Hmm, I'd have to say that a very great deal of what I like I can't afford. :)

Off white walls with contrasting dark stained wood trim, doors and windows

accessories from antique stores or purchased traveling - no Home Goods, et al for me (not that there's anything wrong with it for others ;) )

no carpet anywhere

faux flowers when made of materials to mimic nature - no plastic or unnatural colors

pet hair - means I have pets to love and love me back

I'm careful not to have many matching pairs of chairs/lamps. Don't buy matching furniture sets.

no small appliances on kitchen counter - located in pantry or seldom used are within easy reach

rug under breakfast room table

handpainted vintage plates in bathroom over vanity :) (from a previous thread)

I would say I'm split between liking things that I can afford and things that I can't, but I can't say that I like something because it's in my budget that I wouldn't like if I could afford "better". For instance, I have champagne tastes when it comes to wallpaper (handprinted, please - I take my folder of Bradbury & Bradbury samples out every so often just to fondle them LOL) and lace curtains (Scottish or Nottingham lace, ideally). Most of the "carved-to-death" antique furniture I like is too much for my pocket, as is good heavy uncoated brass hardware and lighting that will age properly. Although I can live contentedly with $79 ceiling fans, I always seem to fall in love with the $500 *choke* ones. OTOH, a plain painted backsplash is probably the cheapest possible way to go, but I like it because it's what I've almost always had all my life and I just prefer its simplicity over busy tiled backsplashes; I like vinyl flooring for its practicality as well as its price, although the high-end vinyls can cost as much as hardwood! Butcherblock counters are cheaper than granite and I love how functional they are, but they're usually a good bit more expensive than laminate (well, except for Ikea's butcherblock counters). I don't dislike the commercial appliances that are so much in style now because they're expensive, but because I've put in my time in commercial kitchens and I've had enough of looking at those things. The white appliances I like aren't always necessarily cheap - restored vintage Chambers, Wedgewood and O'Keefe & Merritt stoves are seriously spendy and I will probably never have one! But I can still lust after them.

Mari, I'm going to scan a few photos from the Summer issue of New Old House for you tomorrow. Dishy Details article features a Maine kitchen with a 1933 Magic Chef stove and a vintage Frigidaire icebox - both are HUGE and gorgeous!

Someone mentioned affordability.....Paint is cheap! When someone mentions liking white walls or a white ceiling....that's NOT a money issue. Most of us on this forum sew. We could "sew" silk curtains if we wanted them....right....or buy items that were NOT polished brass. I think people here are making conscious decisions based on what they truly like! No one here is saying they like one designer or name brand better than another.....that may become a money issue and would not belong on this thread....lol :0)

I like some looks that many do not like. For instance, I like lots of decorative pillows, lots of wall art, more stuff in a room than some people have. Those bare staged homes shown on tv are not the way I decorate my house.

Here is what I like that most people don't:

*family room furniture with no prints just nice neural colors

* neutral walls (my favorite walls in my home are BM Bone White, BM Navajo White & now I like the Ralph Lauren Deep Cream walls after I added the sheers) with bright white trim

*wood floors or wood laminate floors

*Simple Sheer horizontal blinds with no curtains and no drapes

*Cherry or Maple or Mahogany or White furniture that does not have a lot of grain showing. But I have seen some quality oak furniture that is beautiful. I lived with golden oak bedroom sets my whole life so I just got tired of oak but now that I have a maple set with a sand white painted look to it, I am starting to appreciate quality oak again.

*Neutral tiled foyers even if the rest of the home has pretty hardwood flooring.

Bedspreads or comforters with no flowers or stripes on them. I found out despite falling in love with a comforter that had flowers all over it, I could not fall asleep with it on my bed and needed a neutral comforter like I have now that is shades of ivory

Bright White Ceilings along with Bright white trim and doors

Silk flower arrangements when they look real

clocks everywhere

Girly decor....floral fabrics and the color pink!

