English Channel sea urchins. I want one in the worst way.

Vintage patio furniture....just what I need...more patio furniture. :-)

Funny jamies--I did not even know what English Channel sea urchins were so I looked them up. They are soo pretty!

I am finding myself really drawn towards blues, especially navy. It's never been a big color for me before, so of course if I want to use it lots of other things would have to be changed. ARRRGH :)

Antique brass. Every place that I've ever lived had builder's grade fake "antique" brass fixtures. Think 1970's-'80's. I hated it, and swore that I'd never have it in my own house. I have a growing collection of vintage silverplate, pewter, and aluminum. Any metal that was silver and not gold.

Anyway, since we found the brass chandelier (are you tired of me mentioning the chandelier, yet?) I've decided to finish the DR in brass. But really old brass, that actually has the patina and color of something old. I've found some hardware that's going to be perfect for the china cabinets, and found a very cool pair of candlesticks on ebay.

I also dug out a very old frame that I've had for years. It's carved wood, and looks like maybe it was once painted white with gold/brass highlights. It definitely has some age and character, and I bought it because I loved it, but never found a place for it because it was so...brassy. I almost gave it to Goodwill when we moved here, but couldn't let it go. Now I've decided that it needs a mirror, and it's going to be PERFECT hung over the china cabinet.

Sturdy maple chairs w/ loose cushions.

When DD was house hunting we went into a home whose owner had a pair of chairs in the LR. The sight of them transported me back to my grandparents' home in the 1960's.

Then, in a recent decorating magazine I saw them in a spread and read that they're now sought out by collectors. The ones in the photo were Cushman, made by a company from Vermont that is no longer in business.

My DD didn't find them attractive at all, so I think the appeal for me is partly nostalgia. But I think the greater part is that they seem so solid and "real" compared to a lot of the junkie stuff I see today, not only in dept. stores, but from PB, Crate & Barrel, etc.

I don't have a specific place for them in mind, but I'm sorry I didn't inquire from the woman selling the house if she was going to be selling the chairs.

Time and time and time again I find that things that I intensely disliked early in my life are the same things I am going to have a love affair with later on.

I was a big chrome/glass/black/white person in my first places and now all I want is wood, wood, wood and homey plaid. My Grandmother's dresser scarves annoyed me no end and now I scour vintage shops looking to replicate them. I hated beige in any form and have just redecorated an entire room around a warm sand color. It sort of amazes me.

Right now I am on a tear to get my hands on as many old family pieces of furniture as I can pry away from relatives. I love knowing the 100+ year history of a piece- whose house it was in during the World Wars, what flood it survived, who borrowed it to raise their family. Just knowing whose hands have cared for something for that long is kind of awesome.

Ttodd, You will ADORE printed curtains! I only have solid in one room in my home. Pattern on pattern - sigh....

My new attraction - I was never a blue person, but I am painting my living room ceiling in BM's Wythe blue mixed at 25%. I did the adjoining entry in it at full strength a year and a half ago, and just got the bug to do the ceiling nearby. It looks almost white in the can, but on that horizontal plane, it's so different!

I have never stopped loving antique brass. It's always been 'in' in my house, and I have added some English antique candlesticks in it which glow with warmth.

Always loved antique furniture and bought my guest room spool bed when I was 16.

The April issue of House Beautiful has an article with pictures of Cushman maple furniture on page 103.

Vintage patio furniture....just what I need...more patio furniture. :-)

Exactly what she said! I don't even know where I'd put any more pieces, but I still can't seem to stop looking for it!

Like cearbhaill I am going back to my roots, but mine were what we're calling midcentury modern these days. I could not WAIT to get rid of all that teak and minimalism and goofy shaped modern stuff that my parents had and decorate my own old house with arts-and-crafts and victorian-style fabrics.

Well guess what, I just hauled my childhood teak desk out of storage, went to Ikea and got some goofy modern lamps, reclaimed a few pieces from other rooms and here I am sitting in a weird mix of styles. (I think Mad Men is at least partly to blame for my current shift).

Color! Especially red.

Cottage style!

Well, those aren't entirely new loves, but I'm finally letting myself love them. I've never been a red gal at all, so that is new.

I'm gradually adding bits and punches of color to my rooms. I redid my mantle with bird houses and colorful watering pots this week. I don't know why that feels so out there to me, but it does. It's a shift from the rich Tuscany/old world look I could never afford to properly pull off. :0)

I have plans to paint a few wood pieces in my house. Mmmmm, painted furniture. Another thing I'm realizing I really love.

