 |
| Interior design by Amy Azzarito |
I love the look because it quickly becomes unique to the homeowner, even though certain staples have become expected. Vintage and antique items usually insure a one-of-a-kind experience. Having little money results in making something special out of the ordinary.
 |
| Antique plaster mold and a used industrial cart mow used as a bar cart are classic elements of this style |
Though it seems this type of decorating is the favored by younger decorators, probably because this is a time of life when money is scarce as careers and families are being built. But I think everyone of every age has embraced this style of home decorating. Also, the notion of recycling and up-cycling has become a part of every one's consciousness. It's no longer radical or only the realm of special interest groups to "go green". All age groups are aware that every little bit helps when it comes to saving the planet.
 |
| Ikea bookshelf hack - Amy credits blogger and designer Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook as the inspiration |
I was watching (again) the Woody Allen movie "Midnight In Paris", and I always smile when Owen Wilson's character is explaining the novel he is writing to "Ernest Hemingway". He tells Hemingway that the setting of his book is in a nostalgia shop, and the Hemingway of the 1920's did not know what that was.
 |
| Charts as art - It's no longer quirky, but it's still cool |
The notion of nostalgia started to take hold in the 1970's when people started to discover affordable (i.e. cheap) vintage items (including clothing) were widely available and "cool". Tiffany lamps, Art Deco, Victorian, and then Mid Century Modern (and now things from the 1970's to 1990's) all became things incorporated into people's homes, even if these items were not passed down through ones family. Ralph Lauren built an empire on creating posh nostalgia lifestyle for sale to the masses (that would you and me).
 |
| Flea market and junk shop vintage furniture is so much a part of this look |
So though the idea of using vintage furnishings and accessories is not new, every new crop of decorators seems to find a heretofore cache of previously unused stuff. I would say that scientific charts and taxidermy and "curiosities" are the newest in the lexicon. But even they are now mainstream, reproduced for sale on catalog web sites. It's no longer quirky to hang up an anatomy chart, map, or specimen chart as an affordable and interesting way to add "art" to a home.
 |
| How many of you have a chair like this? I do!!!! |
I chose this group of photos from an article in The New York Times (written by Penelope Green, photos by Bruce Buck) about the home of Amy Azzarito. Amy is interesting because her roots are in blogging. I think her formation of style is unique to that experience.
 |
| Painting a room black or gray has become a classic choice |
 |
| Who doesn't have (or want to have) a black bathroom or kitchen? Or at least an accent wall or a door? |
If you read blogs, I am sure you too have been inspired and influenced and supported by the community that has come together over the love of decorating, design, and home keeping. I love to see what all of you are doing and saying. And I love to see your creative processes and successes, like the one Amy Azzarito has organically accomplished.
 | |
| Quirky has become classic |
 |
| Ingenuity and creativity are the mothers of invention - Can't break out a wall to hard wire a cord? Just wrap it in pink duct tape! DIY is major component of this style |
Amy has a book out that I want to pick up, called "Past & Present: 24 Favorite Moments in Decorative Arts History and 24 Modern DIY Projects Inspired by Them".
From the blurb:
"From the Palladian columns of our government buildings to Victorian-style taxidermy and terrariums, highlights from past decorative eras frequently resurface in our modern lives. In Past & Present, Design*Sponge managing editor Amy Azzarito presents 24 pairs of essays and craft projects that explore the connection between decorative arts history and present-day design trends. From a Wedgwood-inspired headboard made using molding from the hardware store to an art nouveau– style tree-branch chandelier, the projects celebrate their roots yet fit perfectly into our contemporary living spaces."
 |
| Wedgwood-inspired headboard made using molding from the hardware store |
Try these elements of Amy's accessible user friendly style:
- Vintage and antique items
- Whimsy and quirky
- Flat pack furniture
- Blog resources
- DIY
Amy's book has delightful and thoughtful essays and history lessons about many antique and vintage styles. It gives objects a back story that will make your experience in using them richer. She also has a lot of cool DIY projects with instructions in the book.
 |
| Amy has an essay about obelisks in her book |
 |
| Amy Azzarito covers a timeline of decor history, including Gustavian - I love this mod twist on it |
Hover over any image to Pin it.
