Reminiscing

[Julie-Ann]

Hi Romantic French Cottage asked me to start this up as a separate thread about reminiscing

Quote:
Originally Posted by Julie-Ann http://www.decoratingforum.com.au/images/evid_blue/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.decoratingforum.com.au/showthread.php?p=2280#post2280)
I recently was looking at some photos of our house in the early 90's with the whole country floral look- OMG what was I thinking:eek:

Don't beat up on yourself JA. I always think it's amusing when I'm reading home decorating magazines, to find that what they were promoting 2 or 3 years ago as the "in thing" is now "out", and they're putting down the previous style and virtually sneering at it.

I think that it's probably best if we look on past styles with interest, & just see them as styles that existed at a certain historical period in time which identifies the time. Not everyone can afford to change their decor every few years just to be "in", and when they decide on a style, they probably don't think "This is a style that is typical 2010's and in 10 years' time I'll be wondering: What was I thinking?"

Let's just roll with the changes and enjoy them. ;)

I'm sure your country floral look was beautiful at the time. :D

Di
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Romantic French Cottage

[Julie-Ann]

Yes it was stunning for it's day and received lots of compliments.
Don't worry I was only joking. I love changing trends - they encourage people to redecorate and hire Interior Designers- a very good thing:D

My favourite look was our apartment in Belgium. My DH's company paid for us to have it decorated however we wanted. We were only 25, I thought I was in heaven and headed straight for the Laura Ashley shop.
I will see if I have some photos I can scan.

[Romantic French Cottage]

Aaah! Laura Ashley... I used to have the whole Laura Ashley cottage, co-ordinated wallpapers etc. in a previous house. Loved it. Can't wait to see your pics. :D

Di

[Julie-Ann]

I have looked through all the photos from then and nothing really shows the apartment at all. So I will try to describe it.
We lived in the old town of Antwerp. The building was a 3 story grand white building that was originally a Gin Distillery built before Australia was even discovered:D. There were 20+ apartments that all faced on to a central courtyard. We lived on the ground floor.
The apartment was a tiny 2 br/1bth & a teensy powder room with a blue & white floral toilet seat & matching basin.
The bedrooms and bathroom were on a mezzanine floor. Downstairs there were windows that overlooked the courtyard and 2 story high windows along a log wall on the other side that faced a street. All the windows had sheers & dark wood shutters on the inside. They were stunning.
The walls weren't perfect so we had to use wallpaper. I chose a cream with a fine burgundy stripe. We had our british racing green leather chesterfield sofa & 2 wing chairs. For the cushions and the dining chairs I used a wide striped material that was primarily green, cream & a bit of burgundy. Then there were splashes of burgundy fabrics on tablecloths etc. It was the late 80's and they were the popular colours.
Upstairs I bought a cherry wood sleigh bed, which I would love to have bought home. It was a tiny room so we kept it simple with ivory damask curtains and an ivory quilt.
It was pretty swish for two 25 year olds.

[Romantic French Cottage]

A very nice description - I almost feel like I was there. Sounds very classic, a style I liked myself before my cottage look.

Di