent many happy hours on it reading My sofa now has a pillow back, slipcovers, and no wood showing. What they have in common is both are very comfortable to sit on horizontally with your head and neck against the curved arm. It took me awhile to work out what was important to me, and what my style was ... I still have things from my 20s, but most I wouldn't acquire today. I still approve of my Cargo pine bookshelves, the first of which I bought early on. I ordered more a few years ago ...

 

[dramatique]

^ I have had to separate my style from my parent's as well. I couldn't get away from it completely. I still believe in having an antique piece (no matter how modern the room) to ground the space. I spent weekends as a kid reading in some dank antique store while mom and dad spent hours looking for that perfect piece. My father has happily surrendered his position as assistant "buyer" over to me. He stays at home napping now while I follow my mother around to antique stores.

Guessgirl, I did however, break down and bought one placeholder piece: a dresser. I couldn't stand my clothes being all over the floor. I think the trick is to figure out what you absolutely can wait to have. A dresser could not be waited upon.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ My style too is influenced by my family's ... not that there's anything wrong with recreating your family's style, but I found that it wasn't me.

When my grandfather retired, he opened an antiques shop, and his specialty was Early American. He gave my mother various pieces, so what I grew up with was kind of in his taste. Mostly mahogany.

I love old things too, but early 20th century is my thing. Ironically, my grandparents lived through that whole period, but don't have any of that great Deco stuff because they were collecting older things

After I started collecting Lu-ray, I found out that when my mother was born, my grandfather brought my grandmother a four-piece place setting of it. She was pretty good at breaking things, though--there was none of it left by the time I came along.

I also like lighter woods--pine, maple, and I also have some black lacquer. Prefer chrome and nickel to brass and gilt. All of that the opposite of my family.

My grandfather's been gone for many years, and the rest of the family are not what you might call generous, so except for the furniture that was mine growing up, I didn't have any family pieces. Which turned out to be a great thing for developing my own taste.

I had a mahogany bed & chest of drawers that I used until I bought my own ... I can see how you would consider a chest of drawers a necessity Here, though, for $100-200, you can get a decent chest of drawers at an antique mall. Something that would make perfectly good storage elsewhere later on ...

I used to have a whole big chest of drawers filled with gift wrap, gift bags, ribbon, cards, etc., and would love to do that again.

 

[fashionista-ta]

antique-linens

Got this never-used tan French linen sheet from the early 20th century ... the drawnwork border is across the top of the sheet.

 

[dramatique]

Mmm... gorgeous. I have some vintage hankies I am giving my ladies but in no way the pristine collection you have. I have not got so far as to collect linens yet. Still working on furniture! Heh!

 

[fashionista-ta]

Mmm... gorgeous. I have some vintage hankies I am giving my ladies but in no way the pristine collection you have. I have not got so far as to collect linens yet. Still working on furniture! Heh!

Well, that too I guess I'm kind of in phase 3 now ... I need to replace my bed, and the linens I originally bought for it, and I need some new slipcovers for my sofa (bought about 8.5 years ago).

I have vintage quilts and chenille spreads, but hadn't bought antique sheets before, so I thought I'd try it ... they're so much more beautiful than what you can get now, and of course very green ... I think carefully about new cotton purchases since conventional cotton is so pesticide-intensive ... the new linens I am buying are linen rather than cotton (fitted sheets, pillowcases). Hemp is another possibility, haven't tried that yet.

 

[dramatique]

*sigh* Linen is gorgeous. And they soften beautifully over time. Mine was a gift from my mother. And they don't do bleach very well. So if you live with a boy prepared for moments like "Argh! Are you eating in bed? Is that chocolate ice cream?" Men have no sense sometimes.

 

[fashionista-ta]

emsheart

^ Oh there will definitely be none of that This is the last one I got ... had to have it because it's my monogram.

 

[vogue28]

source | maciekkobielski.com

It's unreal how much my Home Office looks like this. The frames, the photos, the colours, just everything

 

[ediewho]

My decoratrion style needs a bit of mess to feel im at home home...
my fav books, old toys, computing stuff... i gotta take pictures...
It used to be mess into mess... now im trying to create a nice calm environment... chaos in my room was like getting into terrible levels ...but i recognize i need a lil' bit of chaos to feel completely comfortable in.

 

[Melisande]

This thread has been hibernating for three years!
I'm moving to another apt in Paris this week, and would appreciate some ideas...

Question: If you had one salon and had to choose between creating a dining area and a living area with sofas and coffee table, which would you take?

The pre-furnished apartment has a sofa and a comfy chair and a coffee table for the living area, and a foldable dining table and chairs, and a kitchen where you can eat at the counter. I'm thinking the dining table should be stored away except for dinner guests...on the other hand, keeping the dining table out could be useful to work at home...

I love decorating and I'm getting sick of being a nomad due of my work, but on a good day I remember that my wings and dreams are my home :S

 

[adorefaith]

^Personally I'd go with the living area...

It depends how often you entertain, and how big the kitchen is too... is the counter area suitable to have a few friends over for a casual meal? is it a big hassle to unfold the dining table and chairs....and where would you put them?

I really think it depends how often you realistically think you'll use it, but dining tables that double as work spaces are very dangerous imo....before you know it it's covered in paperwork and mail and it'll be messy and stressful. better to fold the dining table up and only really use it when you'll be eating at it.

 

[fashionista-ta]

notonthehighstreet

I'd go with the living area as well, and perhaps if possible put a table for two in a window or something ... or on a balcony. That would be a nice place for breakfast or dinner a deux.

I made the other choice as dictated by my furniture at the time, and I can't say it worked that well

I haven't been decorating much lately, but I did get this clock for my office ...

 

[Melisande]

Thanks adorefaith and ta-ta for your wise and experienced input, I'll go with youses advice! SO true about the dining-table-cum-desk

Yes, in fact the counter area is good for a casual meal for about three, and there is, in fact, a smaller café type table where two can sit and eat by the window. I'm moving in tomorrow, and will try and experiment once I'm settled in.

Since it's not my own place, I desperately wanted a feeling of purity to "cleanse" the place and make it my own if only for a few months or however long, so I'm changing all the curtains and bed linens to pure white. Add a few lavender pillows I already have, and my beautiful candles and room perfumes from Ladurée and Diptyque and my favorite paintings I travel with. I also got a few new dainty plates and glasses to enjoy dining with my best friend.

 

[Juliette]

I love decorating I love so many styles, but primarily it's kind of a modern version of shabby chic (that phrase is so overused )
I unfortunately still live with my parents, so I can't really decorate a whole apartment, but I'm planning to move away in a couple of years, as soon as I finish college. Then I'll go completely crazy with the decorating I'm already invisioning my new bedroom... A wall in Tiffany blue and bedding in the same colour, with a plush cream/ivory throw on top of it. Furniture will be white wood and the headboard will be ivory as well... Then I'll have a chandelier over the room and vanilla-scented candles burning. A huge bouquet of pale pink peonies in a big glass vase next to the bed and a book on style on the night stand. Silver accents throughout the room. And to shatter the illusion, my boyfriend's dirty clothes will probably be lying on the floor.
I would love to post some photos, but unfortunately I don't have the sources as they're all saved on my computer...