natal, I equate my collection of black pants, your white shirts, to the same built-in radar that seems to make us gravitate towards the next item for the
collection, it's like it calls us......... I've seen my collector friends make a bee line for the item they collect, always on the lookout, that's the fun of it , I guess.

oakley, I think it stops really meaning something at one point, except for the fact that a person wants to own another doll, china dog, etc.... unless you collect something rare or not widely available, the search and the victory of finding it is as much fun as the actual owning it.

is there a point when a collector will say "ok, my collection is complete, I'm done" ?

Uh-Oh. Went to an antique mall today, and came home with this. Does this qualify as "old lady" decorating? If so, I don't care! I love the lines of it. Please try to imagine a different fabric on it...LOL.

Sorry...forgot the picture!

is there a point when a collector will say "ok, my collection is complete, I'm done" ?
YES YES YES and then just one more smiles at me at a yard sale or?? and begs me to take it home.

OK this is for SURE an old lady thing.

And the promised doily picture. Vintage gravy boat too.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/50185661@N03/5048089389/in/photostream/

Here is a link that might be useful: TP Holder any one???

oh Pammy I love that chair! It reminds me of one I had to leave behind on a move (couldn't fit it in my car.) It looks like it's in great shape!

mitch, I have a lot of collections (used to say that I collected collections) and what I find has happened with me is that I get more picky about what I'll buy and start to clean out some of the less desirable. For example, I collect figurines that have a character reading or writing. At first (much younger) I bought any I could find which included Precious Moments, Boyds Bears and a host of other "old lady" types. Now I am selling those off as I focus on either unusual ones, like bronze lamp bases or ones that make me giggle, like cartoon characters.

I don't buy every one I see but I'm always thinking about the collection when I go looking.

I have the same chair mine is not so nice as yours. In fact last year I got tired of the old=16 year old upholstery I had it done in and I painted it!!! Turned out great and I love that it can now easily be cleaned.

I got this at an auction for 7.50 about 20 years ago. Recovered it then painted last year when it was looking really grungy. YES paint as in latex wall paint.

Here is a link that might be useful: Old Chair

Susan, meant to comment on your library. What a bright, cheerful room! Love the ceiling! I understand that's a previous owner's decorating, but it's easy to see it's a gorgeous room even with all that stuff.

Newdawn, I'll take Grandmaw Chic. My grandmother had really good taste and no money. Whenever I paint anything my mother tells me I'm just like her (grandma). What a compliment. (When she's mad at me she says I'm like my father, which is never true.)

Pal, those rooms are calm and inviting, not suffocating or sad like "old lady" can look. I'd like to carry off a table lamp like the one on the left in the Eagle mirror room. Noted: she has it on a fairly low table so it becomes the same height as the ones flanking the fireplace.

Susanwrites, that room belonged to one Fearless Old Lady. No shrinking violet would have the nerve or the energy to do up such a strong statement wall. I like it. It must have taken a long time to prep for red paint.

Thanks, Natal. I love that ceiling too. I have the same ceiling in my office but, alas, the previous owners painted it white. Sigh. Both rooms are nice and bright though.

I do love looking at the same room both ways, theirs and ours.

Way far back in this thread frnmroberts posted pictures of her very comfortable-looking home. The thing that struck me is she has "niches." I think OLD (old lady decorating) includes lovingly decorated niches. And, by the way, when I think of my 89 year old MIL and her generation, those women pretty much lived for "sentimental" things they equated with love from family and friends. She has walls full of commemorative plates and little Waterford doo-dads that her kids knew would make her happy. Not the style of my house but perhaps it only shows how much I may have missed.

Ideefixe , I'm not sure what you read into my second post that caused you to think that it was a "thread killer". I admitted to being an old lady and was just trying to explain why things that mean something to me could be looked at as "old lady decor" by someone else. I'm sorry if I offended you in some way.

Just to throw something else out there on the subject. The Japanese are know for their beautiful, peaceful and emotive spaces. They have a simple sensibility based on nature. The style of the room in the link has very little in it but comes from the heart. Modern pieces or minimalist decor also moves and inspires many with its own intrinsic beauty and style, even if it means nothing to others. They're just different. Two people can love the same things but those same things will resonate in different ways or for different reasons, based on each person's experiences and memories. I also think each person's style, or pieces they like or love, collected or not, connect to the heart in some way, which is why they appeal to them.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Lovely, spring.

