Your Interior Decorating Style...

[fashionista-ta]

Today I am getting a little crafty Recently I bought an unusual vintage wicker piece ... an etagere I guess (has about 5 shelves in graduated sizes, all woven, ending with a little baby one at the top the size of an envelope) that I plan to put in my bath to hold stuff. My bathroom has no built-in storage. I've added two glass whatnot shelves, and I have a small wicker piece with two shelves that sits on the commode, but there's no room to put anything other than my personal necessities. I have a pedestal sink with no counter, no medicine cabinet, linen closet in the hall, etc. So I think it will be really useful ...

Right now the etagere is painted a seriously hideous brown, which is worn, revealing the original white underneath. Trust me when I say it is not a good look ...

I bought paint yesterday ... a pale green + matching pearlescent green glaze, which suddenly seemed like a good idea So today I'm planning to give it a makeover ...

 

[Caramel]

I remember as a kid constantly rearranging my tiny bedroom and my mother letting me redecorate and paint the walls and furniture so long as I did the work myself. When I was 18 I randomly bought a book on interior design at a book sale, and since then I've been hooked on interior design and architecture!

I love my apartment, though I don't know how I'd describe my decorating style…rustic elegant scandinavian? What I find interesting is how the style has been largely influenced by the structure of the apartment. It's definitely very 'me', but if I lived somewhere else or if I were to design my dream space I'm sure it would look a bit different. More minimalistic for sure, but that just doesn't suit my current space at all, and with very little storage space in a rented apartment it would also be too difficult to maintain. My kitchen for example is tiny and has almost no cabinet space. It does have high ceilings, so I use the vertical space with lots of open shelves to store dry goods in glass jars, and to keep all my plates and bowls (I collect vintage creamware) that I use regularly. It definitely has a charming vintage utilitarian look, and I just kind of roll with that (I love cooking and need to store all my stuff! ), but if I owned my space it would be much more sleek.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I agree that the space really makes a difference! I like a lot of different things, but my house, which is English cottage style, has a definite opinion about what belongs there. I had never owned a sofa before I bought the house, waffling between the kind of more formal furniture my parents had, tufted, blah blah blah. As soon as I had the house, I knew exactly what kind of sofa belonged there. I think I ordered it before I had even closed!

 

[Melisande]

Your cottage sounds lovely Ta-ta.
By the way, how did painting your wicker etagere turn out?

 

[fashionista-ta]

How it turned out is that wicker must be spray painted, or you will never get it done So I bought spray paint in a similar but not as fabulous green, and finished it

 

[Caramel]

Melisande, I forgot to mention that after our cushion-discussion some time back (in the 4-5 piece thread) I finally decided to swap pink for blue as an accent colour in my mostly neutral living room. I've been obsessing over blue in fashion for a while but I've never even considered decorating with it before...I always assumed it would look too cold. But I bought some blue cushions and framed a large photograph I took of the ocean in Santorini once with kind of foggy blue tones, and I am LOVING the result. Paired with an earthy palette and lots of different textures like wool tweed, faux fur, leather, velvet, gold, etc, it gives a very moody and warm impression. I could use another blue piece to pick up the colour somewhere else in the room too, perhaps a ceramic vase or bowl or something like that...

I made a couple of moodboards of my living room and bedroom. Some are the actual pieces I have, and some are just similar, but I suppose it gives an impression. Looking at them now my style doesn't look very Scandinavian at all. But in the actual rooms it's obviously less cluttered and the overall feel is quite light and airy.

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[Nymphaea]

^Looks lovely and well balanced Caramel.

I like to mix (French) antique stuff with classic contemporary stuff. I love my antique French chandeliers, I want one or two more, but atm I'm renting so when I finally have bought my dream home with high ceilings (I hope) there will be probably one or two more if I can find them of course. Also French antique mirrors are a favourite of mine, but haven't the space right now and they can we quite large. Atm I'm eyeing a gold metal side table contemporary. When I'm in Paris spring next year I will have a look. I'm changing/updating my interior once in a while by changing accessoires: the pillows, lampshades and runners. Atm I'm very into red, so the lampshades are velvet red, on the brown leather couch are red velvet pillows, smaller red satin silk pillows and smaller red crocheted pillows and also a red velvet runner. Imo it's all in the details, it makes it a little bit more special. Behind the dinner table there is a large wooden board covered in gold, a bit shiny, velvet. I'm very happy with my interior.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ A huge mirror on the floor (leaning against the wall) can be really beautiful. I saw a silver-leaf Louis Philippe one once in a show house ... it was for sale, but everyone associated with the showhouse had first dibs, and they did not let it go, so I wasn't able to buy it (the price was great too). I have not been able to find another one I liked as well ... but one day I will have a gorgeous Louis Philippe mirror!

Right now I am thinking about bathrooms ... I have some tile damage in my bath that is going to end up costing me quite a lot. I think I'm going to put in a new bath so that I can gut my existing one. I still have a lot of my original plumbing (as in the pipes), and my plumber has already told me that he would insist on redoing it if I put in another bath. So ...

I have some ideas, I want to go to a few tile showrooms and see what's out there ...

 

[Nymphaea]

Ah yes, Louis Philippe mirrors are beautiful.
Curious how your bathroom is going to look like.

What about decorating your interior with plants? What kind of plants do you guys have? I only have a few large white orchids and some fake ones they almost look real.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I have plants in my bedroom ... they're really good for purifying the air. I have philodendrons (the idiot plant, anyone can grow them) and an angel wing begonia.