- Tiles! Intensely colored tiles, tiles with embossed textures or designs, sheer crackle glazes, slightly irregular handmade tiles. Nothing can carry a fabulous intense color like ceramics.
- Silk shantung. Possibly the only material that can rival tile for color intensity.

I agree!!!!!!!!!! And have said the very same thing, many times!

Rooms that are tasteful and calm. I get enough drama in daily life; I don't need more of it in my decorating.

Knotty pine paneling

Me too. A good thing since my house has it (solid wood!) in three rooms.

'I would say I'm split between liking things that I can afford and things that I can't, but I can't say that I like something because it's in my budget that I wouldn't like if I could afford "better" '

I agree... I do think some of the things we've posted that we like can come expensive...or cheaper. not everyone who goes after a bargain does it because they can't afford to pay full price etc. I remember my very wealthy MIL having dh come over to glue down a kitchen tile - many times. her 'white' refridge was yellow because it was over 20 yrs old (and still working so she wouldn't replace it).
I used to tease them that the rich were rich because they didn't spend their money! lol! she loved a bargain. Her house was furnished with mostly furniture from her mother's house and her mIL's house. Now I have that furniture - and love it or I wouldn't have kept it! A lot of the things I have I couldn't afford to buy at full price but if I didn't have what I do I'd be out finding like bargains at garage sales, estate sales, goodwill etc.
it doesn't necessarily cost a lot to have / use real silver. you can find it at the goodwill, antique shops, 2nd hand shops etc. very cheaply. I always think it's such a bargain that I should buy some...then I remember how much I have now (more than I can use really) and laugh at myself. my MIL had her set, her mother's set and her MIL's set! now i have them all. plus my silverplate and stainless!

probably more because it's what we grew up with (what our parens /gparents could afford) and it makes us feel comfortable. and maybe sometimes because it's what we couldn't afford back when and liked and now we can afford it so that's what we go for...

i could surely afford to sell all of these antiques and buy what's out there now but why? I like what I have and don't have the need to have 'new' just because it's new. i haven't bought much in the line of furnishings over the yrs - but if i see something i like (within reason) I buy it and merge in with what i have. that's what I'll be doing with bookcases this next yr - I have 3 or 4 old ones but i need more. i have a lot of books to unbox. If I see a good deal at goodwill or somewhere i'll buy it - otherwise I'll look at 2nd hand shops etc - because that's where i'm more likely to find what i like.

Things I like that not so many other people do...

Mission brown. I have fond memories of this color in the house I grew up in.

Curtains in gaudy floral prints. However I don't use them with other matching soft furnishings as per the 80's.

Stark white.

Laminate counter tops, in particular ones that are patterned in abstract patterns. Reminds me of grandma.

As for whether my budget influences what I like, well I'm very much on a low budget and yet I've got a lot of choices available to me and of my wide range of choices the stuff I like is the stuff I like. I think maybe those with a high budget don't quite realize exactly how much choice people working on a low budget have, and the reason they don't realize is they have never really tried to shop that cheaply. There is in most cases a similar aesthetic choice available at a lower price.

I like a lot of what has already been listed so I will not repeat those items but there are a few more that I really, really like, such as:

Americana items. They are no longer in my family room, but
I could not give them up completely and put most in the laundry room.

Mis matched bedroom furniture, well mismatched furniture in all roooms

Handmade quilts

White tableware

Small crocheted doilies used for coasters

Decorative paintings on furniture

I think what "most people like" is something completely different from what is presented editorially in magazines and television as a representation of "what people like".

Excluding regional magazines, you are going to see what designers are doing on the east and west coasts, Chicago, and isolated other areas that have a certain amount of "resort" or "second home" presence.

On top of this there are great regional variations in what people like based upon what "works" in that area.

Another thing that plays into what we see in magazines and on TV is the "extrovert" factor or what designers are getting (or need to get) attention. There are lots of beautiful comfortable houses you are never going to see because the owners would rather burn it down than let a bunch of people invade and take pictures. Likewise, there is a certain amount of vulgar stuff you are going to see because it was done by or belongs to "lookamee lookamee!! types.

