Proud Oldstyler or feel like a rag bag?

thriftwizard

2 white sofas and one brown, my curtains are orange Tartan, the furniture is a mix of woods and formica, one lamp is white and the other is brass, the fireplace is Victorian, the mirror is Deco - shabby chic it is not!

Sounds like you are just one step away from recreating the perfect 70s retro room, if you wanted to! Add a few spider plants & tradescantia in a macrame hanger, a Monstera Deliciosa in the corner, and perhaps an LP rack & stereo tower and you'd have recreated The Look from all those Golden Homes magazines perfectly! Orange, white, wood & formica - maybe a little brown scattered around, too...

I'm sitting here in a room that certainly wouldn't win any design awards - pine, teak & oak furniture, plain brick fireplace, neutral walls & pale laminate floor, mirrors & wallhangings that would best be described as golden gothic. But I love it, it's home, & all the contents have meaning to me - except the curtains, but they're on their way out! I have various friends whose homes I love, because they reflect their personalities - one's is a riot of colour, beads, plants & fabric with a pink & green theme, all done for pennies from charity shops & reminiscent of a lively West Indian bazaar, one is very, very just-so with everything carefully chosen new & saved up for, one is cool & calm and quiet in a kind of rural French crossed with Gustavian Swedish way, all antiques & rugs collected on her travels, with a calm grey-painted background - but none of them are at all fashionable as such. Mind you, we all live in older houses with small dimensions and wouldn't even get a D£S sofa through the door!

I think you're just at the beginning of working out your own style - I got there a couple of years ago, once the kids had got beyond the damaging stage & a few things needed replacing, and we were out of debt & able to choose with care. Take it from where you are; work out what you do like, and what you want to replace when the right item appears. Carry a list of measurements round in your diary, and perhaps a snippet or two of fabric to match up against things. Then if you see something you like & you think would fit in with your overall "look" you'll have the information you need to decide whether to pounce, or not. And remember, it's amazing what changing just one or two small things can do, but it's worth waiting for the right things.

As for clothing - agreeing with other posters here - forget high-street fashion, it's just a money-trap; buy a few classics that fit & suit you, from whatever source, look after them as well as you can, wear comfortable shoes and hold your head high! Walking confidently somehow makes people take you much more seriously, whatever you're wearing.

nat21luv

All my furniture is 2nd hand but I pick it carefully to fit in. If it doesn't it gets a lick of ivory wood paint! My bed was from freeclycle that I painted, my wardrobe was from the paper, again, that I painted. It's not the same style but looks good because it's all the same colour. I go to my local dump where they sell saleable goods to fund their tea and biscuits and they have a lot of great, good quality items for next to nothing. Car boots are another favourite for accessories and I love the shabby chic style but also don't limit my home to that as I want it to character, that's where souvenirs from my travels come in.

My friend buys ideal homes religiously and her home is identical to some of the pictures you'd find in there. But there's no soul in her house, she has 5 kids, a run down car and a jack the lad boyfriend, her home doesn't fit her personality or her life. She's always buying new things but she is in tonnes of debt. When I think of shabby chic and ideal homes centrefolds, I think of OS, home cooking, gardening, veg patches...and she is none of these. Shame really as her home could be lovely and feel like home if she stopped spending and lived a bit more OS.

rachbc

I can beat you all - my sofa is 80 years old - bought as part of a 3 piece suite on ebay and resold the chairs for as much as we paid for it - so effectively free!! Am saving up to have the 60s foam and green draylon re-do replaced with something more fitting of its beautful deco shape. Til then I live with it looking a bit hidous and am happy to let mine and any viisting kids leap all over it! Can't imagine many new sofas will last that long!

katieowl_2

I am most definately NOT a minimalist Nor will I ever be... and I do think that sometimes the frugal thing (especially with clothes) can be depressing.

But... Nearly all my furniture is second hand (except my bed and DS's bedstead, but his mattress was second hand albeit used only twice) Most of it is victorian, as was bought either for a song years ago, or for a bit more than a song in the case of one or two pieces, and it has not dated one JOT since I accquired it I have never in my entire life owned a sofa (or a chair) that didn't belong to someone before me...

I happen to like that style of furniture, and also happen to like the ethnic/hippy style of decor...which also hasn't really aged in a good few years. We've also never had a carpet fitted ever. Any floor coverings we have bought have been oriental rugs or kilims, and the hideous green carpet we inherited with the house, is entirely covered, bar a six inch strip by the back door, with our lifetimes collection layered up, which also adds to the 'ethnic' decor (fortunately LOL)

I have a few bits of 'shabby chic' as I also like the country living look (and Cath Kidston) in fact my bathroom roman blind material was featured in CL a month or two back, promoting a book about vintage crafts. It's a 60's sanderson print featuring sailing boats and seagulls, and I snapped my bit of fabric up for a couple of quid in a charity shop years ago, and I made the blind out of it. It was in the downstairs loo of our old house, and joy of joys fitted the bathroom here.

