home decorating
How is a guy supposed to keep up a garden blog these days? I work a regular job and by the time I get home most days it's already dark. Then comes the weekend and it rains all the time. I can't really be sure what's happening out there in the garden.
I've got more than enough to keep me busy inside though. For several weeks Tricia has been talking about replacing light fixtures in the living room. It had the same ones that were in there when we bought the house. Wall sconces actually, kind of old-fashioned, with little crystal "jewels" hanging down. Not really our style. But they worked. And there were six of them, which translates into a lot of money when you start thinking about replacements.
With home decoration, as in most things, I have a tendency toward being frugal. If it works, why does it need to be replaced? Before I was married I never owned any two objects that were matched to each other or were even remotely the same style. I tend to forget that objects in the home can have a decorative purpose too. Actually it is not exactly that I forget. When I see things in another context - other people's homes or a store for instance - I do appreciate the decorative aspect. It just does not occur to me to incorporate that into my own surroundings.
So we went shopping for some wall sconces together and found some that we both liked that did not cost an arm and a leg. I spent yesterday afternoon installing them. They really do look better I must admit. They give the room a different feeling. More Arts and Crafts style instead of Victorian. Perhaps I will now feel like a different person than I used to whenever I am in that room.
But there is no improvement in functionality or efficiency. I can't say that the value of the property has been increased. All I can say is that they look nicer, and there are many who would not even agree with me in that assesment. I have increased my wife's happiness though and my own as well. I suppose that is sufficient justification.
Posted by Bill Hopkins on November 9, 2003 07:10 PMYep!! Gotta keep the wife happy!! GOOD BOY!!!
Posted by: Mary Lou at November 10, 2003 01:25 PMHey, increasing the wife's happiness is always a good thing. I am ridiculously happy with a $14 dollar purchase I made a few days ago.
I have an old lamp that was my great-grandmother's. I think it had the original lampshade, but this had deteriorated to the point that whenever I touched the lamp I put my finger through the shade.
The new shade compliments the base of the lamp PERFECTLY. It makes me smile just to look at it.
(It's very Victorian, actually. Ironically enough. But my house is done in early American Eclectic... I've got mission furniture mixed with queen anne mixed with scandinavian mixed with who-knows-what-all else... makes it cozy.)
Posted by: jenn at November 11, 2003 07:24 PM"It just does not occur to me to incorporate that into my own surroundings." I could have said those words.
Haven't got the touch, don't know why. I escaped from the house into the garden, and haven't looked back, though seven years later I think I am starting to pay attention to the house. My husband was living in raw space as an artist in the East Village of Manhattan when I met him, and he's no help. Actually, he is a lot of help, because he is good at fixing things. It's nice to visit your site.
Yeah, we live in what a kind person would call a fix-it-up special, and after thirteen years of enthusiastic occupancy it still looks like it needs a lot of fixing up. However, thanks to a very generous relative we were able to completely gut the bathroom/laundry room area, and I felt lost at sea choosing fixtures, flooring--even what color to paint the walls. Scary at first, but quite satisfying now. Every time I walk in the bathroom I feel like I'm walking into my own creation.
Posted by: Kathy at November 20, 2003 06:28 AM