I happen to think that much of what gets in the local magazines here is pretty bad. (Think of a combination of the Vatican + a wh*rehouse, or the movie BeetleJuice, thats a lot of what I seem to see, when I bother to look).
I understood this a lot better when I saw the house of the editor.(o_O)

Nonetheless, there are a lot of nice interiors around here that will never be seen by the public. For a fairly major city, it does not get a lot of representation in national design magazines. I can remember two or three layouts in Architectural Digest over the last twenty years, (not that AD represents at all what most people like): Both houses were quite nice, one had a measly little layout where one of the rooms was repeated twice...and I saw the photos from the whole shoot, they missed the boat. The other layout was all about the art collection and they made a point of saying the building the condo was in was hideous and the apartment had to compensate for the horrible architecture. (They never say that about NY buildings).

So when I read this list about what people like that most people Don't...a lot of the items seem to be things that most people DO like. We just don't see it in magazines.

Not ot hijack the thread, but I never think of shelter mags as presenting what "most people" like. That's why I'm a little confused--don't most people in the country like white walls and stained trim and white appliances? You sure see a lot of those.

There's a big divide between what designers and magazine editors like and what everyday people like. I guess I thought this was about what we liked that the majority of our friends/neighbors/acquaintances don't care for, rather than how GW posters differ from magazine editors.

I mean, based on results--many people seem to like new builds, great rooms, and oak kitchens. Not me.

Well people in GW are particularly interested in design when a lot of friends/neighbors/acquaintances may be less so. You could get into all sorts of contextual arguments about who "most people" refers to...others in GW? people in your neighborhood? the US at large?

I am not sure that many people like new builds, great rooms or oak kitchens particularly...that gets into the point that someone brought up earlier about whether we have certain things because we can afford them. There are many things that I LIKE in design that I will never have.

People live in new builds, with stained woodwork (white, by a landslide in my part of the country)oak cabinets and great rooms because in many parts of the country that is what they can afford to buy in whatever new development or rehab they can afford . Custom builds do not often reflect this because there is more available. Design is definitely manipulated by what is available. The general public did not create the french door refrigerator because they like it. It was created *first and Then the general public decided they liked it (or don't, whatever the case may be)

I officially admit to my love of Danish Modern colors: chocolate brown and burnt orange and dark yellow. Teak wood. Ferns. Spun copper. Old Dansk kitchenware.

I LOVE AVOCADO APPLIANCES. There. I said it. :-)

Hey bronwynsmom, no visible packaging at all? Even during breakfast? What about the Tabasco sauce? :)

One thing I like that I haven't seen yet. A fridge with a single door, no ice water dispenser. I prefer water at room temp or straight out of the tap anyway. Mine is white and has magnets holding up old photos, postcards, yellowed Calvin & Hobbes strips, and quirky stuff I can't explain.

"Mine is white and has magnets holding up old photos, postcards, yellowed Calvin & Hobbes strips, and quirky stuff I can't explain."

Ha! My last one had some yellowed Calvin & Hobbes next to a slightly less yellowed Zits, where the son was telling his father to *get over* the demise of C & H. :)

circuspeanut, I'm SO there with you -- just thought that since they were in 'vogue' right now (heading out, since Target has them), they wouldn't count. I often wonder why I like them so much -- guess it has to do with the connection to nature. Anything connected to nature (non-hunting) has an automatic pass into this home :)

