What is the primitive style of decorating?
The concept behind primitive decorating is intended to reflect days gone by. Old worn furniture with several coats of paint sometimes crackled in finish, quilts, tinware, basically anything that suits your taste can be used for primitive decorating.
A "mix matched" sort of theme of old and new things made to look old is really what primitive decorating is. Years ago, these things were not actually used for decorating, but it was how they lived. For the most part, a household with several children was not wealthy and often times everything they had was used for some needed purpose or another. Decorating was not considered. Families were merely surviving with what they had on hand. Textiles were purchased to make clothing, once the clothes had seen better days, they were then used in quilts to keep family members warm at night. Furniture pieces were usually handmade using hand tools and wood that they had actually cut down from the woods nearby. These furniture pieces were usually well made and passed through many generations. Most homes didn’t have electricity, so using oil lanterns for lighting were a necessity. Times have changed quite a bit since then, but it is nice to have things to remember our past heritage and think about what might have been.
Where can I find primitives?
Finding primitive things are just as much fun as using them to decorate with. Handmade items from local craft stores or the internet, flea market finds, and even new items can be mixed together to create your own personal style of primitive decorating.
There are no rules when you are decorating with primitives. You may have true primitive pieces of furniture that have been passed down from generations, or you may have something you picked up at the local flea market that you have made a new purpose for. Old dressers, shelves, cabinets or anything wood or metal can have many different uses in primitive home decorating. Many creative people are now using things newly purchased to reproduce things that were used years ago.
Think outside the box!
I like to find things that are not only primitive in style, but have a purpose as well. I have several old wooden ironing boards that I now use as sofa tables. I have draped an old cutter quilt, a pair of antique reading glasses, a few antique books and
an electric candle lamp placed on top for a perfect setting of primitives. I use old wooden ladders that I have leaned up against the wall to hang old quilts, dishtowels or my favorite decorating magazines from. In my home office I have used old bicycle baskets on the wall to organize my files with. A popular thing I have noticed in our area is the windowsill lamp that is used in the windows with silicone bulbs to reflect the warm light of a candle burning. Simply put, when decorating with a primitive style you can do what you want, and use things that give you a sense of enjoyment.
© 2006 Toni Robinson, Counting Sheep Web Designs
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