Showing posts with label trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trends. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2016

Every. single. day


If you are looking at blogs, magazines, Pinterest, and/or one of those others social media sites (that I pay no attention to) and it makes you feel bad about your home or somehow inadequate, you need to print this out and put it somewhere where you see it...

 every. 

single. 

day.


While I visited quite a few blogs over the holidays, I noticed the same theme that I've been seeing over and over since I've been back and really, right before I left...

"Well, I know my home isn't like so and so's blog, but I like it."

I'm guilty of it too, in a way.

For example, on my Christmas post I wrote: 

"Nothing exciting, since it's what I do every year in some way or another."

Yes. Yes, I did

Why would I write that?

Because I figured that most people that read these little pieces of our life in Blogland or my fellow bloggers expect...

Something grand.

Something new.

Something exciting.

Well, grand, new, and exciting, I'm not.

I know this about myself and I'm very happy this way.

Extremely happy with my little home, in fact :)

 But, just like a lot of you I looked at all those shiny new blogs that didn't exist before (or maybe did, but I wouldn't recognize them from the old days to save my life) and I thought "Why in the world would anyone want to see the same old thing that I do all the time?"

I posted for Christmas anyway, walked away from the computer, and went on with my holiday.

Happily, when I checked in afterwards, I was thrilled to see your wonderful comments about the fact that I have so many things that mean something to me.

Thank you so much for that :)

What I'm trying to say is that for Christmas or any other holiday, and in fact every single day, your home should be about what you love and you shouldn't have to apologize for it.

Ever.

 And neither should I.

And just like I suggested to all of you, I'm going to print out that little graphic and put it on my wall and look at it 

every.

single.

day.

I hope you do too :)


I'll be back soon with a holiday wrap-up, but for now I'll be answering comments back to all of you sweet friends that don't have blogs, and those sweet friends that do have blogs.

I'm so far behind!

Forgive me please.

Oh and I just have to say...

Hi to all my old RMS (HGTV's rate my space) friends that found me again!!

I missed you too and I'll be answering your emails ASAP :)

Love to all...

xo
rue




Wednesday, September 9, 2015

decorataholics anonymous


So I have some observations and also some questions that don't necessarily have a right or wrong answer.

Or any answer at all really.

 And just so you know, I'm writing this with complete honesty and without any snark intended. 

Or not much anyway.

I'm always a little snarky ;)



Anywho...

For those of you that have been around Blogland a long time, like I have...

Is it weird that this little world of ours has kind of turned into what I like to call "decorataholics anonymous"? 

To clarify, (as you old timers know) back in the old RMS days (HGTV's Rate My Space site for you newbies) and early blogging days, we were friends that just wanted to share our latest finds. We loved to add touches to our homes here and there, and of course we'd decorate for the holidays every year, and sometimes we'd have a big renovation we'd share.

We'd even share our joys and heartbreaks.

And although, there are quite a few of us that still do this, times have changed.

Side note:

Stick with me.

I'm not really trying to wax poetic about the old days.

I think I've done quite enough of that ;)



In the last few years, Blogland has turned up a whole other blogger that builds up a room, tears it down and then builds it up again, yearly. 

I mean, I can understand changing a paint color after a certain amount of time, or updating a room when you're sick of it, or changing out pieces of furniture or nicknacks all the time. 

After all we are bloggers ;)

 But gutting something like a kitchen, down to the studs, that they supposedly loved after it was redone only to start all over again?

In a year?? 

It just doesn't make any sense to me.

It used to be, in the dark ages, unless you redid your home yourself, that you would hire a professional designer that would come in and decorate your home for profit. 

Either way, it lasted for at least five years and sometimes a whole lot longer.

Sometimes, horror of horror, for 20 years or even 30!

Gasp!



Now, with blogs, everyone is a decorator and they seem to be redoing their own homes over and over again, instead of others peoples homes (for the most part), and vying for advertisers or a spot in a magazine.

We (as in bloggers in general, not me) have actually almost replaced the magazine and turned into something else entirely and the advertisers know it.

"Everyone" is an expert and the more popular bloggers are, the more people listen, and all their homes are either starting to look the same or they're trying to one up each other to start a new trend.