Now I do really enjoy the bargain hunt of the charity shop for clothes, and even if I were to be able to afford all 'new' stuff, I'm not sure I could kick the habit. My last shopping trip saw me come home with a rather natty ethnic embroidered hat, and a far eastern silk jacket (also embroidered) both for less than £3. I'm a great lover of textiles generally, so I think charity shopping is really my best source these days!

So I guess I am PROUD OLD STYLER!!!! (But have many rag bag days!)


Kate

meritaten

to modern eyes if it isnt Boring Brown or Beige it isnt fashionable! sod that! If you like a colour then use it! its YOUR home! If you like reds and golds and deep vibrant colours then use them. you would be surprised just how well all those 'jewel' colours go together!
If 'early american brothel' appeals to you..........why not?
if you like cool blues and greens and want 'japanese Zen calm' use those! it is really up to you - and ebay and freecycle are absolute treasure troves - as all those 'must have the latest look' people are desperate to sell!

monnagran

JackieO I couldn't agree with you more. When I was a single Mum bringing up my boys life was tough and all my furniture was other people's throwouts. Where did all the children in the neighbourhood come? You bet! and we lived in a very affluent area where the houses were grand and hideously expensive. DS1 came back from a visit to one friends house and said he was so sorry they were so poor (yeah. A poor stockbroker!) that they had sacks on their walls. Turned out to be expensive and fashionable (at the time) hessian.

When the boys had grown up and left home I indulged myself and bought a new white sofa. Did I sit on it? You must be joking, I was terrified of it.

We now live in tied house full of 'neutral' colours and in good taste. Except for the blanket made of multicoloured granny squares that is draped over the back of my armchair that was made for me by an old lady I had given some wool to. And a garish blanket on my friend's chair crocheted by a lady with learning difficulties. Do they fit into the decor? Of course not. Do we care? The hell we do. They were made for us with love and what is more important than that?

debtmess

OP this made me think about my front room.
My sofa was £50 from ebay, my rug,blinds and computer chair was free :T my tv unit thing was £40 and my ikea storage £68

thats my front room. The walls are yet to be painted from when I moved in and the flooring was left by previous tenant.

DS 1 &2S room is all second hand bar their mattress, the tenants before left a perfectly useable wardrobe, chest of draws was given to me and there storage brought from local sale boards.

DS3 room is a match his bed was from local boards only his zipper wardrobe and toy box was new, furnishings were from eBay

When I was with my ex in Germany we had nice everything, and as said we was in debt. Now most of my furniture is second hand, I can not afford new.

I will always look around iykwim before splashing out new, im wearing a dress that was given to me, must be at least 2 years old but im only in the house, my normal clothing is mainly jeans and I cannot remember the last time I brought a new pair from a shop (local cs has a £1 rail:D ). I try and get bedding from ebay, the only things I have brought new are white goods that were past repair.

thriftwizard

Monnagran (do I "know" you from a certain yarn-related website?) -I'm laughing at the sacks on the wall - I used to babysit for people who had hessian on their walls too, and wondered why they couldn't afford proper Vymura!
I have to admit to several wildly-eclectic crocheted & knitted blankets, as well as a couple of quiltfuls of love, sweat & tears too, and I wouldn't swap them for all the good taste in Ideal Homes.

charlies-aunt

OS home and clothes . . . and proud

Just about everything in our home is old - inherited, given, wombled or bought at auction. Lucky to live in an old cottage - the ceilings are very low but the rooms are very spacious so its easy to accomodate very large pieces of furniture that no-one else has room for. Looked after, repaired, cleaned and polished to make the most of what we have.

Nothing matches - many different styles but cosy and its home.

Clothes similarly are CS, given or bought 'on sale' - looked after, kept clean, patched, darned, remade and remodelled until too full of holes or dropping to bits.

Can't afford to do differently but unashamedly so

monnagran

thriftwizard: you may have heard of me, I tend to dip in and out of things and forget where I've been so can never follow anything up. It's part of my charm, (my opinion) or the onset of Alzheimers, (other people's opinion).

charlies-aunt: You've hit the nail on the head."It's cosy and it's home." Some people just want a house - in all its glory. We want a home in all its cosiness and familiarity.

I often find that people who just want a beautiful house are the same people who wear their children like badges, - it's something to show the world that they have finally amounted to something. I think they have severe self-esteem problems if all they have to offer the world is co-ordinating furniture and a set of A Level results.

Climbs down off soap-box.