Hello there, dears! I am back after a long few days of everyone but the dog falling sick in one way or another. But we’re all more or less on the mend and it’s back to work for me.
Lately I’ve been enjoying some hoarding tendancies when it comes to old magazines. Because, to me, the only thing better than a new magazine to look through is a new old and cheap magazine full of art inspiration. My favorite old magazine to snatch up at the antique mall is Country Living. I love the magazine now, but I also love its more rustic incarnation in the 80s/early 90s when New England style houses were all the rage.
Instead of losing specific images in a giant pile of magazines and then not knowing where to find them again, I thought I’d start cataloging and sharing some of my favorite homey and arty images here. The photos from this post come mainly from the December 1994 issue of Country Living.
At this moment in time, if you were to ask me what my dream house would be, I would say a traditional style New England salt box filled with rich wood floors, brick hearths and lots of rich color and simple furnishings. I’ll start with the doorway above, right down to the kitty. I’ll take it all, please.
If you ask me, the only thing better than one silhouette is more silhouettes. I love how they look massed together like this. When I see rooms filled with silhouettes it just makes me fall in love. The stockings on the mantle are so sweet too.
And here it is, my dream bedroom! Isn’t this room just gorgeous?! The rug! The hearth! The folk art! The homespun bedding! oooh, even a basket of knitting! I just want to walk right into this image and live there. I think I’m really coming to love the simple line of early American furniture and fixtures because they aren’t as foofy (real word?) or over the top as Victorian pieces. Before the industrial revolution, most of people’s furnishings, cloth, clothing, everything was handmade. Even down to the nails. I love that.
This hearth photo appears on the cover of this specific magazine and I love it. Of course I love the folk art portrait above the mantle and all the old dishes and pots and pans. I also love a good garland, and evidently this particular year yellow yarrow was all the rage. I think it appeared in atleast 3 or 4 different stories in this magazine. Perhaps there was a sale on yellow yarrow that year 😉 but I love the unexpected dash of yellow in the Christmas decor, how absolutely homemade and hand done it all looks. It just warms my heart and makes me long for the holidays.Anyhow, hope you liked looking through these old photos with me! I think they’re so inspiring, no matter that they’re over 20 years old now. When things are timeless, they never grow out dated.
Whats your favorite decorating era? Or are you thoroughly modern? What inspires you?
~H
Sleightholm Folk Art 
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