Category Archives: maximalist style

Mar18

Facing East…

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So, I’m home. And I am wanting to experience the full meaning of that. Whoever said, “Home is heaven for beginners” got it. It means the world to me. It is truly my sanctuary. Please allow me a little artistic indulgence today as I am still resting up…

I remember house hunting years ago with my then husband, and our realtor was a long-time friend of his. Which meant they were a) men, and b) a generation older than me. Anyway, I could list a thousand reasons why we weren’t on the same page. My criteria was like science fiction to them. For starters, the front door needs to face east. What kind of trees are on the property? Don’t show me another house without windows in the bathrooms. Not skylights – operable windows. “It’s an energy thing.” That’s also why the kitchen sink is under a window, always. Nothing contemporary, thank you. Nope; no tri-levels (that was a real stumbling block…) Needless to say I usually ended up doing some remodeling. It was far more important to me than to him.

The home I’m in now is my very least favorite style, MCM (mid-century modern.) Maybe because I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. It was just everywhere. I have no use for it whatsoever. But this was the right house, at the right price, in the right place at the right time. Most of the original features had already been stripped out here, but the basic architecture is still apparent. I can live with the wide prow of the roof overhang and the expansive glass window walls. I won’t remove any of the remaining features; I’m decidedly against bastardizing a homes’ original architecture unless you have the means to take it to the studs and rebuild in another style altogether. No hybrid architecture for the most part. So I will also live with the open floor plan and the sandstone fireplace wall for now, although I did paint it.

It means that my beloved crystal chandelier remains in it’s packing, and my traditional English country decor gets thrown into an eclectic mix of old and new, at least for now. I do have a lot of avocado and chartreuse, my favorite colors. Actually, I like any color. As long as it’s green.

Butter Wakefield’s London townhouse is my inspiration. Black, white, green all day long, please. With some bright red-orange scattered about…how delightful! Although, I wouldn’t have the grey walls of the sitting room. I’m about to paint my interior walls my go-to favorite of the last few decades: Benjamin Moore’s Mystical Powers. It’s a soft off-white that reads a warm blush pink in certain light. Pink is the forgotten neutral. I’ve been waiting all winter to be able to open the windows and have fresh air and a fresh palette.

Aug5

for under a tenner

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Scottish artist Jane Lindsay exemplifies what I have talked about in recent posts – making your home uniquely yours, and that it doesn’t need to cost much at all. Look at her beautiful things that delight and amuse her, even when broken and glued together. Maybe moreso broken and glued together, because as she says, she loves things that mean something.

Never mind Jane obviously won the lottery in heaven when they were passing out good skin. She talks about when she turned 50 during her children’s teen years, and now they’re grown…she defies age. Does living the life of an artist in the Scottish countryside have something to do with that? As I’ve been following her for a few short months now, I know that she, too, lives with chronic disease. She sure doesn’t show it. She is gracious and delightful.

Her home is chock full of creative ideas. I’m going to steal some of her quirky sign ideas and make my own. And yes, Jane…we will “s’cuse the mess.”

I went to Amazon and was able to custom order a vintage-style metal sign like the one on her wall. Link here: https://amzn.to/3A91liS Remember that as an affiliate I may earn a small commission on anything you purchase through my blog, and thank you. Here is the book Jane references, The Not So Big House: https://amzn.to/3YueVax If you’re nearby, I’d be glad to lend you my copy. I’ve referenced it for years. I love the bright yellow reading lamp she has in her alcove. I couldn’t find us a yellow one, but I did find a great one with coppery accents, here: https://amzn.to/4d4KhZL. And last but not least, how about those stick on letters under paint with a favorite song or poem line?! https://amzn.to/46ve7UQ Thanks for the inspiration, Jane!

Aug2

It’s all smoke and mirrors,

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sometimes, quite literally. Why are we so afraid to express ourselves? I’ve always been a maximalist. Really, from the time I was a little kid. I was in grade school or junior high when my best friend nicknamed me “the perpetual arranger.” Keep rearranging it until it relaxes you and tickles your fancy.

