Don’t know how to achieve a casual style?

5/18/2005 5:13:17 PM

Shabby Chic, Flea Market Fancy, or Aunt Agnes’Antiques?
All a casual Beginning!

When did Casual become chic?
Maybe it all started with the Country look, or maybe it started as an outcry for our vacation home dreams --- the cabin, a hunting lodge, or even grandma’s farm. It doesn’t really matter where or how it started, it is a dominant design style today with an increased de-emphasis on a formal lifestyle.

Furniture manufacturers started offering the slipcover look on sofas and chairs and the hunt began . . . for that special look that’s so inviting today! Believe us, it’s a “made-up style” that you can improve on as you go along requiring more creativity than cash!

Everything Old is New again. You can achieve a Casual Charm by looking for items that are eye-catching, possibly recycled, and definitely important in this scheme. This style is a one-of-a-kind and a works-in-progress, always being added to when the right item calls out! With an eye to your likes and needs start trusting your instincts for the tried and true. These suggestions may give you inspiration:

• Look for an old velvet or damask sofa to add history - see beauty in the worn!
• Grandmother’s rocker adds comfort.
• Slipcover your sofas for a more comfortable and inviting look.
• Collect mismatched chairs: ladder-back, Queen Ann, or Mission for a thrown-together devil-may-care statement or keep only the style consistent.
• Collect gold-gilded picture frames for old photos, adding wide mats.
• A worn patina finish speaks to love, not pedigree – aged is good!
• Layer rugs you love for a casual elegance.

Find new uses for old things: use an old sewing machine for a console table, a watering can to hold flowers, bejeweled lampshades to replace current shades, and you’ve scoured the garage sales for a collection of old eye-glasses. Displayed in a playful way, your “finds” will promote your laid-back attitude with a vintage style with history.

Proof positive is in looking at furniture manufacturers current styles and finishes. Mission and Arts and Crafts is hot! So are natural cherry wood and hand-rubbed finishes as opposed to a dark high-gloss. Old World and distressed finishes on new pieces pretend to be vintage so you’ll be right in style with your own treasures, refinished or not.

Some say it’s a waning trend while others claim it’s a personal look for a lifetime. We know it’s good because these items have withstood the test of time.

Have fun scouting out the antique stores, flea markets, and garage sales for special pieces that speak to your senses. Take the leap and mix them into your home for charm that can’t be found in brand new!