How interesting!
I do not know how I missed reading this posting earlier.
2 years ago we decided to start a 5 yr kitchen update-Money not a great issue. Naturally all thought we'd go for new kitchen cabinets, granite countertops and S. Steel appliances: old cabinets were in great shape-handmade but a maple finish with a white wash-1960/s Uck!
After visiting the big lot "home" stores and going to home shows-trouble. It had NOTHING to do with affordability- Our handmade cabinets are so strong, sturdy, plus I wanted to give our kitchen the right look for a 80 year old craftsman cottage.
Results after 3 years:
Painted black kitchen cabinets, pewter pulls
valance-toil black and cream-
WHITE appliances-Yes a white, w/o ice or water in door-just a refig/freezer on top-no vintage look, just new, plain appliances
next year new flat top cooktop-Jen Air-replacing old-may have to be black but will be ok, new wall oven is
new counter tops-laminent-mult color
IT sure does not look like the deco. magazines but it is a wow and we love it and I think our house does too.
Other things we do:
doilies-handmade
wood trim
wood floors-pine no less
valances
quilts!!! everywhere, walls, over sofas, on beds
verticle blinds-linen-pull back and let the sun shine in
American in the entry way
Very little matchy/matchy but it all goes together
Silk plants, need the green but not enough nat. light-
sm. appliances in the pantry shelves not on countertops
wall art: oringals by various friends and family
Old vintage frames
antique furniture-some old family pieces, other from antique stores, flea markets, garage sales

That's right, Linelle...even at breakfast!

The cereal box and the bread bag go right back in the cabinet, the milk goes back in the fridge; the coffee milk or cream goes in a little pitcher, the butter goes on a little plate, the jam goes into a wee Chinese sauce bowl...

...and, although I didn't mention it, white cloth napkins with old sterling napkin rings, a different one for each of us, so we know which is ours. They get washed when they need it, but usually make it through at least three meals.

However...about the Tabasco...it can be on a drinks tray on the sideboard with a napkin under it, along with the Worcestershire, IF we're making bloody Marys, or having something for dinner that gets assembled as part of service, but only because you can only use it in dashes right from the bottle. The horseradish and everything else have to go in a dish.

It's just one of those things that makes me feel rich, so I'm willing to go to the trouble! It also justifies keeping all the zillions of little china dishes and silver spoons and forks that I love - all the stuff that has funneled its way to me from many generations of Southern women.

I like pastel colors - all those Easter shades of pink, blue, green and yellow.

I like antiqued brass, but also like polished brass. I have polished brass lamps in my bedroom and I really like the way they brighten the room (even when not lit.)

I have a lot of my dd's art framed (she just turned 10.) And it is in the dining and living rooms.

I have family photos in the living room - all in silver frames on the piano. Oh, and I have other art in gold colored frames and antique brass light fixtures and lamps, as well as some copper, all in the same room.

I really love my tile counters (except for the hokey accent tiles.)

I don't have SS appliances but am considering them, as I need a new fridge and dishwasher. I like the look. I also like colored appliances but can't afford them.

I like some vinyl floors and hate others (I particularly dislike my own kitchen floor.) Someone (KGW?) has a gorgeous vinyl tile floor.

I like a simple bed - just a bedspread, no extra pillows, dust ruffles, etc.

I like houseplants; I have terrariums and bonsai and all sorts of things. I'm not sure if this is popular or not?

Would prefer to have no TV in any room, but dh & dd disagree - so it lives down in the man cave (dd's music studio.)

Bronwynsmom - I also hate anything with a label and take everything out and put it in canisters.

I was going to say I like white walls and ceilings, but apparently that is about 50/50 - neither in nor out.

I really like incense - the scent of Nag Champa makes me feel right at home.

I like painted woodwork. I mean painted in colors other than white. I grew up in a house with cream/beige walls or wallpaper, with french blue trim. It was nice. I like how the colonial houses had different colored woodwork in each room, ranging from green to mustard to cranberry. Country Home featured a house that had French Canadian style, in which the woodwork and furniture was painted in lots of different bright colors. I loved it!

"I also hate anything with a label and take everything out and put it in canisters"

Two products whose labels I love: Clabber Girl baking powder (I hope they never, ever update their label, Hershey's cocoa.

Here is a link that might be useful: Clabber Girl baking powder

My daughter's lime green walls- like being trapped inside an avocado.

