Monday, February 27, 2012

Decorating Your Older Home for Comfortable Living

Decorating an older home can be a real challenge. Most of us don't de facto want to live the way our ancestors did. The aim is to get the flavor of the era you wish to project without the ache and aggravation. old cushion is not noted for its comfort. old beds tend to be too short for modern bodies and most of us prefer an inner spring or foam mattress to one stuffed with straw or horsehair. Although I have cooked on an iron wood stove and thoroughly enjoyed it in the depth of winter, there is nothing to recommend it in July. So where do you draw the line between authenticity and modern life?

Fortunately you can get modern upholstery, with modern foam, coil decks and cushions, in older styles and fabrics. Unless you are trying to get a museum room, it isn't essential to copy the customary styles exactly. Be true of proportions, but any cushion piece which is a first-rate style will blend with antiques, or reproductions. Fabric choices can give an old look and are available in reproduced patterns made from modern, low maintenance fabrics. If you have antiques, avoid the need to put matched pairs of everything. Our ancestors loved that balanced look and many of us still find that a comfortable look to live with, but if only your upholstered pieces match, they will draw attention away from your show pieces.

One Door Refrigerator

The exception, as always, is in a formal room. If you are living in a home from the 1700's and want to get the flavor of the era, you will want more formalized seating patterns. However, the newer trend in historic houses is to have furniture from any eras from the customary built date to represent. Our ancestors were thrifty. Furniture was hand produced and costly, so people didn't tend to pitch pieces which were out of style. It wasn't until mass produced, uncostly furniture became widely available that people started dumping Grandma's pine table in the chicken house, or slapped a coat of green paint on the solid cherry drop leaf and put it on the front porch.

Generally, keep your upholstered pieces subdued but try for the exact style (or a modified version) of the window treatments and case pieces. Wing chairs have been popular for 300 years, but make sure yours are comfortable to sit on before you determine you have to have them. Our ancestors had much great posture and liked sitting very straight. first-rate styles of modern furniture keep the lines of the old, but have a great slant to the backs. The real supervene of the room can be created by how you decorate your walls, floors and windows, and by using accessories creatively.

Decorators are divided about such modern adjuncts as kitchen appliances, Tv's and sound systems. My feeling is, good fabricate blends with good design. Some of the newer appliances are beautifully designed and our ancestors would have made that stainless steel, side by side refrigerator with ice and water on the door, the showpiece of the house so I am not a big fan of attempting to hide large modern appliances behind wooden doors and cupboards. I do think they tend to look great in stainless or black but that's a personal opinion. The irregularity to the kitchen appliance rule is for houses built in the last century when kitchen appliances were becoming common. Reproductions are available in the styles of the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's and can make a de facto clever kitchen which is fully functional.

My feeling about Tv's and sound systems is similar. If you don't have a media room, there are hundreds of styles of armoires which will hide the Tv and look like a piece of old furniture. choose carefully. They can be overwhelming. However, if you want the Tv to sit out or hang on the wall, go for it. You can soften its stark modernity by the things you sit colse to it.

So when you determine to redecorate and give your home a more duration feel, keep these things in mind.

Lighting is available in any style staggering and will give an supervene of authenticity. Conversion rails are available to develop old beds and to maximize comfort. Reproduction wallpapers are easy to find and are divided into the eras in which they were popular. Classes on painting techniques and stenciling can be taken at your local home store. The library is a great source for popular styles of all eras.
Once you have done a slight explore into the look you are trying to create, adapt it to your own needs and decorate in the spirit of that era instead of trying to generate a room which hasn't changed in 150 years.

Contributions for this report from On The Go 4 U fabricate consultant, Suzanne Copenhaver who has years of caress decorating less than excellent spaces.

Decorating Your Older Home for Comfortable Living

refrigerator lock cheapest french door refrigerator glass door refrigerator for home

No comments:

Post a Comment