Don't you think that's odd?



Of course, I really have nothing to say about it. I'm not a decorator and I don't have a decorating blog per se, I'm just in the middle of an extremely slow renovation. 

Heck, to be totally honest, I'm just a girl that loves her old house and likes to share it in the hopes that my love of old homes will rub off on at least a few people and they'll be encouraged to save some poor old dilapidated house, and that they'll understand how important it is.

Well, that and I love visiting with all my sweet friends in Blogland. 

That probably won't speak to me after this.

Ahem.

Love you!



 But once my rooms are done, they're pretty much done with the exception of, for example, a new lamp or a new chair, but only because I want to make the one I have work, until I have the right thing. But you won't see me pulling out all the kitchen cabinets in my home only to keep redoing it incessantly.

Pffft.... these 1930s cabinets are here to stay! ;)

For all the love that people profess of reuse and recycle, we certainly seem to be a throwaway group.



Anywho...

I've also noticed that a lot of the bloggers that I loved finally gave up when the competition became too much. Or at least that's the gist I've gotten from some emails I've received from old friends. 

Competition.

God knows I'm not here for that.

LOL



And for those of you that are somewhat new to blogging, 

Does all of this seem odd to you as well? 

I know quite a few of you have made apologies for not being as wonderful as you think you should be. 

I think that's sad.

Blogland is or was supposed to be a place where you can share what you want no matter what.

A place to be yourself and not a copy of someone else.

Perhaps even an inspiration to others that share the same loves that you do.

As I've said before, it's your home to do with it as you want. 

There is no competition for a place called home. 

Unless I guess it's only there to make money. 

That's up to you.

No judging here.

If not, just enjoy yourselves.

Please.

There's a lot of us that just want to share and be heard and make friends.

If the advertisers come that's great.

Nothing wrong with making a little extra change ;)

If not though, it doesn't mean that you don't have someone out there that loves your stye and loves what you do.

We're all individuals and we all like different things and there's always someone out there that shares that love.

Even if the majority doesn't.

It's YOUR home.

Love it.

No matter what.


xo
rue


PS

Before everyone gets in a snit and tears anyone down, let me just say that there's nothing wrong with redoing your home over and over, if that's what you're into. This is just an observation of mine that I don't understand.

Please be nice :)


PPS

All wildflowers in this post are courtesy of my backyard :)

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

"Trendy"


Trendy is something I'm not.

For those of you that know me, this isn't a surprise.

Or at least I wouldn't think it is ;)


I know the "vintage look" is "trendy", but most of what I see either isn't really vintage, or if it is, it's used for decoration.

And that's fine.

Really.

Not everyone is crazy enough to actually live the way I do and use old things the way they were meant to be used.

In fact, I sometimes wonder what all of you think about this life I live, but I probably don't really want to know after all.

Sometimes it's best not to know ;)

But when I say that I live a vintage life, I really live a vintage life.

I don't just decorate my home to look like it.

I use things like that fan above from the 1930s to help cool off different rooms of my house.

It's not just sitting there to be cute.

Although, I think it is :)

I really wear an apron when I cook and I use that old timer with salt and pepper shakers you see below to the right.


Yes, my stove is newer, but I can't seem to find a 1930s or 40s one that doesn't need work in my price range.

Plus, no one here seems to know how to fix them up.

Do I care?

Not really.

My stove works just fine and it's really more of a want than a need.

But I digress....

I really do drink iced-tea (mostly sometimes cocktails) out of Ball jars, on my front porch, while sitting on my old patio set.


And I really use my jadeite coffee container and my 1940s percolator.


 And so many other things that you've seen on my posts.

Do I buy new things?

Yes, I do have some newer things, like this key holder that I found on Etsy...


And yes, I've been known to use Amazon to get things like the stand-up air conditioner that's sitting beside me in my office.

Have I mentioned I don't have central air?

I'm pretty sure I did.

So sue me, but I'm not crazy enough to live in 90 degrees during the summer without something besides a fan, vintage life or not ;)



But, I have never been in a HomeGoods or any of the many stores that everyone buys things from.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just not me.

