I think that your house style is neutral enough to handle either a country or traditional or contemporary decor.

I do think that it would be odd to have a very contemporary house and walk in to shabby chic or country, I'm thinking any house that is very true to a certain architecture. I think it might be odd to have an old Victorian house with turrets etc. and walk in and see minimalist stark modern furniture.

I live in a modern-looking flat-roof house with lots of windows in the mid-East where almost everyone wants a center-hall colonial. The PO had modern furnishings, which I liked, but not to live with. I have very traditional furnishings and it looks fine. There are several of these houses in the neighborhood and so I've seen all sorts of interior interpretations. Mostly, they work. But caroleoh's point above is a good one.

I do think the style on the outside should play a role in defining the furnishings, etc. on the inside.

Do you have a photo?

We have become such a highly mobile society with people having to move so quickly and so frequently whether secondary to being a part of the military, promotions at work, outsourcing and making life changes, retirements, relocations due to family situations, that it is not feasible to change furniture with every move and in many cases, where moving is for economic reasons, new furniture is out of the question, so we find a house that fits our sitiation and we move our furniture in and tone down the "period" of the house by simplification of its original architecture with paint and decor and live happily ever after, another reason eclecticism and "the collected look" of furnishings has become so fabulous, in addition to being so aesthetically pleasing.

I have seen people move into very Spanish homes with Traditional American furniture and have seen people move into very California modern track housing with French Provincial and make it work very well. The grass is not always greener on the other fellow's septic tank but we can make ours more ecofriendly by making lemonade from lemons, with making the period style of the home work with our furnishings. After all, it is our family we are pleasing and family is what makes family, not the house the family lives in.

I know everyone hates my pragmatism as pragmatic is not aesthetic, but that's okay. We live and we learn and I am still learning.

Since you describe your house as "nothing special" architecturally, I think you are free to do whatever makes you happy.

Actually, I think that should be true in any case. There are Paris apartments in spectacular Belle Epoch buildings that are furnished with sleek modern Italian furniture, and there are stark modern buildings in London that are made elegant and personal with antiques and chandeliers...it's all a matter of taste, balance, proportion and (thank you, Elsie deWolfe) "suitability, suitability, suitability."

Think about the functions you need, the things you have, and what you love, and knock yourself out!

I think it can be really cool & interesting when a place is decorated in contrast to the period of the house. For example, I've seen historic row houses in Philly that were built in the 1700's decorated with very contemporary furnishings & art & these houses looked spectacular!

On these boards I've seen houses built in the 1980's decorated with very vintage art, antiques & furnishings, that just looked fabulous (Teacat's house is an example that comes to mind.) The element of surprise can bring a lot of interest to a space. Having said that, I've certainly enjoyed seeing period-accurate antiques & art in homes as well.

How sucessfully a look comes across has more to do with the homeowner's confidence than anything else. If you believe in what you're doing & love it, & if your decor choices reflect something about you & what you treasure, I believe it will work!

I think you can certainly decorate inside with whatever pleases you and not be tied down to late 70's decor. :)

I live in a Victorian Cottage and no way would I even consider having grandma's victorian furniture inside.

I have always wanted one of those big old pink spanish homes. But I am not crazy about the southwest look so I would decorate it in the way that "I" like.

I don't know if you have seen Aunt Jen's house on here. But I think she lives in a english tudor and she decorates her home totally in a southwest fashion, and it works and looks fabulous.

I think your house would look great in a Shabby chic country look. Which happens to be a favorite of mine and works in any home IMO.

Do you have a photo of your house?

.....Jane

"How sucessfully a look comes across has more to do with the homeowner's confidence than anything else. If you believe in what you're doing & love it, & if your decor choices reflect something about you & what you treasure, I believe it will work!"
Sintky-gardener said it just right! And Patricia43....what you said was awesome, very thought-provoking.... and so true about the 'mobile society'. I have moved several times due to job transfers.... and lived in a 1990's houses with the garage 'hanging-off-the- front' in Virginia to a 1960's Brady Bunch house in Michigan... and an old Victorian in Kentucky.... and my furniture fit every one... had to. Of course, I don't have a 'style' so to speak... or maybe eclectic..... with my hodgepodge of stuff.
leigh....decorate to suit yourself, I am sure it will be great.

