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After losing four parents in four years, my husband and I have been awash in "stuff." It has taken us this entire time - and we still need more time - to pare down, but I want to pare down and I keep on paring down.
My mom and dad were loathe to get rid of anything that had been owned by their parents or grandparents. Well, I ended up with five sets of dishes! FIVE! I promptly gave a set to each daughter, but I still have one set from my husband's parents and one set from my grandmother - and my own dishware, which thankfully is Polish pottery and not "antique china." But what do I do with the two sets of antique china? I use them. They are both very different. But still - they are taking up space in my house. One day my granddaughters will be grown and hopefully two of the six will want a set. And I will give a set to them, for sure!
My mother collected carnival glass. Now I admit, I am a sucker for shiny, colorful glass, so I was already collecting it myself when she passed away. YIKES! So I got hers - and my mother in law's. I have given some of it away to my daughters but honestly, I HAVE TOO MUCH. I guess I will keep paring it down and giving it to Goodwill a little at a time.
It takes a lot of discipline to keep things in check when you suddenly inherit from both sets of parents. It's been a mixed blessing for sure.
I'm finally living on the coast and was intending on "going Coastal to the Nines." It's not working out quite the way I expected...
I've purchased almost all my furniture second hand because I'm of modest means but mostly because I'm cheap. I'm living in an apartment right now and don't know how long I'll be here.
The one big purchase I was going to make was a $1200 Cindy Crawford Beachside natural slipcovered sleeper sofa like the one I had up North. I sold the first one because it was showing signs of wear (my daughter slept on it for almost 3 years!) and I didn't want to pay to move it. What I wound up doing is purchasing a "new used" sleeper sofa from FB Marketplace for $180. It's not slipcovered and it's not the natural denim I would like, but then again I won't feel to bad if I lose it in a hurricane.
From there I picked up a TV stand and matching end tables from FB Marketplace in rustic oak and metal. What I was really going for was a mash-up of industrial and coastal. What I realized is that combo yields "Farmhouse." I purchased the matching etageres online and more coastal artwork.
I had to move twice when I got down to FL (long story there) and while I was in the first apartment I purchased a brand new round glass and metal table and chairs. When I got it to the 2nd apartment I realized that the set was really too big for the space. I wound up selling that and purchasing a 42 inch long rectangular table in dark wood and metal with 4 stools. I'm not crazy about it but it's a better fit. I can tuck the stools under the table and/or push the table against the wall if needed. I eat in front of the TV anyway....
The biggest mistake I made was to bring all of my decor with me from the North. I lived in a large townhouse with a living room and a family room. The living room and my bedroom were done in a black & white Paris graphic theme which actually came out pretty cool. I couldn't bear to part with all the wall art it took me months to find. It's now all hanging in a rather small second bedroom that doubles as my office. The "office area" is decked out in a Sauder oak computer armoire and matching bookcase which came free with the armoire.
I really lucked out in my bedroom. I found a lightly stained wood bedroom set with wooden carved seashell handles--a double dresser, highboy dresser and 2 rather large nightstands for $200! I already had the coastal motif comforter and a few pictures from my bathroom and family room up North.
My biggest challenge right now is to find area rugs for the living/dining areas. Nothing I see is appealing to me. I'm looking for aqua and/or coral to go with the coastal theme but I don't want it to be too cliche. I still have more to unpack otherwise I would post pics.
Good quality local cabinet maker wood work, cabinetry and then some. My father always advocated - smaller rooms need fewer and big pieces. Small makes for clutter. Rather large and bold paintings, a couple of rugs with stories attached to them.
When I moved in my windows had blinds and frilly curtains. I tossed the blinds, gave the curtains to a female relative, and made new curtains from plain white fabric.
This our third and hopefully last house together. When we bought it we decided to decorate how we loved. Luckily the house we bought worked perfectly with the style we like.
We love the low country look. We have stayed at several cottages that Jane Coslick https://janecoslick.com/ had redone. We fell in love with her style and tried to recreate it in our home. As we started decorating we found our tastes ran a little more boho then hers. So we now have a bohoish low country style interior. We will be working on the exterior this spring and summer. We hope to continue the theme.
I'm not sure of our category, but would more align to areas we have lived and picked our favorite parts of each. So far, I'd say we're about 30% Glen Ellyn (Chicago suburb) with the wish for lots of bright white trim work, 50% Wilmington, NC with our wish for natural tone colors with a slight coastal flare, and 20% Washington, DC with a wish to stay within the boundary lines of traditional with a nod to historical. Somehow we're pulling it off I think, but story is still unfolding with our current house.
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