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I don't cringe in other people's houses, I look for inspiration.
I worry that people cringe when they come into my place! We love antiques and yard sales, so needless to say all of our stuff does not match and is gently used. OK, I'm also cheap.
Things that might make you cringe:
countless little statues in the back yard herb garden. Free castoffs from my church store.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned gazing globes. I have a small one. There's a house out on the way to town that has a BIG one in the front yard. That's what DH calls 'questionable taste'
I adore my house flag collection and have one for almost every holiday. When the Giants won the Super Bowl in the early 2000's I flew Michael Strahan's jersey on the pole. Lots of honks from passing cars
I have a gnome on the front porch.
Lucky horseshoes over the back porch door and the storage shed out front.
The five pointed star house decoration from Tractor Supply. I have a small one, about five inches high, but the eighteen inchers are really popular up here.
We're rural so country is tres chic..... I will try to think of more.......subscribing...
Oops, I forgot to add I have a TK print in my living room. It was free, and since we live in a country cottage it filled a blank wall spot with a print of a country cottage. I hung a print of a red barn in DH's workshop, which was an addition onto our red barn.
Having followed this thread from the beginning I've had a hard time posting to it. While many of the things mentioned can fairly be called tacky, others are not and are only perceived to be because of personal taste. I think the only thing that surprises me about another person's choice in decorating is if I walk into their house and it doesn't reflect their personality. An old aunt with a collection of Hummels? Perfectly ordinary. My hipster friend who dresses with great style and adores her collection of Precious Moments figurines? Whaaaat? What's tacky in her house is pretty much normal and expected in the aunt's house.
That said, nothing matches in my own house, I mix a lot of different styles together, and it suits me and my personality. And, I'm glad people have a lot of tacky items like gazing globes, Mexican planters, and plaster gnomes so I can buy them at their garage sales and put them in my garden!
-- I think my dislike of most things like that go back to my childhood when I had to dust all the little things on my grandmother's knick-knack shelf, a decorating item that used to be popular. If things have a sentimental value or intrinsic value--maybe. My daughter's neighbors have a large, life-size plaster hog with antlers (?) prominently displayed in their front yard. It does catch your eye--I suppose it's a way to identify their house for first-time visitors!
I just realized no one mentioned taxidermy!! They are AWFUL.
Along with any other hunting decor: animal heads, antlers, animal skins with heads and paws - ugh ugh ugh!!!
That's probably the number 1 thing that would make me cringe on a physical level.
Scary thing is there seems to be a revival in fake versions of these things in modern/hipster decorating. Antlers and animal rugs pop up often on sites like Apartment Therapy, in homes with owners clearly very far removed from anything to do with hunting. I just don't get it, WHYYY?
OK, since we're being morbid - how 'bout someone's ashes in an urn on the mantel? I just don't think I would feel comfortable with that in my house, on so many different levels...
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 03-15-2014 at 03:40 PM..
I just realized no one mentioned taxidermy!! They are AWFUL.
Along with any other hunting decor: animal heads, antlers, animal skins with heads and paws - ugh ugh ugh!!!
That's probably the number 1 thing that would make me cringe on a physical level.
Scary thing is there seems to be a revival in fake versions of these things in modern/hipster decorating. Antlers and animal rugs pop up often on sites like Apartment Therapy, in homes with owners clearly very far removed from anything to do with hunting. I just don't get it, WHYYY?
I SO agree....hate any type of taxidermy. I always feel so sorry for the animal that died just to become a dust collector in someone's home.
Evil Cookie, you just hit my flashpoint. I hate seeing gorgeous animals stuffed for decor.
As far as the rest of this thread, eh. I have read of so many people disparaging things that others are proud to be able to display, and my in-laws kept cropping into my mind. They didn't have a lot of money, and for them to spend on anything listed would have been a BIG deal for them. Since I know they were really lovely people, I can't join in the mockery. And, yes, it has definitely been mockery.
OK, since we're being morbid - how 'bout someone's ashes in an urn on the mantel? I just don't think I would feel comfortable with that in the house, on so many different levels...
If you don't nosey around and open it, what difference does it make to you? My Dad is currently in a beautiful box on my mother's bookcase. I touch it every time I visit. She is waiting until the day she is likewise cremated so their ashed can be buried together.
If you don't nosey around and open it, what difference does it make to you? My Dad is currently in a beautiful box on my mother's bookcase. I touch it every time I visit. She is waiting until the day she is likewise cremated so their ashed can be buried together.
I meant I don't want it in MY house. You can keep it in your house if you want. Believe me, I won't be snooping around lifting the tops off of vases and urns.
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I don't understand figurine collections, either--
