What I like in terms of visual style

[cjsmith]

I've been looking through catalogs and such with an eye to design elements I'd like to incorporate in my home. We're thinking of ripping out the big stone surfacing over our fireplace -- what mantels do I like? We've been thinking of a new look for the living room -- what window treatments, art, and furniture styles do I like?

I'm noticing something I never would have guessed. My eye is drawn to stuff that's sleek and modern.

I like this brushed aluminum clock. It just looks nifty and cool and clean and sorta elegant.
I like this candleholder. It looks better in the "room view", not quite so stark, but I think stark is a little of what I was liking.
I like this table centerpiece thingy. I like these.

But I'm also drawn to some formal fancied-up stuff, too. I like this decorative fooble. The simpler one here does nothing for me.

Do I like the sleek and modern only because it is so different from what I see every day? Would I like it as much if a whole room looked like that, or would it be overwhelming, almost (looking at that clock again) pretentious?

Do I like that decorative fooble only because it's so danged ostentatiously expensive, luring me in to thinking "I could make my house look like the palace of a billionaire"? Is that, too, only because it is so different from what I see every day? Or am I drawn to that picture more because of the water and the trees?

I'm going to keep collecting pictures of things I like, and maybe some day I'll figure it out.

Comments

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

Interesting mixture of zen and modern, plus that column-y stuff. The Bob clock is pretty cool.

I tend to like a slightly Japanese motif (your candle holder reminds me of that), or a rustic, woodsy one. But not kitschy.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

i really like that large wall candle holder thingey. that could look good above a fireplace, if the wall proportions were right (to me, right=enough height).

i've never actually decorated from scratch - i've always just made do with whatever i could get my hands on (2nd hand stores or from family). the idea of shopping for all new stuff that goes together is more than a bit terrifying.

[kimatha.livejournal.com]

Well, the difference might be in scale. Ostentation looks better on a grand scale, like a pool pagoda, but looks a little silly and contrived on small things like a clock or candle holder.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Rustic-and-woodsy appeals to me as well. I think what I like about my living room, for example, is all the wood -- it's trying hard to be rustic and woodsy but it really just winds up being seventies.

I'm not sure I know exactly what kitschy is. If it's a million little figurines with eyes the size of their hands, then that's definitely not me either.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It's a little scary how much I like a few of the things I saw in Crate and Barrel. It's not like they're inexpensive. $99 for that centerpiece tray thing, and that's without anything in it! $149 for the candleholder! I wish I could find one used. Sadly, the folks who are totally willing to pay $149 for a large wall candle holder are probably the same folks who will just pitch it in the landfill when it no longer looks good to them. :-/

You can probably guess I've always decorated from what I had lying around, too. I'm simply unwilling to throw large amounts of money at the problem. Sadly I think you have to have an amazing artist's eye to make that work out. (Well, more amazing than mine anyway.)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Good point: the object has to fit its surroundings without being finicky or over-cramped.

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, when rustic-woodsy goes bad. Like the bad bathroom humor framed pictures, or as you said, an excess of Hummel figurines...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

"When rustic-woodsy goes bad" - I love it! This would also include fake country with little hearts cut out of everything, and maybe those restaurants with wagon wheels and washboards on the walls, wouldn't it?

[jb98.livejournal.com]

I have been thinking that I strongly dislike sleek and modern, but as I look around I see that I like it as long as it has rich, warm, elements. For example, I don't care for the clock you linked to, but I love the centerpiece. I'm looking around at the pieces I've collected intentionally, and I see a lot of sleek metal with clean lines combined with slate or other earthy elements. Pure sleek leaves me feeling cold and uncomfortable, but there is something very gratifying about the simplicity as long as it's warmed up. This is fascinating, as I hadn't realized it before.

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, wagon wheels and washboards!


It's a *really* fine line between timeless and stuck in time...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that's an interesting insight! I like the idea of "warmth" in slate or wood or a candle. I bet you and I could create a decor in which we'd both be very content.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, now there's a definition of "kitschy" that I could remember (if it's appropriate): what you'd see in a quintessential "Grandma's place".