Jane, thank you so much for your kind words! I do indeed live in a 1940 home with a Tudor-style exterior that at first glance may seem rather incongruous with the Mexican/southwest-themed interior. However, the house actually reflects both the neighborhood in which it was built, and the very heavy Latino influence of the area, so it just feels right. At least to me. :-)

I too think that you needn't be bound by exterior style. You should do what you love on the inside.

I say, yes, the interior of a house should definitely echo it's exterior feel, IF . . .
(1) we have an unlimited bank account to buy the perfect home in the style we like the most, and
(2) if we have unlimited choices of the houses available to buy in our desired area of choice, and
(3) if all the houses available for our choosing were perfect in their styles, layouts for our needs, had updated appliances in our favorite color, needed no work on our parts, had great backyards and were in great neighborhood with no crime and top-notch schools, and
(4) if we had deep, deep pockets so that we could throw out all our furniture and buy furniture that would work perfectly with our perfect new home.
(5) and, if we care more about impressing our neighbors and the design gods than creating the interiors that will make us happy.

But, since most of us are none of the above, we're not Cher or Donald Trump or the like, I say create the home YOU like regardless of the exterior.
I believe most of us are trying to live within our means. Most people today buy their home because it was the best they could get at the price they could afford to pay. Good schools and low crime areas mean more to most of us than the perfect style of house.

I guess my point is that it's YOUR home. You're not aiming for it to be on the cover of Architectual Digest, I'll bet. You/We just want a home that feels beautiful and comfortable to us. If that means a Shabby Chic or Asian or Country interior for a suburban ranch-stlye house, so be it. You and your family will be happy and comfy and, in the end, isn't that what really matters most?
Lynn

Not necessarily. People from all walks of life over time have lived in this or that style home, but they travel and bring back from their travels things from all over the world..thus..eclectic and old worlde styles have evolved from that.

ANY style house can be eclectic or old worlde..as they are both a mix of styles from everywhere..as are most traditional styles..

Imagine the victorian and the early west style in America..they were all a traditional mix from places all over the world..people were so excited to find the newest thing from say China, or Africa, or Europe..and bring it into their home..they didn't change everything in their home to reflect that style..no..they just added into the mix in their homes.

what a more personal style can you have then to bring into your home all of the things that you love.

picture a little house on the prairie..with the rustic homemade furnishings by pa..and then the beautiful china pattern that ma loved and pa saved for and brought home..and then maybe a gift by Manley of some oriental carved do dad bought for one of the girls..and grandma's french 4 poster bread brought over when they came across the ocean with it and brought lovingly on a wagon train.???

In these days we should have enough history behind us to not be affected by what is IN and what is STYLE or what other people think ..but be moved by our hearts and what we love..

I think some homes dictate it to a point. Those are the homes that definitively define a certain type of architecture. And even then only to a certain point.

One of my favorite interiors (the designers name has slipped my mind momentarily) did a NYC Victorian brownstone in the most amazing modern interior that actually showed off the bones of the Victorian style and elements like nothing that I've ever seen before.

My home is a traditional 4 sq. w/ Victorian ornamentation inside. My decorating is leaning heavily towards a rusticated French Country slant. Nothing that I would ever think pairs w/ spandrals and stained glass but so be it.

I think that you are lucky enough to have a house where you could pull off any decorating style and we can't wait to see what you do! Enjoy!

I agree that you should decorate the inside of your home to reflect your personal taste. However, I live in a log home, and I think it would just look very odd (and unexpected) to have a lot of fussy and frilly or overly modern things in my home. So I lean toward natural colors and materials, matte finishes, and an overall casual look. But my decorating "style" is all over the map! I love the clean lines and simplicity of both Asian and Shaker furniture. I love Native American colors and designs (with a preference for Northwest Native Americans). And then I like to mix things up with "themes" and a lot of whimsy, just for fun! While none of these interior styles are "defined" by the exterior appearance of my home, they feel right to me, because it's what I like.

I think it's great if it does, but it doesn't really matter. I live in an English Tudor Cottage and my decor is more British Colonial. Your interior should be whatever you like.

SG -- Thanks!!! Very nice thoughts! :) You made my day!!!

And everyone has made some wonderful comments .... and very very true statements ..... you simply have to Bloom Where You're Planted ..... but realize that each garden (or house in this case!) DOES present some limitations and challanges .....

