She's Gone Country!

Oh how things change with time and maturity!

As we get older and our lives change, so follows the evolution of our style and design philosophies.  Once the pets and kids come along, ultra-modern furniture no longer seems practical or comfortable.  Soon we're concerned about the scrub-ability of the fabrics we're choosing, and after a long day working, want to come home to relax on a sofa we can really sink into.

I think it's ironic that since moving to "the city" my own personal style has drifted more into the Country / Rustic genres, and I'm more concerned about incorporating natural materials and colors into every room.

I've realized that living in a home that's filled with only man-made, modern objects can feel sterile and unwelcoming.  So to bring the nature in, I've been incorporating a lot of natural and found elements into each room:




Deer Horn with Driftwood in a Jar




Gnarly Driftwood in the Bedroom

Abalone Shells Collected from the Little Miami River

I've also been buying a lot of antiques lately.  Adding items that have lived a life before you encountered them adds history and a sense of rustic comfort to a house.  I really like looking for antique crates and baskets to help corral the everyday items that can get disorganized easily.  Plus, they tend to be cheap, so you can pick up multiples at one time.

I have an antique metal milk crate in the bedroom that keeps all my magazines and catalogs together.  Then when it's time to recycle, I can just take the crate outside.



Milk Crate Magazine Holder

I also picked up a couple of wooden crates at the Tri-State Antique Market to keep around the house as organizers.

This one is a cranberry crate and it sits just outside the kitchen so we can kick off our flip-flops before walking on the carpet.  Plus it hides our dirty shoes and looks a lot better than having them sitting out on the floor.



Cranberry Crate for Shoes

The Schweppes crate I picked up because it says "Cinti, Ohio" and is from the factory here in town.  Plus, I loves my gin + tonics with some Schweppes.

I don't have anything in the crate just yet, but when we get the house I think it'll go in the kitchen to hold either recyclables or potatoes and onions. 

The basket sitting on top of the crate is from the Newtown Farm Market and it was just $0.99.  I use it when I go out to the garden to pick vegetables.

So I've decided to call my new mix of styles:

"Modern Rustic Vintage"

Because it incorporates my persistant preference for shiny surfaces and clean lines and simplified forms (Modern), the new addition of varied textures like worn wood, natural fibers, patina metal and muted colors (Rustic), and antiques or items that have been used as something else in the past (Vintage).

It may not seem important to define one's style, but it helps to focus your vision a bit, in order to make sure that what you add to your home becomes a cohesive element and works with items you already have. 

Styles change and people change, but I think that this is a design theme that I'll have for a really long time, since it allows for a lot of flexibility and changing out of indiviual items to freshen things up every so often.

Happy antique hunting!