And our bedroom walls-like the inside of a Tiffany box :)

Finally, using chalkboard for our kitchen backsplash. The whole house has turned into a playroom.

I like decorating and remodeling your home in the way you want to live whether you spend too much for the neighborhood or not. If you like it and can afford it, go for it, you only live once. So what you have granite or stone in your kitchen when your neighbors have laminate and vinyl. If you want it buy it. Enjoy your life!

Bronwynsmom--my husband is very New England prep, and we have no labels on the table. Salt in a dish, ketchup in a dish and Triscuits on a plate as the Preppy Handbook says. People think we're weird.

Love this post. The things I like that don't appear to be too popular these days: smaller rooms (nada to open floor plans. I am puzzled why people buy or build an open floor plan house and then spend countless hours trying to figure out how to partition the living spaces with furniture arrangements or paint...the best partitions are called walls), ceiling fans, stenciling, butcher block counters, regular white kitchen appliances, colorful wall tile (like Mexican talavera or similar), use of saturated (but not neon) colors in textiles and paint (thank you Aunt Jen), shower curtains (much easier to keep clean by throwing in the washer), top loading clothes washers, clothes lines for letting the wind and sun dry and sanitize sheets and towels, and the well-nigh indestructible series of Knock-Out roses for landscaping color.

I guess splashy & colorful floral prints on sofas & upholstered chairs. I know the "decorating mantra" seems to be to keep colors to a neutral in the large upholstered furniture items, and use colors in accessories such as throw pillows, table nic-nacs etc. etc. so you can "change them out" easily when you tire of them. I'm lucky in that once I fall in love with a particular floral print, I just dont tire of it. As I've mentioned before, I only rarely redecorate.

The other unpopular thing I like is solid color area rugs on top of hardwood flooring. Although I like oriental rugs "in theory", I just never run across any that I really like "in practice".

Old houses
Lots of small rooms (how else can you get away from other people!)
Color
Formica countertops (or maybe butcherblock)
Plain normal fridge tho I'd love to paint it an outré color unfortunately regular paint doesn't stick well and appliance paint only comes in boring colors.
The old bathrooms with colored sinks, toilets and matching tile. I don't have one but it makes me so sad when they rip a well designed one in good condition out on a tv program.
Vinyl floors in the bathroom
Normal shower head (just one)
Bathroom adequate in size but not huge
Roller shades, plastic ok
Minimalist window treatments if any
Colored doors not necessarily the same color as surrounding trim
A little bit of wildness (I can appreciate and enjoy lovely neutral uncluttered spaces but don't really want one!)
fun post
Outdoors: Lots of flowers, a cacophony really, plus hostas; imperfect lawn that doesn't have to be mowed as much; glass, concrete, and mosaic stuff in garden.
kathy

Hmmm. I painted our white 20-year old refrigerator doors several years ago & they have held up fine. Ours is so old that only the refrig & freezer doors are pebble-textured; the sides & top are smooth. Nowadays they pebble-texture everything.

I used two coats of an oil primer & two finish coats of BM high gloss oil in a medium tan. The rest of the refrigerator cabinet is the untouched white. Our wood painted kitchen cabinets are pure gloss white-framed, with doors & drawers using the same tan paint. The pebble texture on the refrigerator is nice as there are no brush marks & looks like it was sprayed on.

Such an interesting read.

Postum's post reminds me of my like for Nag Champa scent but since my DH hates the smoke of incense I don't burn it. Instead store it in the hutch which smells wonderful.

Hmmm. I painted our white 20-year old refrigerator doors several years ago & they have held up fine. Ours is so old that only the refrig & freezer doors are pebble-textured; the sides & top are smooth. Nowadays they pebble-texture everything.

I used two coats of an oil primer & two finish coats of BM high gloss oil in a medium tan. The rest of the refrigerator cabinet is the untouched white. Our wood painted kitchen cabinets are pure gloss white-framed, with doors & drawers using the same tan paint. The pebble texture on the refrigerator is nice as there are no brush marks & looks like it was sprayed on.