I was always drawn to Silver rather than to Gold, even when it came to jewelry. I still prefer silver to gold when it comes to jewelry, unless it is white gold.

But now I find myself loving gold, not all gold. But the gold of an Old Paris vase is attractive to me.

Also, I was more attracted to plain country antique's especially southern pieces, still am. But now I find myself attracted to a more fancy wancy style. And I love some of those Staffinshire figurines that can cost a arm and a leg.

....Jane

My3dogs do you have any Staffinshire figurines? You have so many collections of so many things, I was just wondering.
I know the word "Staffinshire" is mispelled, probably mispelled is mispelled. (lol!)

In the picture below is my mom and sister, looking at the right of the picture behind my mom there is an expensive piece of Staffinshire. Do you collect any of that? I am so in love with that stuff now and before I thought it was for old ladies. This piece is not mine.

....Jane

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Dishes . . . not entire sets, mind you, but 4-8 dinner or salad plates, or bowls, etc. that I can mix up to set pretty ~ or fun~ tables. I like things to coordinate unexpectedly, not match, and so I steer away from matched sets. I buy most at yard sales, thrift stores, etc. and look mainly for older or antique patterns, but I also shop places like Marshalls and TJ Maxx for fun pieces. And, along with dishes, I'm drawn to unique napkin rings and placemats to work with my dishes.
Here's what I mean: vintage Franciscan plates paired with fun leaf salad plates from Marshalls and vintage Fruitware pieces for an Autumn table. DD calls it "Mom's sickness" but I love it ;^D
Lynn

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Another with blue. I've never liked it, in fact one of the first things I did was paint our MB green over the blue it was. I eventually painted my living room a very soft turquoise-y blue, then the guest bath. My office got a coat of a bright denim blue (with a caramelly accent), and now I'm seriously looking at a dusty turquouise for our bedroom.

I have a hodge podge of things lately..

I still find it amazing that there are things I LOVE 6 years ago that make me cringe so much now. I really had no clue and I'm still learning.

All of a sudden I want to mix patterns with plaid. I've been looking around and realize my home might look warm due to the colors but it's not really homey. I'm not really sure how to fix that. I look at these rooms I drool over and realize the style of the furniture and fabrics aren't what's in my home. :( Don't get me wrong I still like a lot of the items in my house but somehow I wish it fit together better to get the look I'm thinking of. I think the right selection of art can help with some of that.

I also love the look of crisp white fabrics paired with louder stuff but I don't know how practical that is for us.

I'm very drawn to rustic tables and things in general. That's not really pairing up with those fancy ones in my LR. Not really sure how to make the mix look good.

I really love the English Country look.

*Just saw before I posted I'm not the only one. :)* Those little dog lamps some of you guys have. Staffordshire? Yeah, I think they're pretty cool now.
Jane- You guys look alike! :)

Oh, and I like decorative bunnies. Where did that come from? Don't know but I'll have to be careful I don't get out of hand.

Short curtains. Ones that stop a couple inches below the window apron.

I hate it when you start this type of thread, Tiff...it always leads to my undoing....

I'm finding the very soft green-blues are drawing my eye. Not paired with brown as was so popular a couple of years ago, but as a backdrop to the colors I always use. Right now, I'm testing Barely Jade and Polished Limestone...Glidden shades I found first thru Decorease blog. And F&B Blue Gray. Please, tell me I'm NOT going to get up on that ladder to do my 15' vaulted walls!

And Less Contrast. Instead of using lots of color, using more muted colors that blend and recede. Why is this happening to me?

Red

Victoriana, doilies, stemware and crystal and silver. I can't drive by a thrift store if I think I smell a treasure waiting for me...it's a sickness.

Pine furniture (which I've always hated) is a new one for me. I'm seriously thinking of doing the nursery in pine and I hate pine! I love dark rich furniture....what the heck is wrong with me? LOL

Where to start?

Tomorrowisanotherday - I'm w/ you on the Navy thing!!!! Ever since I saw the most amazing kitchen w/ Navy (almost black) cabinets last year, I almost got whiplash. Slowly Navy has been finding it's way into my home. Not the traditional Navy and white but something more, oh I don't know what to call it! Sort of a cross between the whole new RH style livened up w/ navy and burlap from past RL collections.

I can see my black and white gallery walls livened up w/ new mats in all sorts of shades of navy and denim on a greige wall.

Parma got me hooked on Ikat last Spring/ Summer and the May issue of HB pg. 132 (this is for you My3Dogs) has me wanting to try navy curtains in an Ikat print or something like that. AND on lampshades! Just a whole mish mash of prints but all in the same color family of navy and denim blue.