The new bath I want to look like an English bath where you have a nice room and the bathtub is right in the middle. Usually they have fireplaces--mine will not. I think they look so luxurious. In my case, the room already has a dark-stained hardwood floor. Since I don't have space limitations, it should make it easier to get salvage (a vintage cast-iron clawfoot tub). In the case of my real bathroom, I've been thinking of maybe just having a shower only and forgetting the tub. The niche is an odd size and can only fit a 4 1/2' clawfoot at the most.

 

[Fewormany]

I have plants in pretty much every room that my apartment will let me (or where the sun can reach it mostly). I have some orchids in different shades of white/pink/purple. A big ginseng bonsai which died on the top part, not sure what to do with it yet because on the bottom there are enough new sprouts. Then I have a bombax tree (pachira aquatia) near the window that grows like crazy and some fresh herbs growing in containers in the kitchen.

I would have more plants if I had more room..

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Love fresh herbs I have basil and oregano growing on my front porch. I also have golden sage and black olive peppers.

Do you find that orchids are fussy about air movement? I had read that and it made me nervous ... I had at least one before ... I put it where I thought there wouldn't be any. But I don't know if that was all overblown.

This weekend I made some changes in my bedroom ... some clutter had accumulated on top of my chest of drawers, which I recently cleared. While at a museum this weekend, I bought some fair-trade felt flowers--two large orange-red poppies (all they had) to go with my bedroom, which has a poppy theme, plus some others for other rooms. I put them in a tall frosted Lalique Deco vase on the chest. Also switched out a framed print for a different, lighter one (also poppies), and moved things around. I have a Deco teapot, creamer, and sugar with stylized poppies that I put on the nightstand under the print.

One of the plants was dusty, so when it rained recently, I took it outside so Mother Nature could clean it off for me

And I also bought more clear shoe boxes, so my tower in the corner is taller now. I have a glass mobile in poppy colors hanging in that corner ... the tower is as tall as it can get now without moving the mobile

 

[Fewormany]

^ Love fresh herbs I have basil and oregano growing on my front porch. I also have golden sage and black olive peppers.

Do you find that orchids are fussy about air movement? I had read that and it made me nervous ... I had at least one before ... I put it where I thought there wouldn't be any. But I don't know if that was all overblown.

I have basil, thyme, parsly, chive, oregano and mint in my kitchen. And some more mint on the balcony.

My orchids are blooming on and of for about three years. I have them in my window sill, and I like to ventilate especially in the summer and they all survived thus far. I think it all depends on what kind of orchids you get, I've got the easiest (they're called moth orchids I think..) and I don't do anything special to keep them alive. All of them we're gifts and the people who gave them are amazed that they still bloom regularly (so am I ).

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Oh, forgot mint ... I have it growing in two of my beds--few different kinds. In one, it shows no inclination whatever to take over ...

I am impressed too with the rebloom! I think I will have to try them again ... there are a couple of orchid specialists quite near me ...

 

[fashionista-ta]

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These are the flowers I got btw ... not worried about the care on these

 

[Nymphaea]

fashionista-ta English baths are so nice and centering the bath is pure luxury. I don't use a bath often so it would only be an ornament, I prefer showers for it's praticality, large showers! But if they invent a bath that keeps itself warm I will be the first to purchase one, the water is always cooling too fast for my comfort.

When the weather is warm and there is a light shower my orchids also go outside to soak and clean the dust off.

That must be a hell of tower if it's almost touching the mobile. I love poppies, that poppy tribute in London is wonderful. And indeed those flowers are very easy to care for! Just dusting once in a while.

You must be very good with plants Fewormany! My orchids tend to look a bid old/wrinkled when they are getting older, also they tend to try to come out of their pot because of the roots sticking out and I don't think thats good for getting their nutrition. Tips?

 

[Caramel]

I also think orchids are easy to care for. I have two white ones that I've had since 2009, and one of them are always in bloom. I've never really thought about air circulation...I keep whichever one of them that isn't blooming in my bedroom window (slightly hidden behind the curtain) in direct sunlight, and the one in bloom is on a side table in my living room.
I also have a lemon tree in my bedroom window, a large pot with different succulents in the living room, as well as some dark green leafy things that I don't know the name of. And herbs in the kitchen, basil, oregano, thyme and mint.

@Ta-ta: The sound of that bathroom... Living in a small apartment I so miss having a bathtub, especially in the winter. I dream of a clawfoot tub!

 

[fashionista-ta]

fashionista-ta English baths are so nice and centering the bath is pure luxury. I don't use a bath often so it would only be an ornament, I prefer showers for it's praticality, large showers! But if they invent a bath that keeps itself warm I will be the first to purchase one, the water is always cooling too fast for my comfort.

When the weather is warm and there is a light shower my orchids also go outside to soak and clean the dust off.

That must be a hell of tower if it's almost touching the mobile. I love poppies, that poppy tribute in London is wonderful. And indeed those flowers are very easy to care for! Just dusting once in a while.

You must be very good with plants Fewormany! My orchids tend to look a bid old/wrinkled when they are getting older, also they tend to try to come out of their pot because of the roots sticking out and I don't think thats good for getting their nutrition. Tips?

Well, the ceilings are only 8 feet It's probably about 5 feet now? And three boxes across.

Caramel, I didn't realize how lucky I was with the clawfoot I grew up with--so comfortable! I loved it, but took it for granted. I have a tub now, but just a boxy one probably from the 50s or so, and it is *not* comfortable.

 

[Fewormany]

One of the orchids sprouted 4 (!) new branches while blooming. I don't know what I did to deserve that but I have some seriously good flower karma.

A bathtub sounds great, even though I don't like taking baths that much having the option (and the space that a bathtub requires ) would be nice. I don't like my bathroom that much, way to crammed up with washer/dryer, sink and a shower and no daylight. But I guess that's what you get for living in the city in a starters apartment.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ You really do

Wow, I have never seen a W/D in a bathroom. I love love love taking baths