Yesterday I went out to lunch w/ my g/fs and I asked them this question. This is their list (of things loved by some but abhor by others)

-- fuzzy toilet seat cover & toilet bib. (one wants to know why they don't make them in sheep skin-that would be the ultimate in comfort ).

-- plastic flowers
-- jar of potpouri in the bathroom
-- pink flamingos in the yard
-- iron bed in the middle of the yard as planting bed
-- Old broken sinks or toilet as planters
-- Yard 'art'
-- 101 wind chimes in the yard
-- Edward scissorhand landscape - plants carved into drumsticks & meatballs & shiskabobs
-- Peeling & more shabby than chic furniture
-- Cabbage roses everywhere (bedding, wallpaper, etc.)
-- Ruffles everywhere
-- Shells encrusted furniture & objects (mirror, bust of female w/ shells for headdress, etc.)
-- Velour & velvet on victorian furniture (maybe some nailhead for extra bling)
-- Totally DTM (dye to match) accessories (candles that match the soaps that match the towels that match the wall that matches the curtain that match the tile, etc...)
-- Tuscany style not in a Tuscany house, faux plaster
-- MCM, avocado, faux Eames.
-- Industrial objects like ob-gyn or dental chairs used as furnishing.
-- Stuffed animals' head or stuffed dead animals.
-- Animals' body parts as furnishing (leather, fur, hide..)
-- Use of strange material as wallpaper or wallcovering (i.e. tobacco leaves, plastic or metal sheets, grass, mud, etc.)
-- Mirror on ceiling, walls of mirror.
-- Plastic shower curtains
-- Accent walls
-- fake eco grass instead of lawn
-- Ducks & geese wallpaper, valances, everywhere.
-- Rooster in the kitchen.
-- Chicken wire on cabinet doors
-- Matching toile everywhere.
-- Religious objects & statues in nonreligious places (Buddha in garden, bedroom, bathroom, etc.)
-- Plug-in air freshener
-- Candles everywhere
-- Round-the-world decor (every room a different style from different continent)

...

We were laughing so hard. Thought I would share -- decorating is a lot more fun when we don't take it too seriously. :-)

Pine furniture. Split between European antiques and reproduction (that unfortunately turns kinda orange, except for my older Pennyslvania House dresser that still looks pretty good)

de Gournay, Zuber, or Paul Montgomery Studios scenic or panoramic wallpapers. Won't ever be able to afford it, but I like it a lot.

I love vintage swag lamps, especially with colored glass covers.

I also love shower curtains like several have already mentioned.

I like to decorate with clothes...scarves as table runners or covers, printed skirts or tops wrapped around lamp shades.

Doilies and table cloths
Toile
Old wood furniture, lovingly polished over the years and handed down to me!
Pictures on the piano
Original art on the walls with no well known signatures
Food in serving dishes including condiments (how else can I justify my dishaholicism?)
Meals at the table (grandkids scowl, but LOVE having their own fancy dishes and cups, so it gets me off the hook :^)
White appliances, the plainer the better including top load washing machine and plain ol' dryer.
Formica or butcher block on the counters
Hammered aluminum cookware

I did a search and did not find these but they may be in here.
As mentioned coloured appliances but also coloured bathroom fixtures.
Coloured sofas and furniture.
Black carpet in a reckroom or living room or bedroom.
Black or close to black hardwood floors.
Irridescent blue tiles for backsplash in kitchen.
Tiger and wolf plates hung on the wall.
Small kitchens. After two weeks of hobbling around with a cane,my dream kitchen will not be the big one I thought I wanted.
And pretty much anything eggplant coloured in any tone or tint or shade, especially glass and furniture.

White roller shades and lace or sheer panels. Have had both on most windows for almost 2 decades and still love the look.

Florals, large and small, mixed with other patterns like checks and dots.

Pine furniture, painted furniture, chippy and distressed - all the better.

