The Victorian House

Changing Taste

I’ve been thinking a lot about how my taste has changed. Our last house was fun to decorate because even though it was 100+ years old, there wasn’t a lot of ornament in the architecture that dictated a certain style. It lent itself well to mid-century modern furniture, and that design era had a huge hold on me throughout my twenties.

It was also an easy house to add basic, inexpensive furniture to. As I mentioned yesterday, I bought several BILLY bookcases recently. We had them in our bungalow’s landing, as our home’s library, and they were excellent!

Library Landing, Making it Lovely

Simple and well-priced, but with glass doors that made them look higher-end; I continue to receive a steady stream of emails asking about them. Now we’re using them sans-doors in the Victorian, up on the third floor as media storage for DVDs, video games, and CDs. Nearly all of our storage conveyed with the old house, so four months in, we’re glad to finally have some shelves up. We still have boxes upon boxes to unpack here though. So many books! Gah. We plan to add built-in bookshelves to the front parlor downstairs, but in the meantime, I did pick up one additional BILLY bookcase for my office. I’m happy to bring a little order to the room, but well, it looks cheap.

BILLY Bookcase

I suspected it would. Poor BILLY. It’s not his fault! This house is a completely different style, and he just doesn’t work so well here. The exciting thing for me though, is that it’s exactly the style I felt myself moving toward, starting a couple of years ago.

These dressers. Let’s talk about them.

Vintage-Inspired vs. an Antique Dresser

Before, I would have gone for the first, hands-down. Look how cute it is! And think of how adorable it would have been in my white-trimmed, clean-lined bungalow. Now though? No contest. I love the spoon-carved antique. The patina! The detailing! It would hold its own and yet not compete with the Victorian. It’s not about price (the antique is actually less than the brand-new piece here) — it’s about assembling the pieces that are going to make up the fabric of our home for a long time to come.

I’m finding myself drawn to more detail in other areas too. Below is a graphic patterned rug I would have put in the first house, vs. a traditional style rug that I would choose for this one. I can picture it playing off of the teal sofa in perfect juxtaposition.

Rug vs Rug

Of course, I haven’t done a complete 180°. I’m still drawn to both styles, and I’m enjoying the process of blending the different looks together. Plus most of what we had before still works here. I’m not chucking it all and starting over! I’m a big believer in making furniture work for you as your life and tastes change. I mean, that’s what my Making it Yours series is all about.

I’m curious. Have you noticed a similar shift in the way you approach your home? Is it because you moved and the space is better suited to different things, or do you think it’s a natural reflection of growing older, or a response to changing trends?

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