Sorry for the confusion Natal. Again I apologize. Foot-Mouth Disease today. lol.

Shades, I like the pink and white doily. I see any type of sewing, even knitting, as a work of art. Nobody does it anymore, or they're made by machines.

One reason I love doilys, runners (in all types of material), placemats is because of my love of textiles. For me, textiles besides a throw pillow and rug, adds so much to a room.

Especially table runners. They go from modern to vintage, in so many types of materials. I use quilted runners in the winter, lace in the spring/summer.

I sure wish Buffalo Check would come back in style! lol I love Buffalo Check or any type of checkered material.

froberts, I've always loved your house. If I'd make one change I'd add some doilys, runners or material placemats to some of the furniture. Hee. But I'm also serious! They "soften" a room I think. Plus you can get some to match your personal style so they won't scream "Oakly!" :)

Does O.L.D. have a connection to 1)growing up poor 2)growing up during the depression 3)having a parent who was a collector? My mother grew up poor during the depression. Her mother grew up poor. Things were used until they wore out or broke (even then they were kept just in case), and then passed down. My mom was much better off financially then her mom ever was, and I think because she never had much as a child, this new found financial status led her to collect! I never considered myself a collector, but my mom justified buying more stuff by starting a collection for other people! I have parted with two collections of vintage kitchen items (graniteware and cream/green enamel ware and depression kitchen utensils) that Mom collected then gave to me! I still have numerous antiques and green depression glass that again were from Mom. I hardly had to buy anything because of Mom's habit. So...that's my excuse for my Old Lady Decorating! I'm working on it though-the flowered wall paper is gone, and no more carpet. Still have some other wall paper to come down. Is paisley wall paper O.L.D.? I'm paranoid now.

I think that this all needs to be looked at in the context of the "old lady" generation. For my parents having a house with "things" --and with particular types of interiors, evokes a sense of security that they did not have growing up.

My parents were born before the great Depression. My father's father was college educated and worked throughout the Depression but only the equivalent of 6 months through the year, and much of that away from home. My dad remembers them losing a house to the bank, and for a few years they lived with my grandmother's parents or in short-term rentals until they scraped up enough cash to buy a run-down farm.

My mother's father was a physician, and her mother was an attorney. One would think they would be little affected by the Depression, but my grandmother had eight children in as many years, and my grandfather was a country doctor whose patients really could not afford to pay him, and he was too embarrassed to ask. My grandmother ended up working a loom on the night shift in a hosiery factory. Eventually he got a salaried job as a Company Dr. but it meant a distant move.

When my father moved in to our house, he said he would never move again except into a coffin, and so far he is holding true to his word. My mother is in a nursing home and talks about going home every day. I laugh at the threads about shoes. My parents never left the bedroom without shoes on because they weren't allowed to wear their shoes all the time growing up. My mother loves carpeting and wallpaper because it is "better" than the bare floors she remembers. Collecting something or having some acquisitional power was important to them because they didn't grow up with anything extra. And buying good furniture or things and keeping it Forever also provides a sense of permanence.

Our generation, and the one after us has really benefited from their generation. We may laugh at some of their ways, and reject their desire for things but we grew up in a era where things became much more disposable--we've had a lot more, we just get rid of it more often.

Oakley, we moved into a 1970-vintage sub about 5 years ago. At a garage sale in the sub a decorator was selling the beigy-taupe buffalo check linen sliding patio door drapes that were in the house when she purchased it. Since all the homes were built around the same time I knew they would fit my room. Too OL for her even though she is older than me! I am using them. They seem pretty neutral but I am nonetheless having a problem putting the room together.

I am excited that the temperature has dropped and I can get out the afghans.

Oh, this looks like a good message thread... I can't wait to go back and read all the contributions.

But, first, I just had to immediately jump down to the message box to reply that I think my problem is just the opposite... I think I might decorate like a child!

