Wow I had never heard of this...it is exactly how we do things as much as possible. Thank you for the link. C.

If only people could get it, and stop trying to turn their places into showrooms!

I think alot of us with old houses, are living this way already, we just didn't know there was a name for it!
Not ripping out what can be saved, re-using things for different purposes, and personally decorating for us - not what the "professionals" say is in.

:) they're also a darned good local band where I am -

there are two books that strongly influenced me as a young craft student -

one was 'a history of craft' which explores the schism between art and craft

and the other was 'the unknown craftsman' which explores craft in a culture where the two never parted company.

personally - I have come to really hate the term 'decorating' because it always seems to mean making a space into an installation piece, rather than referring to the accumulation of good people living in a good space, and filling it with things that make the space comfortable, useful, and 'homey'.

ahhhh yes...thanks for posting that link. Hopefully a windbag that hijacked another thread I responded to will see this also. We try to preserve as much as possible in our 1920's home so long as it's safe. Dings in woodwork and such is charcter in my opinion...not a reason to tear it all out and replace with brand spanking new wood...sheesh!!

donna I think that is a Nouveau riche and a man "thing" wanting things to be new. I did have a woman once comment to me (in an antique shop) that if she had anything that looked old she would throw it out. I couldn't help laughing considering where she was.
It is precisely the dings, dents etc. that help make an old house special. Goodness, I'm not nearly as old as my house and have a lot of dings and dents myself with no plans to have anything replaced...LOL

Yes! And think how much money people pay for "distressed" new furniture and cabinets in shops! We get it naturally in our old houses. Gotta love wabi-sabi too!

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful"

William Morris 1834-1896.

To me, Morris was saying the same thing.

Oh, I love this! Love that it has a name, and an honest-to-goodness explanation. Wabi-sabi is a concept (unbeknownst to me until now!) that has been swimming around in my head for a number of years now. And to be honest, I've struggled with it on occasion -- coming darn near to buying into the notion that my home and possessions "should" be pristine, new, sparkling. And, well, they're just not. (Neither am I. LOL!) I have tried to remind myself, while cleaning imperfect old wood floors, for instance, of women I've seen cleaning their homes in foreign countries where I've traveled -- where things are older and well-worn, but obviously much loved. In those places, I've always had such a strong inner acceptance of the imperfect, and to me, it's even been quite lovely. I've tried to hold onto the notion that the old and worn, yes - even the decaying - is beautiful in its own way.

Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm going to check out that book, to see if I can gain more insight.

It is precisely the dings, dents etc. that help make an old house special.

Within reason. Recycled flooring fetches top dollar, chipped porcelain appliances not so much.