A to Z Blogging: D is for Decorating

One of the things I have always enjoyed as a homemaker is decorating our abode.  We have lived in apartments, townhouses, and single family homes--rented and owned--but no matter where we live, one of the first things I do is make the place our own.

I am quite brave and bold in my taste, eclectic in style, and mostly unplanned in design.  At first I was concerned about what was “in-style” but now I go for what I like, whether anyone else finds it appealing or not.  Of course, Ornery has a say in my choices, but he is rather of the opinion that if I am happy, he is happy.  I really like that guy.

My first foray into decorating was an old farm house we borrowed from Ornery’s grandparents.  Grandpa had built it himself, right down to hand pouring the massive cement blocks that formed the exterior walls.  We only lived on the bottom floor, and only painted the bedroom we slept in and the kitchen.  Ornery’s mom asked what color we wanted and I said, “Yellow for the kitchen.”  She brought back the brightest yellow paint I had ever seen.  It was a cheerful room and went well with my lime green and orange kitchen linens!

When our daughter Elizabeth was two years old, we rented 1920's Sears and Roebuck house.  Some friends taught us how to wallpaper in the utility room where we put up a faux grass-cloth paper.  Later in the bedroom we hung vinyl paper with tiny pink rosebuds on it.  I hate to think about all the paper we have hung and had to remove through the years, and I am really glad that it is considered passé in this part of the country.

When we bought our first house we painted the entire interior, and wallpapered the kitchen and hall bathroom.  We were pretty tame with the colors there, the most adventurous being the pale blue we put in the master bedroom.  I recall thinking that was pretty brave, having only lived with white walls all my life!

We traded that house to a builder who custom built a new home for us.  I was in heaven there, being able to choose everything from countertop and flooring to wallpaper, paint, lighting and even brick and roof colors.  That was in the 1980’s when mauve and country blue were all the rage.  Every room in the house except the two kids’ rooms had hearts in it, either in the wallpaper or stenciled around the ceiling. I am a little amazed that Ornery allowed that, but he is a pretty easy going guy.  He did cause me some grief when I painted one wall in the dining room a color called Damask Rose that strongly resembled Pepto Bismol.  It “went” with the rest of the room, but it was a little over the top.  We painted over it not too many months later.

Next we moved to Miller Manor.  It was a rambling ranch style house with stone pillars in the entry way, high ceilings and a massive rock fireplace in the living room--and much room for improvement.  Every room in that house changed colors at least twice in the 16 years we lived there, some rooms more than that.  Practically every color in the rainbow showed up on a wall someplace, but eventually when we sold it we had turned most of it to boring beige. My most adventurous room was the living room, where we painted one wall brick red and the other three bright orange.  I was in love with the colors and feel of Panera Cafés at the time, and modeled the décor after that style.  It was a room people either loved or hated, but they certainly noticed it!

I have found in recent years that most of the places we have lived have had their own personality and what worked in one space did not work at all in another.  That was certainly true when we moved into Zoe Cottage. In the two years we have lived here, we have completely painted the entire house, inside and out.  There are a couple of rooms and walls that have had multiple colors on them as I searched for the ideal feel for the room.

I adore the color green, in just about every shade and hue imaginable. This house has a LOT of green in it, and a fair amount of vermilion (red-orange) as well.

Ornery has had much more interest in the colors and style we have put into this house, and of course he is usually on the work-end of the painting apparatus. He is a good sport, though, and the famous line at our house when I am trying to decide on the ideal color is, “It’s just paint—if you don’t like it we can paint over it.”

Have I mentioned how much I love this guy?