Thursday, February 26, 2009

Sew Crafty and Frugal


I am a serial decorator.
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I don't think I coined that phrase. Maybe it was Mary Engelbreit. But wherever it originated, it's mine. I am through-and-through a rearranger, color-tweaker, object hunter. My house is a palette and I fuss brush strokes upon it daily.
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Usually it's a budget-conscious kind of decorating. I like to use vintage books arranged by color. I like my open shelving in the kitchen to show off my pretty and practical mixing bowls and canisters full of healthy staples.
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I love to re-paint and re-cover my dining room chairs to match a whim.
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At one time a friend of mine announced she was just "done" with "faux finishing." Well, frankly, the faux finishes of the 1980s were never my favorite either. But my friend wasn't talking about sponge painting. No, she meant she didn't want anything in her home that wouldn't belong on the Ethan Allen showroom floor.
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There's nothing wrong with Ethan Allen either. New furniture always makes me happy when I go through a house that's for sale... it looks new and crisp and modern even if the style is "vintage." We even lived for a while with all-new furniture in one of our houses that we flipped. Talk about nerve-wracking. Not only did I have to keep it spotless, I worried about the furniture too.
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I just happen to love the lived-in look of an oft-painted hutch and a well-loved quilt. I love real wood and worn fabrics. I was into repurposing and recycling before it was cool, before shabby was chic.
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So the economy is in a tizzy? I can still have a new bathroom with a few scraps of oilcloth (that lived former lives as kitchen tablecloths) and a half hour on the sewing machine -- voila! a cheerful new shower curtain for the girls' bathroom.
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What do you do to freshen up a room with little to no money? Or do you like your home to be decorated and then stay that way?

5 comments:

Katie said...

OK! OK! I will blog it! You asked and begged and now you asked via blog. I can no longer put off the $35 dollar living room makeover. Consider yourself forewarned. :)

And the new shower curtain...too cute for words. Kinda like our kids, eh?

Heather said...

I too am a serial decorator. If you decide to start a support group for it, I will be there. I like to think I am a trash-to-treasure kinda gal. I like to make things that are not necessarily meant for a specific purpose work in other areas of my home. So don't be surprised if you find an old oxen yoke used as a pot rack or an old ladder used as a quilt rack in my humble abode. I also like to switch stuff around WAY too often!

Cute curtain! You need to blog your grain sack totes!

Cottage Rose said...

I can join that club too, I tweak everyday, might just be moving the odd thing to a different spot but I am always fussing over if it looks good here or there? I think it`s a nesting thing!
Rose

Anonymous said...

I've lost my passion for decorating. Once my husband decided we would be moving this summer I just haven't had the desire...it's just too sad. I don't want to leave my beautiful creek and my beautiful 1918 Victorian.

p.s. I just noticed your photo...are you a redhead too?

QuiltedSimple said...

I'm loving decorating with old things more and more every day. Drives hubby wild, but I would rather make it or repurpose something than buy it really.
Kris