Thursday, January 7, 2010

Yes, We Do Love It, Don't We? aka Lazy Title

Inspired by Suburban Matron's recent post about how we decorate (or don't decorate) our homes, I shall share some favorite stuffs o' mine. I like to think about the little nooks and crannies that I enjoy most in our house. The very stuff that makes it our home.
I guess my decorating style is a little tongue in cheek.
So come in. Hang out with me. We'll talk, we'll have coffee, we'll have coffee talk.

And I'd take the tour from the front door in, but I'm sick of rearranging the photos in here. Blogger do you hear me? It's not convenient!

Anywho....

That is a Gen-U-Ine velvet painting of mallard ducks. It came with the house. Great Honor. Oh! And a gun cabinet. Yep. First thing you see when you walk in the house.
Now. The first time I ever came in our house, when we walked through with the realtor and got the Not So Grand tour, the house was basically a train wreck. I think the shock of how yucky it was left me with very little memory of our visit. Hysterical Amnesia, if you will.
We went home after that and I could not remember any of what I'd seen save for this tile back splash.
Thank God I remembered nothing else or we never would have signed papers. Boy, was I in shock again the first day we stayed here, wondering what in the hell I'd done signing my life away for a $#!thole.
Anywho! The tile could not be any more perfect for us. It is so representative of our family, it's almost spooky. I count it as one of those divine signs and a comfort.
I realize it's not all that remarkable for a house in the country to have farm-y decor, but this groovy tile stood in stark contrast to the red shag carpet, black poufy valances, and pee stains, among other really weird stuff.
See:

Fruit market:
Raising animals & processing ourselves. See, directions! "Butt" always makes me laugh a little when I'm washing dishes.Kitties!And much much more.

My view from bed. Aside from Mark's fancy TeeVee. Mah Baybehs. Mark's bookshelf. Bee books.
Cellar wall. Love that crumbly stone.
The stairs. Covered in wretched filthy turquoise carpet when we moved in. I painted the backs of the steps, but I'm letting the treads wear. I like it worn.
View from my typical reclining position on the couch. I can see the kids handwoven baskets on the cupboard in the kitchen. Dragonfly light reflected in the mirror- my substitute (the mirror) for a transom over the door. :(
Favorite painting. Painted by the father of the man who owns the horse farm our horses came from. That is Mark's dad on his horse Shebang.
Shebang!Scythes hung over the windows as curtain-less curtain rods. I just like 'em hanging there. "Painting" that always hung over my great aunt Shirley's couch. It is literally cardboard in a frame, but the picture has provided lots of staring time.
My great grandmother's afghan. Guess I could have done a more poorly lit photo?
Scotty dog cross stitch and oval frame that belonged to another great grandma. Deer head that was on the front porch of the house when we bought it. Barn painting from the second hand store. Turquoise hearth. Horse painting on the mantel from a home show at the convention center. Badly lit photo...
The ghost of a window on the living room wall.

Still in the living room. Three foot tall resin Native American chief? Check. It was a gift Mark gave to his grandmother way back when. I can't imagine how she's been living without it all these years. Chief Wakasorta they call him, I think. I don't call him anything. Maybe Dude?The paper barrel. For holding the furnace's snacks. The scale hanging between the kitchen and dining ?room? area breakfast nook place? The place where the table sits... We actually use the scale for weighing sausage and or kraut or whatever.
Cluttered letter/bill(/feather) holder. It came with the house.
Foyer Laundry Room. The whole house used to be Cracker Barrel-ed like this. Now the fun is all reserved for this room. Horse bits found here on the farm. Deer head wearing wampum imported from the local junk auction. I feel kind of daring for having such a ridiculous thing hanging prominently in my home. Makes me laugh inside.
Cross stitch of a pistol over the bathroom door. A gift given to Mark.
The bathroom floor made of pebbles.

The door to the cellar. Green glass knob. Door in desperate need of scrubbing and painting. Retired cat door.
Framed insert from the waffle iron bought at a local yard sale. The waffle iron works like a charm, too. It hangs over the washing machine for some reason?
The view that greets you as you enter through the back door. Which is kind of the front door now. The Foyer Laundry Room. Tre Fancy. (Ya, like I said, the photos aren't in order. Lay-ZEE!) That washboard belonged to Mawsi. She really used it.
A friend built this table and it is the gathering spot for pots of macaroni and cheese and people. Or people and pots of macaroni and cheese. I swear, there are no pots of people!

We found this clipboard in the barn. It has slips for feed from the Hickory Feed Mill which belonged to Mark's family for many, many years. Actually up until a couple years ago when Pops sold it and retired. Mark working there kept us out of the poor house back in the day. Very cool piece of family history.
Weird little cubby shelf in the kitchen. Used to not be trimmed in wood. Used to be nothing but painted paneling. Soooooo ugly. But cute now, I say. My green chicken dish.

For Amy, Matron Down Under: my Australian calf liver tin. Do ya'll eat that with Vegemite?

Fetch me milk! Stat!
Not so favorite: The Steelers Head Band. It comes out every Winter. It originally came out of a rag bag I think.

No, he's not some big Steelers fan. He just thinks it's funny. And functional for guys with naturally hot heads.

Now Shoo! Mama, needs milk...(Shoulda been cream, but we'll settle for milk...)
...a couple final favorite things! :) We love farm fresh milk. And stuff. Cheers!

6 comments:

Osage Bluff Quilter said...

God I am LMAO.
I knew you were working on a posting, I can always tell, because the comments are flying my way.
Anyway let's see . . .while drinking my coffee, and thanks for showing the kuhula, that's what I am out of for my PW coffee. (Insert hurt feelings)

The ax on the wall. SCARY but then we have one too on the fireplace mantle. Just lying around there, probably waiting to fall and decapitate someone.
Velvet ducks, next best thing to Elvis.
Pork on the wall. Better than ELVIS.
I LOVE the substitute mirror for a transom . HGTV needs to see that. If only I had room over my doors there would be one there tomorrow.
We dont' do curtains either. Waste of $$
Your paper barrel, looks like what use to be a nail keg. Oh those keggers.
God now there's a saw blade on the wall next to the axe.

The hole in the wall with the hen on the nest looks just like our telephone holding place from my childhood home.

GO STEELERS!!!!

Wait it is my house from 1960.

honeypiehorse said...

I love your bold use of color. And that labeled pig tile. And all that family history.

Annette said...

For a long time, I thought that backsplash tile (which I fell in love with the first time I saw it!) was your addition. It does seem very much "you and your family." Knowing now that it came with the house...well, you were definitely destined to live there.

Sara said...

Love the pig picture. Boston butts make me laugh everytime my FIL says it. Your house is inspiring. I like the use of colors and the eclectic use of farm and outdoorsy decor. I'd cannot use animals on my walls or sharp objects. Though I have a huge round saw blade that I've been saving to have a painting of our future farm put on it. So we will see if I hang it sharp blades and all. The scale is wonderful. The tiles look hand painted, very cool.

I think you need just a little more horse stuff to round out the farm stuff. :D

Amy said...

What a homey home! I love it. I would totally come and sit and eat a pot of mac and cheese there! I love the wash board and the clipboard and the other relics you have.

And Aussie calf livers? Dee-lish. We spread it on toast every morning. (Gag.)

You have a great house!

Becky said...

Hello, how did I miss this post for like a week??? It is so delicious. I LOVE your house and the whole vibe. Some of my favorite moments: the cross stich pistol, the stair treads, the resin Indian, the kitchen table. I want to come and wander around!