I like things that were meant to last a lifetime and that I will love forever.

Things that were passed down to me, and things that someone once loved long ago that I never knew, but feel connected to because I have a piece of them in my home.

I really don't need trendy things bought on a whim to fill a space.

God knows, I already have enough stuff as it is.

Are some of those things cute?

Sure!

Have I been tempted?

Yup!

But, as I look around my home, I just don't see it fitting in.


So no, I'm not trendy in the least.

But that's my choice.

I choose to live and decorate this way, because I want to.

But if you're trendy, that's perfectly fine too.

In fact, more than fine.

It's your home and you should decorate the way you want to.

What's my point?

Well, I've noticed on a lot of blogs lately that people are worried about their homes being good enough to blog about and whether or not they're trendy enough or that they feel like they have to apologize for not being on trend. 

What in the world?!

Why should anyone apologize for loving their home and decorating it the way they want??

That's just about the silliest thing I've ever heard.

Seriously.



If you like decorating like I do and buying antiques and vintage things or if you buy everything at stores like Ikea or HomeGoods, awesome!

If you want to decorate in all white or live in a world of color, great!

If you have all white cabinets and marble counter tops or dark wood cabinets and granite counter tops and you love it, perfect!

You should be able to do whatever you want without apologizing for it.

It's YOUR home.

YOU live in it.

THEY don't.

If they don't like it, TOO BAD.

If YOU'RE happy, that's all that matters.

Stop apologizing and love your own style, no matter what it is.

Trendy or not.

I do and I'm pleased as peaches.



You should be too :)

xo
rue


Wednesday, January 14, 2015

The cozy blog


Today I spent some time looking up old blogs that I used to follow, so that I could re-add my favorites and I discovered something...


Blogging has changed! It was already in the process when I quit, but even more now.... 
a lot more! 



Quite a few of my old friends stopped blogging completely, like I did, which is sad, but as you well know, I can't really say anything.

I did it. 

I understand.


Some of the other blogs that I used to follow are now basically businesses. There are ads everywhere and they have over 50,000 followers or more. It's weird, because I remember when they had just a few hundred. Good for them! I'm glad to see people that I watched grow from a little place on the web to a major one. It's nice to know that they got what they wanted, but then again.... did they? I wonder, do they miss the connection they had with their readers?

I would.


Then there's the few blogs out there that haven't changed at all. Now those are the ones that make me feel all cozy. 
You know the ones... in fact, you'll find a few of them on my side bar ;)


Anyway, as I was catching up with one of my favorites, The Cottage Nest, written by Jen, I came across a post called 'The Good Old Days' and it really hit me... I missed logging on to see the coziness of my friend's personality coming through. I think it's a little sad that everything is so impersonal.
"Here's a chair that I redid"..... 
"Here's the kitchen that I redid".... 
"Here's this all white house"....

While we're on the subject, why is everything white? Is color against the law now? That trend started about 6 years ago (or more) and I was hoping it would be over by now. Not because it's not pretty sometimes, but because it's basically the same no matter what blog you click on. It's honestly like being on one long blog with different names. Now if that's who you really are, well then that's great! But don't fall into the latest trend just to get readers. That's never a good idea, trust me.

But I digress....


Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with all of what I just mentioned, except for the fact that there's really no story to any of it anymore and there isn't any personality. Which I think is sad, because your home, your life, your blog should be a reflection of YOU, not what the latest trend is, unless you're a professional interior decorator.



And that my friends is what this blog will be. 

I decided it today. 

Not that I could be anything but me ;)

I can't promise that you'll never see an ad on this blog or that you'll see every waking moment of my life, but what you WILL see is a reflection of ME. I don't care if I have zero readers or a hundred, that will never change.



I miss the 'cozy blog' and I plan on this being one. I hope you enjoy it, but mostly I'm hoping it will encourage people to be themselves again. 

Nothing is more important than being who you really are and following your dreams.


Dreams are important after all :)

rue

P.S. 
What do these pictures have to do with anything? Nothing at all, but I thought you might enjoy my little rant more if there was something cute or pretty to look at ;)