By Phyllis Van Doren, Senior Editor, San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles
Some of the most interesting and most livable interiors
are the result of a homeowner’s passion for gathering, collecting and repurposing their furnishings and accessories.
Rooms take on the form of a travel diary and become the story
of a person’s life. This usually results when someone likes to attend estate sales, go antiquing or heads for the nearest garage sale every weekend. It also can be the culmination of a
lifetime of travel. The lesson here is to live with your favorite things everyday. Make sure you put them where you can enjoy them.
Breaking the rules tips
Move things around in your house for variety. A different place to read or eat can freshen things up immensely.
Turn a favorite pottery piece or ceramic figure into a lamp. Add a custom shade and you have originality.
Use a vitrine (a glass topped case in a low table) as a coffee table. It’s the perfect place to display your collections of small things and a great conversation starter.
Personalize mail order buys with a different coat of paint.
Inexpensive materials like ticking make chic upholstery. Add a few tassels and it looks like Versailles.
Mix reproductions with antiques and the new with the old. Rules are meant to be broken. How it looks is your key.
Personal style