Miss Mary

susanwrites, your transformation of the "old lady" space to a library is simply stunning and just wonderful. The books, the color of the walls, the painting over the fireplace, the furniture - it's all really special. I congratulate you on making this space both beautiful and livable, and for imbuing it with your personality - that's as far from an "old lady" room as you can possibly get.

Pampliset - you hit the nail on the head!

Our dining room furniture was my grandparents. We have 3 handmade doilies from my great-grandmother on the china cabinet. Our silverware was my grandparents, our fine china was my great-grandparents.

Our living room furniture was purchased on eBay and it
originally belonged to the seller's grandparents. It sits on a run that was made in approx. 1880.

Our guest bedroom furniture was DH's grandparents and it sits on my grandfather's office rug, circa 1910-1930. We did spring for new mattresses, though.

Our master BR furniture includes 2 'nightstands' that are A&C smoking/humidor tables, circa 1920.

Our house was built in 1919. Our dining room has 1919 wainscoting/paneling on the walls. We have 1919 plaster walls and 1919 white oak floors. All trim is also 1919 and was never painted. All built-ins that were originally installed in our home are still in place, still never painted. All original stained glass is still in place, although the leading was redone about 2 years ago. We purchased light fixtures at auction to replace the god-awful 1980s things that were hanging on the day we closed. The exterior brick is also....1919 but we have new tuckpointing! It's only 2 yrs old!

We still have the shadow of the first phone that was screwed into the dining room wainscoting by a previous owner many years ago - we're keeping the shadow as is. We have the shadows of the round wooden rods that held drapes within the doorframes going in/out of each room - they aren't going anywhere either.

I could go on but it's more of the same.

Do we qualify for decorating like an old lady?

patser your house sounds wonderful.Your things do sound old but more in a pristine rarely seen way. Although at first I was tempted to just state it all sounds a little "Dated". Joking of course.

susanwrites. Loving your transformation. Would like to cuddle up there with coffee and just soak in the knowledge.

LOL That doily is vintage but new to me. Yard sale this summer. So I just can not help myself. I just love them and have scads of them. Not all out at one time. I too enjoy textiles and used to weave. Loved it. I sold my loom a couple of years ago when I knew I was done weaving. BUT friend still has four looms I can go over and use. They are floor looms and too large to haul around. Well wait I think she still has my old four harness table loom too. Good for runners and place mats. Light small rugs.

I did crochet for years but my hands are too far gone now for that. :^((((

We had power out for a couple of hours so had dinner OUT. On the porch that is. Hehehehe Now this is an old stove for sure and so glad to have it always available. It is an old Griswold. Works perfect.

Chris

Here is a link that might be useful: Dinner Out.

Are tapestry sofas *little old lady* if so, egads!

I'll gladly be "old lady" in my decor preference as well. I've just been perusing 1930 framed artwork online and find myself magically drawn to all things that remind me of my grandparents. I've got their framed Robert Wood landscape hanging over our bedroom fireplace mantle - it hung over what they called the divan in their living room for years. (This isn't the exact print, but very similar. If this doesn't scream "old lady", I don't know what does ... but I love it.)

{{!gwi}}

Robert Wood is one of my favorite artists! No way is he old lady. I have a (very good quality canvas transfer) print in my bedroom -mountains, streams- that I adore.

Now, the room it's in can be old lady, the print quality old lady (too bright), the frame old lady, but the art itself? No.
Thomas Kinkade? Always, ducking...

I first have to say that this is the best web site ever!!! The info is so usefull and appreciated. I started reading this because I was just discussing this very topic with some friends. I am in my late 30's and I guess I have been decorating "Old Lady" since I was 23. I love doilies, vases, pictures etc. My mom is a huge quilter so I have about 2.5 quilts in every room except the bathroom and kitchen and even then in my old house she quilted my cafe curtains. I use a lot of wrought iron and different colors to updated it but I absolutley love vintage. I would love to see all of your homes they sound beautiful.

Wow, I have to admit, I didn't read every one of the posts, although I will later tonight. A lot of fun.

Old Lady Decorating to me goes beyond the sense of sight. Another sense comes into play. There is a certain....smell....that helps define it. And you all know what I'm talking about....that old lady smell.

