A lot of our furniture was inherited at various points from my in-laws, whose taste in home decor ran to “80’s-90’s Modern In Soft Neutrals.” Lots of taupe. It’s quality stuff, and most has held up over time, but we’ve taken the easy road and have just decorated around it, sticking with the same theme. Le Monsieur feels (and rightly so) that there’s no need to replace perfectly good furniture. As with clothing, simple, basic pieces can be a good canvas to play with. We’ve played it safe however, mostly out of having little time and energy to make decorating choices. We’ve stuck with a palette of soft neutrals and earth tones, and lately I’ve been itching to bust out and add some color and pattern.
My friend Karen is redecorating their new (to them) house in Oregon, and has been inciting my interest with some of her Chinoiserie-inspired choices. She turned me on to a couple of decorating blogs/websites that (while they are a bit more exuberant than our style) really are great fun: Chinoiserie Chic and Madcap Cottage.
Redecorating is expensive business (and yes, we’re looking to renovate our kitchen at some point this year) but bedding and accent pieces can be a lower-commitment way to test the waters. We’ve actually been talking about replacing our worn-out bedding for a few months now, and with the January sales I decided to get serious about it. I’ve seen almost nothing I’ve liked in stores, so went online. That bedding set above grabbed me the minute I saw it. I’ve ordered the duvet and shams, will give it a try. (Our walls are a light almond color though, going to stick with that for now.) I’d love to find a bench along the lines of the one shown for the foot of the bed.
This design was a close second. It has kind of a fun mid-century feel to it. I’ve ordered this one too, and will see which we prefer in our room.
My grandmother loved Asian decor, and collected some art and incidental pieces (some of which I’ve inherited, along with her love of Asian art) which fit with that motif. They include a lot of antique Blue Willow ceramics, which she apparently bought by the barrel when she visited Hong Kong in the 1960’s. I might be able to re-purpose one or two of the bowls or canisters as night-table accent pieces. I already have her Dong Kingman San Francisco cable car prints hanging in our room (these have been favorites since I was a child). But I think the colors in either bedding design would also set off our vintage French posters quite nicely. I like to keep it eclectic.
If anyone’s interested, I’ll share some before and after pictures, once we’ve settled on a pattern and theme.
Do you re-decorate periodically? Have you made dramatic changes in one or more rooms?
Let’s Decorate…