I do admit that I have seen old homes in English decor magazines that have been stripped down and turned into minimalist abodes --- and that just irks me --- because I'm severely jealous that they can afford that lovely old home in the first place AND my stuff would look much better in there!!! LOL!! Yes -- I'm just teasing ...... sometimes! :)

People always seem surprised when they walk into my place .... but I don't know what kind of decor that they expected in a basic 80s suburban .....

I do admit to checking out OUR model amongst the other homes in our neighbourhood. One project in an open house of our exact model did help me to realize that the extra window in our master bedroom was a complete waste -- and could be turned into a door to the pool and patio area. I ran home and dragged my DH over there to "prove" that fact -- and we now have a similar door-and-screen-door in OUR master bedroom too! :) Sometimes it pays to be nosy! :)

Jan (always wondering what other homes look like inside -- and that why I love it here at GWHD)

I hope not or I'm up the creek! lol. I have/had a 1980's rectangle house and now it's L shaped due to the new room.

Some friends came by the other day to see the house and they stood in the entry way for what seemed like forever in total awe because it was NOT what they expected. And they didn't even notice the TV. lol.

I love going into people's homes and be completely surprised at their decorating and it never crosses my mind that it doesn't fit the style of the house on the outside.

I say do what you want with it!

I'm struggling right now with wanting to do a coastal, "beachy" style in my bedroom. But, being in the midwest, I can't do it. Is that strange? lol
Not that I feel I should decorate in banjos or cows. But, doesn't seem right.

I like your pragmatism Patricia43, and think you hit it right on the head. Like Lynne said too, there are criteria for choosing a home that are more important than the style of the house you love, and usually the house purchased is a compromise. Still, a person who loves Victorian probably wouldn't choose an ultra-modern flat top house filled with stainless steel and clean lines unless it was the only house for sale in the area they had chosen.

I don't think a lot of people would even notice that a style of house is Queen Anne and the furniture is French Country. It would take a big contrast for most people. With so many newer houses being a combination of many styles, anything works.

That said, I have a neighbor with a house built in the 1980's, hip roof, center front door flanked by two leaded glass bay windows. The house was bought for the size, acreage, and location. She is from El Paso, and remodeled the house to reflect that style. She raised the ceiling without raising the roof to have an open loft, added a wrought iron staircase with Mexican tile on the treds, put Mexican tile throughout the house, had the walls retextured to look like heavy adobe, and painted the walls in shades of ochre.

Her furniture is traditional for the most part, leaning toward southwest, but she does have a grand piano in front of one of the bay windows. I found it a bit shocking the first time I saw it finished, simply because style of the inside is so different from the outside, and yet her decor would go with either.

I have another friend who also lives in a modern house, raised panel inside, but she is from Florida, and painted every room a bright color, from lime green in the bathroom, yellow and blue in the kitchen, to orange in the living room. She tiled the living room and kitchen using bright colors. Her furniture and accessories are traditional with some antiques. It is a surprise when first seen by newcomers, but it makes it more like home to her and makes her happy.

The only reservation I have with both of these houses is that a lot of the changes they have made are permanent, or at least will cost a lot to change, and will affect resale. But neither plan to move any time soon and aren't concerned about resale, and they are happy with their homes.

The bottom line is, do what makes you happy since you are the one who has to live with it.

I thin kit doesnt' matter as long as you're decorating by the Magnaverde rule of decorating for the life you have, not the one you wish you had. A 70s split level that looks like Versailles inside would be odd to me--I'd wonder why the person just didn't buy a more traditional house.

If the house doesn't have the bones or the details to match up with your vision of British Stately Home, I think all the chintz and oil paintings of dogs and hunting prints aren't going to turn it into one.

I'm not much of a one for theme decor, anyway. Apartment Therapy's Boston site asked for Domino-inspired phrases that sum up reader's decorating styles. Mine is "Urban Farmhouse" but I ain't got no chickens.

Personally I don't think so.

I think the interior of a home should reflect the owners preferances and what makes them comfortable and happy.

Sometimes when the exterior and interior flow it is completely beautiful but like PP's mentioned having the contrary can be really beautiful too but at the end of the day it is what makes you happy to call your house your home.