Cool new rug I got in Sioux City yesterday. I'll surprize Steven with it (unless he reads this first!). It will be perfect by the front door.
Say What You Want To Say
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I have often been privy to much different conversations now versus several
years ago. Several of you have written that people are emboldened to say
what th...
1 week ago
4 comments:
Sam,
My partner and I are also in the process of decorating a new home. Done together, it's really a beautiful and intimate enterprise. In your choices, you reveal yourself to your partner and at the same time are concerned with pleasing him. We never discuss what is actually going on while we are decorating, but we both understand it fully; it's a very happy time for us, and it seems that the same holds true for you and Stephen.
BTW, it's something say couples do much more often than straights. With straight couples, the woman generally takes charge of this activity, with the male partner playing a very passive role. On the other hand, they can raise children together.
Bruce, yes it is a wonderful thing to engage in together, making the nest (and constantly remaking it, rearranging it, updating it, shuffing things out while others shuffle in). Even though I am the slightly more offbeat half of our duo--buying doormats that remind me of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz, for example--I am constantly amazed at how in sync we are. While most of the time we are making decisions together and engaging in the work together, we often tackle things on our own, and I'm constantly amazed at Steven's skill and great sense of authenticity when it comes to our living environment. We neither of us go in for the fake crap that dominates alot of American homes now, preferring to build rooms around the real stuff we use in them. I realize--somewhat painfully--our synergy because Steven's mother is constantly doing things around the house that often shock both of us. She has no ability for making the everday and the utilitarian a thing of beauty. He certainly didn't get the feng shuie gene from her, because she doesn't have any! But boy is she a wizard with the sewing machine! As long as she lets us art direct her...
I'm sure you must have somethihng much more interesting and old than our 1925 Craftsman?
Sam,
Don't talk down your 1925 craftsmen. Early XX century design is now the hottest sector of the design market.
We decided to do our new place in French and English XVIII century because it was actually cheaper and more available then the Art Nouveau, Deco, and Arts and Crafts stuff. You can get a very nice late Georgian or Louis XVI piece (not museum quality, but very good, fully authentic, and in good, usable condition) for much less than what an equivalent early XX century piece would cost.
We have another apartment that we decorated, about 8 years ago, when we first met, in early XX century. Now, we couldn't afford many of the pieces that we bought for very modest prices then.
Take care of your 1925 pieces. Not just because they may be more valuable than you think, but because many of them can be very interesting and beautiful.
No, not talking down to my Craftsman. We are still very much in our honeymoon, the craftsman, Steven and I.
I have always loved the over-the-topness of French XVIII stuff, and have secretly longed for silk-covered post-rococco for so long. We looked at Phillipe Starck's "Louis Ghost" armchairs yesterday in Columbus. While I love their spirit and style, we just don't have quite the right setting for that. Those are so for a completely white, modern space I think.
We really don't yet have many craftsman pieces that are much germane to the style of this house. Likely we will acquire a few, but we are both much more enamored with the idea of contrast: combining Grandma-Lake-House style with Craftsman, modern-chromey disco with Craftsman, eastern rustic and hand-made with craftsman. We're eclectic whores when it comes to combining furnitures and our photos, art, and collections of stuff.
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