I don’t think you can really plan out exactly how you want to decorate your country house, I think it evolves the more time you spend there. I’ve never been one to be strictly contemporary; I find that could be cold, even stark and uninviting. Yet I have a contemporary end table in the library because it’s unique. It stands out with its three legged steel base and glass top, very striking, especially with a beautiful vase of flowers on it. I also don’t like everything to be old but I love the character of antiques, not necessarily very old antiques but if you look at the photograph of my living room you’ll see that what you’re looking at is Victorian, for the most part. The pastels are landscapes by a turn of the century artist whose name escapes me at the moment but he was pretty well known. The oval on the end is a Victorian watercolor. The couch is Victorian that I picked up at a great price from my friend Lee, who reminds me of the guy who owned the antique store in the novel, The Goldfinch. The chair is a modern wicker from Pier One, the masks are authentic African masks and the table is a nice distressed coffee table probably from the 70’s. Definitely eclectic but I really love it. We’ll be changing out the coffee table for one built by an artisan. This guy makes furniture from blue stone and white birch. His pieces are fabulous.
I like the eclectic feel, it’s country without being obvious, It’s old without being pretentious and it’s modern without being boring. We’ll be buying Jute rugs for the floor and upstairs we may just white wash. I never feel restricted at Chatter Creek; I’m not just one big splash of color. I’m a smorgasbord, a rainbow, a Jackson Pollack an Edward Hooper. I’m a little bit country but you can dress me up and take me to the Opera any old day. I’m just eclectic. If I see it and I like it and it speaks to me I’m going to take it home and give it room to breathe.