Quilts and needlework - on display and in open armoires and cupboards.

Bare wood floors. A few small rugs in front of kitchen sink, laundry sink, bathroom sink are ok.

Inset, unadorned cabinets. Open shelves with everyday dishes - so easy and quick to get what you need.

Chenille, especially my white chenille bedspread. Washes and dries beautifully.

Whimsy! Every home needs a little of it. : )

angelclub, I also love bare wood floors and plan to not put area rugs on my new hardwood flooring when it is installed. I only want a mat to wipe the feet by the door, a rug in front of the sink in my kitchen and a rug in front of my sliding door.

Ditto...ceiling fans and sliding doors,
Florals...have to have some in every room,
Neutral walls...love looking at color in everyone else's homes but I'm going thru a neutral phase,
Oak...yup, still have oak furniture in my home,
Mixing styles...bit of everything thrown in!

OMG, Bumblebeez, I didn't realize having the masterbedroom open to your family room was a flaw! When we bought our house I absolutely loved the custom floor plan. The master bedroom is right off of the main floor living room (which we use all the time). One of the reasons I love it is because I always tidy my bedroom and have a bedroom set and antique vanity that I love and I love to keep the door open.

One design no-no that I love is natural brick fireplaces, no paint for me, no sir.

Here is a link that might be useful: public view of bedroom

I know a lot of people are going to throw up but I use coasters. I don't like it but I use them. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

....Jane

I like mixing modern/contemporary with rustic elements. I think a lot of people just think I don't know how to match things, lol.

--Mirrored walls and closet doors (go ahead--stone me!)
--Ceiling fans
--Shower curtains instead of glass doors
--1950s bathrooms with 2-tone tile, black/pink, jade/gray, etc.
--My pedestrian plastic WaterPik hand-held showerhead (love it!)
--Plain refrigerators w/ freezer on top and nothing (no water/ice) on the door
--Ordinary bathroom tile used in a kitchen backsplash
--Formica counters
--My microwave on the counter
--Hard floors (no carpet, ever!) in order of preference: wood > ceramic > laminate > vinyl
--Windows w/out treatments other than the minimum needed for privacy or climate control

Nessie, what a pretty bed and bedspread you have! I hope there are lots of people like you around when we sell our house some day!
But that was my thought too, I want everyone to see my beautiful bedroom....my builder thought I was nuts to even make the bed everyday.

Natural slate floors. We have multicolor Indian slate floor tiles in our kitchen, sunroom, mudroom and powder room with all the slight unevenness and variation of natural stone. They are very rustic but wonderful, will be great once we have them sealed. Can you believe the actual tile place we bought from didn't want to sell us the slate? They kept giving us recommendations of vinyl with a slate look (not the same).

We also did opt to go with carpet in our bedrooms, although we have hardwood and slate throughout the downstairs and upstairs halls. We had hardwood bedrooms in our old house, love the look but really like the comfort of having carpet in bedrooms to kick back and relax. Quieter and easier for the kids toys too. We do take our shoes off in the house, to keep them clean.

Amy

Jane, why would people throw up over using coasters? I have several nice sets (mostly from ebay), including some stone ones with fossils in them, hand-carved wood, tooled leather, miniature Oriental rugs. It gets so humid here in the summer that a beverage glass will sweat a big puddle all over a table, and the hot mugs we slurp from all winter long make nasty marks on wood, and the rough bottoms of handthrown pottery can scratch something fierce. DH pretty much wrecked the top of his ~150yo Victorian nightstand leaving a cup of hot coffee on the unprotected surface, I could have killed him because now I'm going to have to fix it. (I had glass tops cut for them when I first bought them, but I hate the "clank" sound of something like a glass or mug being put down on a glass surface, and that glass is a dust magnet.) Most of our tables are antique in the sense of "old stuff" rather than "valuable" but it doesn't mean I still think it's okay to trash them. I'm not one of those people who scurries around sticking coasters under people's drinks when we have people over though, that's just rude IMO.