Please add my NEW address to your blog list:
http://thevisualvamp.blogspot.comAnd please become a Follower again (or for the first time) on this newer VV blog
As I clear out my deceased elderly parents' possessions, I'm struck with really how "spare" these Depression-era-born loved ones lived...their physical surroundings...in their modest possessions & conservative decor. I think they seldom bought anything with beauty in mind; instead, practicality, wearability, blendability (neutrals). They were focused on the endurance of a thing because they grew up in times when any item was analyzed to "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." It's sad because both of my parents were artistic despite what their home "said" about them. When I was a kid, I seldom recall anything being bought and, wow, if we DID add anything new to the house, it was One Big Deal. My parents lived in their house for nearly sixty years and it was clean, orderly; with scratches deftly hidden with furniture marking pens, fabrics carefully darned, etc. I wonder how many times they denied themselves buying say, on impulse, something that really spoke to them and which they loved. I'm a baby boomer and I was much more self-indulgent. I go for flash, bling, color; sensory overload. I'm not saying that with puffed-up pride...I've been conversely an OVER-consumer to my financial detriment, feeding my "I HAVE to have that!...but somehow I do remain glad that I was in some ways the luckier generation who was allowed spontaneity and possibility. I didn't have those formative years as they'd had as kids...full of restrictions...when it was pointless to say "I WANT," knowing they'd never GET. Stifled! In the 1920s-1930s (and then the sacrifices of war in the 1940s), pennies saved for a pretty fabric scrap were for school or work clothes, not to cover a pillow. But I look around their house and feel it's so drab; serviceable brown furniture, brown art, white walls. I think Boho to my mom translated to Hobo. Not lasting (and, in their life, it was important to have material things that would not have to be replaced too soon if ever). I do understand it, though; finally. Mother would occasionally pick up a lovely little saucer at a yard sale and she would do pops of color with beautifully-crocheted afghans she'd make (our blankies; served a purpose besides nice-to-look-at). Maybe the generation which succeeds me gets it right, with a perfect blend of function/comfort and beauty, vintage and new; somewhere in a "good" middle. ("Style," though, should be generationless, no?) But I'm glad I never could afford matchy-matchy. I'd envy it when a younger adult (friends with showroom houses seemed so "together" which made me feel hodgepodge)...whereas now I think it looks generic and emotionless. I didn't want "old stuff" when I was young, maybe because I grew up around a lot of it. It's good to come full circle and know you can surround yourself with family "heirloom" pieces, something new from Ikea and maybe something you pick up at a crafts fair or make yourself; secondhand items, too, from Goodwill, eBay et al. We do see everything decor/style-wise on the web, on TV home & garden shows, in books and in shelter magazines (as you'd mentioned), giving us so many fun ideas and "permission" to try new things even if on a budget (which most of us are). Freedom, variety...maybe in my parents' generation, there just wasn't too much to choose from, or else they were too busy trying to make a living and support a family to be re-thinking the bedroom furniture. "Trendy" was not part of the vocab: I'd want to dye fabrics and Mom was too afraid I was going to stain and wreck the washing machine drum. She didn't want to do anything "off" that would ruin the life of the equipment. Somewhere in there was a compromise!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great book. I'll add it to my wishlist. I've always been green....everything in my house is a hand me down....a thrifted find....a flea market find. A few things came from antique shops but they were always bargains. My parents always had family victorian stuff mixed in with their own furnishings. I grew up with things from all different eras. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and felt sorry for all my friend's whose houses were full of new stuff. It was all so bad...but I do have to say as a kid I loved those Saarinen tables and wished for one. I still wish I had one. My aunt had one with the chairs as her casual dining table off the kitchen. They also had the Eames leather lounger and a fabulous sofa covered in inch sized black and white houndstooth. The sofa was old and she had it covered in that. Her stuff would look great NOW!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, she got rid of the Saarinen chairs and her daughter in law painted the table and covered the top with slate...ruining it! The sofa was given away years ago and that lounger? I have no idea where it went to. So sad...cause it would all look so great in her house now but she thinks it's just old bad stuff.
Anyway...I've always mixed whatever I could find together and friends have asked me how I can have things I bought out of college still look wonderful. Because I always bought vintage! It never looks dated...you just mix it with new stuff or paint it.
Of course your own interiors always look so fresh and young. My own interior I would switch up more if I had the money to do so...but right now it's not possible. Still I'm always dragging home the good deal to add to the mix.
Love your blog...can't wait to see your new book in person.