... Yardley's Old English Lavender.

(as opposed to musty and stale)

....I think the "smell" is due to older folk not shampooing often enough. Probably difficult for many or they become forgetful. Whatever the age of the occupant, a home begins to feel old and stale if it's not freshened from time to time...decor wise, that is. Gotta move things around, change the sofa pillows, vignettes, etc. Add a touch of "now" to the rooms( only a touch!)

Each time I revisit this thread I think--our living rooms eventually, some sooner than others. After all, most of us will get tired of redoing again and again, and there are more vertical blinds covering glass doors out there than are mentioned here. :)

In any case, most people are going way too far back. Victoriana is time honored, and most of its owners respectably long dead. How about 1970s holdovers...in 10 years? Certainly older sculptured avocado with mid-century maple versions of colonial already. Remember those charming 'family-friendly' plastic fabrics in autumn colors and patterns?

Today smiles inspired me to a little search, which immediately turned up the link below to Apartment Therapy's Decor Time Machine article. The 'Ugly House' link's a hoot, but for those who haven't seen it already: only for those strong of ego or under 35. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Decor Time Machine

That is hilarious. The eighties, I remember some of those rooms well, and still have one of them. The one with all the wicker chairs, and beds?
Yes, I can see how some might be quite offended but they need to look anyway!

I do not believe you can classify any painting/print as old lady, while the one above does appear faded? it may well be old, but not old lady! would you call modern impressionist art childish, even though it often looks like it was done by a kid! LOL my home is filled with oils, from my now deceased father, and I treasure them all, this one was done in 1983, and is no way "old lady" art, his paintings are all different in style, or subjects..

I like four of the eleven rooms almost as they are, even though they are not my taste. Those four could have some minimal intervention and be current with regards to some well-known designers' styles.

I'm seeing many beautiful rooms! Like newdawn, maybe it's 'Granny chic'~~floral wallpaper, lots of Roses, everything pink and green, doilies, and possibly wicker furniture, yet I also think of this style as cottage-y. Maybe it's a house full of antique and vintage dark furniture, but maybe that can be seen as keeping with the character of the house. Or maybe it's using all the things you love and have been collecting for years, so could be called eclectic. Whatever it's 'definition', if it's a style that's 'calling your name', enjoy it, and don't give two hoots what others might say.

I've lived in what someone once referred to as a full-size 'dollhouse', and it was always referred to as cozy. That says it all! ;o)

I loved the room with wicker. Very comfy looking.
The last picture of the living room made me swoon.
I thought it was beautifully done and would thumb my nose at todays "correct empty rooms" to have that living room just as it is.
Yup, thats right, I would take it.
I think maybe I liked the golden oldies because they are so different from todays homes.
So many homes today look alike , from the granite to the unmade beds to the leather. I admire women of today who will march to their own drummer when it comes to decorating. I salute you.
That 80"s living room will be back in style one day.
"Old Lady Decor"= Musty, dusty, plastic flowers and lots of whatevers.

Uhoh, some big clues here to the granny phenomenon?

Being a young Old Lady myself, I of course also loved many of the Time Machine rooms and was a bit dismayed. Is the new home I'm trying to put together old and tired before I'm even half along?!

Whatever. I do know I found the Pottery Barn era crisply pleasant but way too straightjacketed (could it be morning stiffness that made all those rigid lines less appealing?) At least my daughter's decade of relentlessly neuter home and clothes is finally passing, thank heavens. She still wonders WHAT my problem is, though... :)

I like the first two rooms, but that last one with the pale green walls and crystal chandy is just divine.

I've been thinking more about my "style", like how to actually articulate the look that I like. I still can't put my finger on it, but I'd have to say a big dose of traditional with a smattering of kitch/retro, and a sprinkle of Old Lady.

franksmom, I agree. That room is divine.
I'm thinking you described my style as well.
I have seen so many styles come and go, from Early American
to Danish Modern to glass and plastic.
Traditional just keeps hanging in there. I love Traditioal
because you can dress it up or down and it works

Oceanna, I love your needlepoint settee and your red sofa. They are beauties! Your house is so personal and cozy.