I have also never had any budget for decoration. I’ve been the thrift queen since high school, shopping at St. Vincent de Paul, garage sales, and the Goodwill for clothes and jewelry and lamps and rugs and cute little chairs. And when I am not wearing the green velvet jacket I don’t hang it in the closet. What a waste that would be. I drape it over the shoulders of a chair. I hang necklaces on a lamp, I pin found feathers and postcards from friends to the lampshade. I’ll drop today’s beach stone finds in the bathroom sink. A friend once asked me how I clean the sink with the stones in the way…and don’t they get toothpaste on them? I responded “they love it.” Who told you the rules?

Hutton Wilkinson says the worst thing a house can be is boring. I couldn’t agree more. Design mentor Alexandra Stoddard calls taupe boring, “…the insidious, evil, creeping taupe.” Taupe. Who needs it? Just say no. Let your house express you. Don’t you want to walk out to your kitchen in the morning and be delighted? Come home from your yearly physical and feel renewed? Let your soul play and sing here – here – where it is for you. One of my life goals is to become increasingly brave and eccentric – and embellish everything. Stand right there a minute…

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Jul7

be it ever so humble…

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It’s the weekend; let’s lighten up. Here are two of my very most favorite designers, Alexandra Tolstoy and Butter Wakefield. They each have a unique style and a lot in common to my eye. They have an unapologetic love of color. And they insist on comfort. Those are my two priorities…oh, and how happy their homes are. Happy, exuberant, whimsical and personal style. Dare we say dopamine style? Our homes should delight us first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and especially after an outing, long or short. If you don’t walk in your front door and feel your shoulders lower, let’s talk.

Now both of these women are decidedly maximalists. As am I. Full disclosure, I cannot understand anything else. Everyone I share my enthusiasm with often responds with something similar to “well there’s…just…so…much…stuff.” Well, yeah. Hence the genre called maximalism. I call it a good start. But truthfully, it absolutely tickles my fancy.

I dream in maximalism. I actually dream of walking around inside strangers houses and taking note of the paintings on the wall and the patterns on the fabrics. It’s my idea of a good time. But don’t be fooled – it’s not an easy style to pull off. I work at it and never seem to get the relaxed result these two women have achieved. I have a theory about that, but I’ll save that for another day. I will tell you this: I have watched countless hours of maximalist house tours and not a one of those homeowners is glum. They seem genuinely chuffed.

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Jun3

the only egg in the room…

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…besides my head. Pardon me, I couldn’t resist. If God is in the details, Fiona de Lys is an angel incarnate. Here I am, still in wonder. Join me in my rabbit hole this morning? What do fashion, storytelling and rest have in common? Let’s visit Fiona and have a look ’round and see what we can learn about living a creative life…a deep, soul quenching life of peace.

Her home tells a story, a “narrative” as she calls it. She is telling us her personal story – about what she loves about her home, color, and her work. She can’t separate those out, nor should she. Let’s face it, our homes are at once metaphor and expression. Fiona was being restored as the space was being restored. When life’s changes (whether chosen or forced) require a move we must slow down and listen.

When she talks about the home needing to breathe she is describing a physical characteristic of many European and northern African houses. The lime finish on the walls is an organic material, a kind of chalky plaster. The climate is not friendly to gypsum, or what we call drywall. In her stairwell you see it’s natural state before any color is added. It’s a soft, mottled finish. And it does contract and expand with the temperature and humidity.

She likely added solid flooring. That is a fairly new addition there. Many old English country houses are open to the ground underneath the floorboards or bricks. Most of them do not have central heating systems. That is why you see doors on every room; they closed the heat of the fire in to stay warm. If they are listed (on the historic registry) they were built long before these amenities had been invented. Having a “cooker”, or Aga, later became the only source of heat other than open fires. Notice the desk in her dining room is almost as old as the U.S. How is it that we are not humbled by how much we have to learn and how much we take for granted? I’m convinced that if we possess any emotional intelligence at all it came from our ancestors through our genes. But I digress…

This home is full of interesting details and ideas. I’d love to hear what you noticed and liked. Fancy trying any of them?

I am new to the Amazon Affiliate program, and have yet to figure out the technology of adding a section to the blog. Any link from inside the YouTube video is from the sponsor, in this case, Homeworthy. The links following here provide me with a small commission should you make a purchase. Let’s start with the shoes. I have these! They look just like the Amazon essentials I love, found here: https://amzn.to/3X7y3e0 They’re comfortable and I wear them often. William Morris coffee table book for inspiration: https://amzn.to/4c2om4B, Green Kimono: https://amzn.to/4aEln1a