I also think of painting the house in colors seen in Indian movies - plum walls, magenta curtains, marigold for the bedroom, those over the door hanger things, pine green carpets. In short, color, deep, rich, saturated, all over the house.
Fill the house with poufs (not that kind) and ottomans (not that kind, either), curtains not just on windows but on walls and more pillows than Bed, Bath and Beyond sells in a month.
I know that somewhere, there's a middle ground and eventually, that's where I'll land.
But I know where all of this comes from.
In my grandparents' house, the furniture was never moved and the walls in every room in the house remained the same soggy beige color, with the exception of the yellow kitchen.
In my mother's house, she spent at least one weekend a month directing me and my stepfather in moving the living room furniture. This drove me slightly crazy, but at least she was taking an interest in the house, which was something she never did when we lived with her parents. However, she crossed the line when I went away to college. My first weekend back home, I found she had rearranged the furniture in my room. This, of course, was beyond the pale. I threw a mighty temper tantrum. A simple, "Mom, I'm going to change it back" would have done, but I made a great clatter, moving things back to their proper places.
I've lived at Ma Maisonette longer than I've lived anyplace else. Of course I'm getting tired of it. Of course I want to change things.
And of course it would help greatly if I de-crapped all the surfaces. And cleaned the place. Then I would really see if I needed to change much or even anything at all. Probably not that much at all.
My fear with minimalism is that it would soon prove not to be soothing, but to be depressing.
My fear with maximalism is that it would soon prove not to be exciting and exotic but overwhelming.
The truth is that I would somehow find my way back to the middle ground. The house wouldn't be much different from the way it was. But hey, I've only got maybe seven or eight years in this house before I have to bug out of Jersey anyway. And before I could sell, it would all have to be painted some neutral color. Yawn.
1 comment:
Consider this: Buy canvas or some other stiffish fabric. Cut strips 1' to 18" wide with one side straight, and the other side a fancy curvy (but still simple, like spearhead) repeated shape. Make stencils, or freehand a design, and then paint the length of the strips in the design using bright jewel colors. Then tack the strips along the tops of walls and around door frames. Note- straight pins or tiny finishing nails will do. Voila - instant (well, sorta instant) brilliance.
You can actually use the same paint and canvas to make matching table strips and pillows or seat cushions, finished with fringe or tassels.
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