I have more than a "sprinkling" of Old Lady decor...it's my style...I love it! However, the "time machine" curtains from the 80's remind me so much of the ones hanging in my bedroom which definitely were made in the 80's also. They have big cabbage roses all over them; top treatment on wood boards and panels.

I so want to replace them with straight falling, simple panels with no pattern or tone on tone pattern. Other projects have just taken priority. The room needs to be painted before new curtains go up, etc., but they need to go eventually! They are *too* Old Lady, even for me!

Btw, have a chaise lounge in matching cabbage rose fabric...how old lady is that? Moved it out of the bedroom & into my little computer room. At least that breaks all the roses up a bit, lol!

I guess to me "old lady" decorating is having everything cluttered with figurines, flowered wall paper, Prisilla curtains, artifical bouquets, and a dusty smell. Antiques mixed with contemporary/traditional things looks beautiful, IMHO.

I know I'm a tad late chiming in, but feel impelled to add my thoughts. I do totally understand the viewpoints that tend to paint OLD with negative brushstrokes. That being said, I find I am more and more bothered by comments, both on GW and in the outside world, that have a condescending air in reference to any decorating style that predates whatever the commenter considers "modern and up-to-date." I would love to be a fly on the wall in their houses in 30 years and watch their expressions when a younger person sniffs at their "yucky so out-of-touch with Current Style" decor. To me there is nothing wrong with surrounding yourself with items and colors and patterns you love, whether they were acquired 50 years ago or yesterday. I personally like what I liked 40 years ago, plus things I have found along the path to today. I think it is important to keep my home uncluttered, clean and scented with flowers and fresh air (and definitely not oriented to electronic media!) But whether others consider my style awful because it isn't oiled bronze square light fixtures and whatever the current fashion in hard surfaces is, does not bother me one iota.

wiilloughbyinCT, thanks for stating my feelings and doing it so eloquently. I'm applauding you, but of course you can't here it. I for one would love to see your home. It sounds so warm, inviting and beautiful.

I feel sorry for anyone who is looking to buy a house with any years to it in 20 years because every one they enter will look just like the one they left. Yawn!!

I think it is important to keep my home uncluttered, clean and scented with flowers and fresh air

Then you don't have an old lady house.

Grandmaof3 described it pretty well: "having everything cluttered with figurines, flowered wall paper, Priscilla curtains, artificial bouquets, and a dusty smell."

I came across this picture. I find it an interesting mix of what one might consider old lady decorating, but in not old lady architecture.

{{!gwi}}

Hmmm, to me the only granny-ish look in the above room are the small print slipcovers on the club chairs. Oh, and the florals if they're fake. I like everything else. I'll take that view and those windows, too:>)

Jill, to me that's the perfect room! If it were not for stupid TV's I could arrange my LR that way! lol

Love the floral slipcovers. The furniture looks french country to me.

O, the floor is easy to keep clean. The tile is kind of marbled so it blends in with dirt. :) It hasn't stained at all.

Jill - I think in that room there is SO MUCH floral that it does make it a little "granny-ish". That and a few of the accessories. While there are many pieces in that room that I like, I do not care for it all together.

tina

Pretty sure the florals are real. That picture is from an architect's web site, so pretty sure the room is styled for the photo.

I cannot decide what I think of the room. I know that it is definitely not me. I do not like the fabric on the club chairs at all. I do like the fabric on the couches, but it's too much on 2 couches. I definitely do not like the needle point pillows, or at least not that many. I agree with Tina that it is just too much all together. But, even with all that, for some reason I am drawn to it. I think it's probably the windows and the view that I love and keep coming back to. I do know I would not want to compete with that view with so many fabrics.

I haven't been here in a long time, life got in the way of home decor. :) Nice to see this topic. I'm a semi-old lady, trying to downsize and get rid of dust catchers, so this is really timely for me.

The room above is truly awful to me. Taken seperately, some of the pieces are beautiful, if they were somewhere else. But when you've got a view like that, you don't compete with it! And you orient your furniture to take advantage of the view. Even with all the windows, I feel downright claustrophobic just looking at it!