I remember my know-it-all younger self thinking that my Mother’s idea of decorating was old-fashioned. Perhaps a bit of guilt on my part? An article I recently read was about decorating tips for those of us over 45. I never knew that our decorating style should be guided by our age. I believed the writer of the piece must be very young to be so authoritative on the subject and yet not understand how we think and feel as we age. It was a very good article, but I just felt it didn’t fit the way many of us of “a certain age” really live.
The first tip was to replace your existing La-Z-Boy furniture with “modern sofas, love seats, or benches” because the room will appear larger with more space for entertaining guests. Now tell me, folks, do we spend our days worrying about making sure our living spaces are large enough to entertain large groups of guests, or do we want to be comfortable in our own homes? Believe me, if guests in my home have nothing better to do than talk badly about my casual, comfortable furniture, they don’t need to be there. My days of entertaining large crowds are past. When we moved to Florida in 2001, I got rid of most of the formal furniture. I’d rather offer a visitor a welcoming place to enjoy conversation than have them perch on a stiff bench that feels like your butt is resting on a wooden slab. Maybe it’s just the difference between casual and more formal people or maybe I have reached an age of not caring what others think about my decorating skills.
The second tip in the article was to never display more than a couple photos of loved ones or the room will scream “grandma!” Well, guess what? In my case, this IS Grandma’s house. If I put out photos of 2 grand kids, what do I tell the other 8 who are left out? Or say I put out photos of 2 of my children. What will the other 4 think? Will it be, “I always knew she liked him best?” Apparently, I have to buy a digital frame and run a continual slide show to live in style.
Next, the article said to lose the “grandma doilies.” Although I do possess a couple of doilies tatted by a close relative, I don’t have them out for all to see. If I had the wall space, I might frame them, though and style be damned.
Then I learned that I’m not supposed to create an excessively formal living room. Having raised 6 children and a few of their pals, I wouldn’t know formal, if it slapped me in the nose. Besides, with a dog and 2 cats in residence, “formal” and the North household would not go well together.
The article addressed the issue of keeping furniture shrouded in plastic. Do real people do that?
And we aren’t supposed to display all our antiques and collectibles. I supposed I’d be found guilty to some extent on that one. Moving from a large home to smaller digs meant I had to get rid of many items I loved. I did dispose of a couple of collections and I do try to adhere to the policy of less is more, but try is the operative word here.
Apparently, the writer thinks that people over 45 go for matchy-matchy in decorating a room. We aren’t supposed to match furniture upholstery to wall covering. I stopped worrying about such things years ago, although I don’t think anything matches here.
But I learned that I have committed the ultimate faux pas in decorating. I guess we aren’t supposed to have a themed room that doesn’t fit where we live. The example was no beach-themed bedrooms or bathrooms unless you live at the beach. Jim and I traveled over many areas of the world when we were younger – both with and without children. We collected arts and crafts reflective of places we loved. Our Guatemalan folk art reminds us of the emotional and happy 15 days we spent in that country adopting our younger daughter. Why shouldn’t we be surrounded by items that bring us pleasure and remind us of wonderful experiences!
So here is Carol’s decorating tip: Forget the decorating experts! Surround yourself with what makes you happy. Display whatever you like and let the decorating fairies dwell in someone else’s home.
*Imagine my surprise when I discovered the author was nearing my age and giving sound advice to those who truly enjoy changing decorating styles as they move from one phase of life to another.
I am so totally with you on this!!!!!! at my age it’s all about comfort!!!! When my bad knees would no longer let me pop the recliners in an upright position and I had to crawl off the side…well they had to go… They moved next door to the kids house where the strong legs could operate the things. I want my company to feel like they can come in, kick their shoes off and pile up wherever they choose. And they are going to do it with a cup of coffee in their hands. I know real estate people want to show houses with no personal touches…but I don’t agree with that. I want something to feel like home right off the bat. and if I could get my mom’s doilies to stand up with the perfect starched curves like she did, I’d have a buy tables to display them. which reminds me she had French provincial livingroom furniture covered in clear plastic…so you can imagine what that sounded like!!!!! I guess it was my husband’s and my courting furniture. My kids and grandkids can have a huge garage sale when I’m gone, but for now, it’s memories for me. so the first person to walk into my back door and tells me I need to buy all new stuff, I’ll just walk them right on through to the front door and give them a Texas “see ya later”. loved this article…