Trends and Keeping Up

When I was a young married woman, I remember shopping for colors and designs with which to decorate our home.  Did I realize how much I was influenced in making my choices?  “What influenced you?” you ask.  Design trends and decorating fashion.  Little did I realize when I picked out my country blue plaid fabric with which to upholster my new swivel rockers to rock my babies in, that when “said babies” went off to college, they would view these quality comfortable rockers as “dated” and ugly.  Really!?!  It broke my heart that after college they were looked at as something to discard!  OK, I had moved on from them at my house, but I still realized that we had bought quality furniture at the time and didn’t think they were worn out yet.

This reminds me of something my cousin told me once.  She (as I) had been brought up to purchase quality items that would last.  But she, at that point, finally realized that design fashions change and she would want to have a reason to replace her furniture maybe sooner than (40 years) later!  So she opted not to buy the best she could afford.  She sometimes bought cheap and cute!  A good thought to ponder.

So after spending the “early years” of my adult life conservatively keeping up with the times with fashion, hairstyles, and decorating, I have now became an old “stick in the mud” about all of this change.  I’m starting to realize that just because something was the latest fashion didn’t mean that I liked it.  Some years I simply didn’t like the changes in fashion at all.  I gave myself permission to NOT like it and to NOT wear it.  That year if I needed something new, I went to the thrift store to find something I liked, not caring what the fashion world might have to say.

And the older I get, I’ve realized why, when I went to my grandma’s house, it was decorated in a different fashion than our house was.  Grandma didn’t try to keep up with the latest fashion (clung to the “house dress” look) nor the latest hairstyle (I believe both of my grandmas wore the same style most of my life until they passed) nor the latest decorating style in their homes.  Grandmas cared about more important things than fashion.  They cared more about “clean” than design too.  They also enjoyed their hobbies more than making things match.

So guess what?!  I’m a grandma now! The boys call me Gram. Even though it’s a different time, I’m still at the age my grandmas were when I remember them.  I now understand why they didn’t follow every fashion trend.  They had things more important to care about.  Me and the other grandkids!  J How to finish well in life.  And what legacy they would leave.

Although I love and care for my three grandsons, there is a part of me (the artsy part) that feels I must care about design and fashion somewhat. I don’t want to feel like I’m living in the 80’s forever.  I also enjoy some change now and then.  But now I’m more interested in classic designs that are not driven by a pushing trend of the times. And when it comes to decorating, I’m starting to think when making a change; I’d like to make my own trend.  I just invent a look that I enjoy and quit being a cookie-cutter copy-cat!

I walk into stores and “farmhouse” is all of the rage.  It is cute.  I like it.  I live on a farm.  But I’ve decided not to drink the Kool-Aid because I realize that it will soon go out of style just like country blue did.  OK, I do admit that I dabble a little and have a few items that might be from this category, but my house doesn’t look like the decorating magazines.  It is decorated in “Brenda-esque.”

As I’ve struggled with making some changes in decorating, I decided to watch the show I’ve heard so much about, Fixer Upper.  I’m going through the whole series, episode by episode in my spare time.  It’s opening my eyes to making changes in decorating if nothing else. (Trying to get out of my rut and not get stuck.)  I’m getting more of a sense of where things are moving.  But that still doesn’t mean that I have to move there.  I’m just more aware.  (I do think I’m able to just about quote what Joanna will do to each house anymore!  It’s starting to appear that she does a lot of the same over and over!)  She puts hardwood floors everywhere (I don’t like feet on cold floors and the echo effect), paint all of the woodwork and only use wood as an accent piece, French doors, canned lights, open concept, lots of windows, etc.

So I’ve watched the trends come and go.  In 1980, people were stripping all of the paint off of old woodwork to uncover that beautiful wood underneath.  It was SO beautiful; we couldn’t imagine why they covered it up with white paint or dark stain.  Now that we all have beautiful stained woodwork and cabinets, I see they are back to painting over all of that beautiful wood grain again!  It just makes me wonder if I will live to see it happen again and come full circle, when people will again be stripping off all of that paint to reveal again that beautiful wood grain.  All I know is, I won’t have to be stripping it off of mine.  My grain will still be uncovered like the day we installed it.  Just call me Gram.