Sorry Red - just can't help sucking ya in!

This isn't a recent attraction but one I've been watching for but haven't yet found. I've always loved vintage fabrics but seldom find the quality or type I want. Barkcloth in good condition in colors/prints I like, old brocade or velvet draperies not too faded, old linen fabric soft with wear but without holes are what I'd like. I know it's out there but our paths have not yet crossed. May eventually have to resort to online shopping but I'd like to see it before I buy.

I have several projects in mind for this type of fabric - floor length and regular tablecloths, WT's, table runners, placemats, perhaps even clothing.

Oh, there are far too many to even admit to, but at the top of the list is vintage hammered aluminum trays and accessories, unpolished old brass (well, this is technically not a new desire, but I am still selectively acquiring), vintage "real" art; watercolors, oils, metalwork, whatever, if it's older and handmade, I can probably find a place for it in the sandyponder shack.

Great question.

sandyponder

Not suddenly, but more lately into this rather than the "big eye" prints.

Jane, GOOD looking women in your family!

I don't have any Staffordshire figures. I have some old transferware plates labeled Staffordshire, but that's it.

Chijim has an incredible collection of Staffordshire dogs. I'll see if he'll post a few pics.

Thanks my3dogs!

Good thread idea! For the most part, I like the same stuff I've been stuck on for years, but I've found myself being more open towards things from the 60's and 70's, perhaps because this is the first house we've had that from that era.

I just put this new light fixture in my foyer; it is far more modern than anything I've ever chosen, but it felt right for the house. I find it very beautiful, but I don't think I would ever have noticed it while shopping for fixtures in my last house. (We don't usually have paper flowers tied to the stair rail but it was dd's birthday party.)

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It's not really decorating but it makes a difference in how my home looks. Houseplants. I used to grow them like crazy in my 20s then ran out of room. Now that I have plenty of room, they're everywhere!

And they sure do make a difference. My kitchen windowsill is finally pretty! lol.

I'm also into vintage teacups to use for my smaller African Violets.

It's a nice and inexpensive way to add color and coziness to a home.

Ttodd, You will ADORE printed curtains! I only have solid in one room in my home. Pattern on pattern - sigh....
DITTO-- that's exactly what I have/love too-

Sea urchins!?! I had to google it too, lol...

Staffordshire dogs-- yes, plse Jim!

Seaglass blue-green, latest passion!

And this pretty look for my breakfast area---working on it!

Tiny pairs of ottoman. I've been saving foam and looking at fabric in anticipation for the new console table. I want two little fellows slid underneath. At the moment, I am salivating for zebra, but I know I need a different pattern because there is already leopard in close proximity.

Suddenly seeing my living room painted in a faint cottagey blue instead of the soft green it is now. someday.

Palimpsest, she looks very much like Jennifer Love Hewitt in minimal makeup!

I am really drawn into clean lines, little clutter, modern art from the masters like Braque, Picasso, and Riopelle,and modern 60's and 70's stuff (should have saved all my hippie wear).

Teal

leafy, that new light is so cool! I love it.

Federal, Regency, and Victorian carpet (JR Burrows Stourvale Mills):

19c. Harlequin Wallpapers (Adelphi Paperhangings)

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Not in the same room.

Blue greens and teals. I keep catching these colors out of the corner of my eye. Also octopuses.
I seem to have an ocean theme going here and I'm in the Midwest!

This is a fun thread. Some of these are really interesting! For me it's greens, specifically citrus greens, blues and aquas. I love cottage and botanical decor, specifically the white iron birds and iron sculptures like tree branches. Decor magazines, I can't seem to leave a store without 1 or 2 in the cart!

I have a feeling that this year I am going to have to succumb to my RETRO/MID-CENTURY roots for decorating my guest bedroom. I have tried to incorporate alternate decor in there but it isn't working, so I need to go with the flow since I have my Mom & Dad's 1940 bedroom set to coordinate with. Recently I have the hots for a set of boomerang lamps at a local antique store...so will probably listen to my inner child and take the plunge.

I think it's interesting how our tastes/wants change. Years ago, I used to have a lot of red in my kitchen, got tires of it, and went all pastel. Then I really had an interest in the retro/vintage dinnerware and textiles, so I was back to primary colors. But I do love Jadeite and LuRay and all of that...I think a pale jade green mixed with bright red looks very cool.

I've ended up with a lot of green in my house, and I never really meant to.

Yellow...but I HATE yellow! LOL And minimalism..my spare room won't know what hit it...