When you feel trapped by the design period of your house

I let it drop during my One Room Challenge round up that at times I’m getting ready to move past the farmhouse look.  Don’t get me wrong, I still love it, especially when I see it beautifully done- I just mean that I’m past the point where that’s the look that I’m going for in every element of my design plans for every room in my home.  There are so many other wonderful design styles to love!

But as you know, we live in a true country home, built in 1895, a Victorian farmhouse.  Shiplap walls in about half the house, hardwood floors, and chunky moldings.  I love our house.  It’s a lot smaller than our old house, and compared to a lot of houses, I’m sure some folks would think it’s nothing special. But she has a good feel- like the kind of house we could grow old in and our chunky future grandbabies could toddle around in some day.

Wherever I go with the design, I want to be true to our home’s bones.  I’m not ripping out shiplap to achieve a modern look, much as I love modern design. Nothing wrong with people who do that- it’s just not the direction that I’m planning to head with our home.

How do you balance the desire to stay true to your home, while also having your home reflect you and your family’s taste and style?

Well…design legend Billy Baldwin said:

“The first rule of decoration is that you can break almost all the other rules.”
-Billy Baldwin

That’s a good starting point.

Living Room

For me, what I’ve decided is that keeping the bones in place, like the shiplap, hardwood, and moldings (which are all elements that I really love anyway) is enough to respect the authenticity of the house.  The rest, I’m going to do what I want.  If I want to use a modern wall sconce, I’m going to use it.  If I want to paint the ceiling black, I’m going to do it (and maybe I already have….ooohhhh, foreshadowing!)

The best design, I think, is a skillful marriage of different design styles, anyway.  It keeps things interesting.

And, if I want to do a farmhouse bathroom, that’s okay too.  It’s a free country! And I have a ton of subway tile left from my farmhouse kitchen makeover 🙂

Coastal farmhouse kitchen here