Well ... I turned a little 1940 traditionally-styled Tudor cottage into a Mexican fiesta inside. Does that count?
;-D

I have a 1950s crafts-project robot made out of scrap wood & rusty bottlecaps sitting on my Victorain bamboo table in my very traditional living room. The metal bowl he's carrying holds my cell phone. There's a gigantic chunk of termite-eaten woood sitting next to a polished brass lamp on a Chippendale-style consoleand in my book/dressing room, in there with a lot of gilt-framed art & leather bound books is a 2-foot-across African basket full of rolled-up argyle socks. And hidden among a collection of marble & bronze souvenirs of somebody's mid-Victorian grand tours through Europe is a plastic T-Rex--spray-painted bronze--snapping at a 192Os bronze trophy of a flapper preparing to take a dive.

All rooms--all houses--need things to leaven the seriousness of grown-up decor. M.

My favorite is our "moose head". Last year we endured a substantial renovation project that included a big kitchen/family room/mudroom. We ended up with a semi-cathedral ceiling in the center of it all, and wondered what to do on the wall up there. My husband jokingly said we needed a moose head (we are not hunters, would never be, and we don't live in the sort of house where you'd expect to see a moose head hanging on the wall). Didn't think much of his comment until I stumbled on this guy on Ebay for about $20...

He's made out of papier mache. We "dress him" for seasons/holidays. During Dec/Jan, he wears a tacky garland. Now he's in his spring gear. We've tried unsuccessfully to park a Red Sox hat on his head...

I also like my mudroom closet door knobs:
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Almost everyone that comes into our home comments on the accessories. I seem to have a knack for collecting uncommon things.

My favorite fairly recent addition is a zinc horse head from France. They are still used today above boucherie chevaline or the horse butcher shops. I had horses growing up and now live in a horse community so it's fitting.

I agree with everyone that a house (or apartment, etc.) shouldn't take itself too seriously. And, although I consider myself to be an imaginative and creative person, I really don't think I have anything unexpected in my little river house. However, newcomers do say, "Wow!" when they see the zebra area rug in front of the ebony fireplace, which is on a red focal wall. I think I need some inspiration, you guys!

I turned an Ikea floor lamp into a chandelier, over my Shaker dining table and chairs. As we live in a loft, which is basically one big room, I needed something bold to stand out.

Well, we're saving up to buy this, but DH and I really want something whimsical hanging in our family room, which has painted paneling and a bit of a "den" feeling to it. Since we're not hunters, we would love a Dr. Seuss "taxidermy" scuplture:

I have a French antique tin scupper box (part of a decorative rain collection system from old buildings)hanging on the wall in my dining room. No one ever knows what it is!

Ideefixe does what I do....add contemporary lighting to a basically traditional decorating scheme.

Slightly outrageous art can do the trick.

Or a color variation-on-a-theme like the bright orange Victorian Chintz Burleighware I bought from Garnet Hill a few years ago. Or the acid green velvet on the Victorian slipper chair I inherited from my grandmother.

Our home is Southwestern/Spanish Colonial and every room in it is decorated basically that way. One exception is DD's room, which has a young French feel to it. But, since she's a teenager, I don't consider that unexpected! On the other hand, my laundry room is in the middle of a major morph from the totally expected Southwestern to a Vintage (Michigan) Lakeside Cottage look featuring my Cottageware collection, old-looking cake stands, cool framed photos of my family taken at our summerhouse when I was a kid, etc. I'm even going to hang my vintage handkerchief collection from a clothesline strung across the ceiling. My poor DH isn't quite sure what to make of this latest reno . . . and I haven't shown him half the stuff yet ;^P

Well, I decorated using my 'Old, Dead Things' in one of the 1920's rooms of our 1890's Victorian, but then again, the Victorians were big on natural history collections so I guess it's not all that unexpected.
The cow skull a retired archaeologist gave me, some antlers, and some pics I took of places in the SW like The Very Large Array:

I love that horse head. Where can I get one?

Stolen idea but cherished nod to the whimsical: We added a little fairy door, almost a mirror-image to our front entry, right next to our door (set low enough for the fairies to reach).

dlm2000 ... Thank you for posting that! I didn't know what those were called.

A year ago, DH and I visited the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home outside Nashville, TN. We noticed a large tin box with a moon and stars attached to the gutter. (Actually, it had one on each side, but one was hard to see b/c of a tree.) We thought it was unusual and interesting. I even took a photo of it. After we toured the house, we went through the museum. One of the exhibits was a series of photos showing the house in disrepair before it was donated to the state. In one photo we noticed that same decorative box hanging in the dining room. We asked one of the museum guides about it, but I think he thought we were nuts.

Now I can tell DH that it is a scupper box!

Nin

Hmm. Well, our storm door looks atrocious, entry door pretty sad as well . . .so people say, "Oh, it's so cute in here!" as though they are surprised.

Fun thread!

Robynpa "I love that horse head. Where can I get one?

Thanks. I an ad in the back of a Veranda or Southern Accents magazine and called the antique store in Atlanta. They still had it, but I decided they could keep it and I could keep my 6K.

One day, I started searching "boucherie chevaline" on the internet and lucked up on this one - only a few small holes and in excellent condition - at an antique store in San Francisco. I emailed them a few questions about the condition before purchasing. Don't fall in love too hard, they are not cheap.

We have oil paintings by my DD on most of our walls. We have an eclectic style going on, cottagey comfy with a mix of antiques, thrift shop treasures, family heirlooms, traditional I suppose. Her paintings are fairly contemporary so they do contrast with the style of the rooms. Right now,the one with the paint brush is over the sofa and is quite large, the wedding dress, also huge is on the side of the french doors. The shoes are much smaller canvases and are on opposite walls and there is actually a third in the series but I can't find the pic. I would like to reframe the 3 shoe paintings and hang over the sofa. I will be asking for advice on the best placement for them soon.There are more I didn't include. And yes, we are running out of wall space, we won't let sell any of them! Sue

Almost everybody comments about my "Jeannie bottles" - two of them sitting on the mantle. While I don't believe I have any pictures of them sitting on the mantle - there's a set of photos linked below that show one bottle in process....DD #2 (my artist) painted them for me!

DonnaR/CA

Here is a link that might be useful: Donna's Jeannie bottle project

Most people who come to our house think 5 cats are fairly unusual, but here's some other stuff

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Last night, I had a quick moment to check in....wrote a long post addressing everyone that had replied....I don't know where it is!!

What wonderful pieces you all have in your homes!! The artwork by child is great. Horse head....I want a cow one like they had at old butcher shops. Love the lamp turned into a modern chandelier - AuntJens' mexican fiesta house:) - fairy door, would love to see a pic - skulls, mooseheads, decorative doorknobs - hee on the Dr. Suess taxidermy - T-rexes & robots I love argyle socks:) - I had to look up scupper box - cool.

I am getting wonderful ideas. In fact, I have a piece of "pop art" I may hang in my kitchen. Do light sabers in the umbrella stand count??

Smiles:)

Johnatemp - Here's a link to the site where I bought my fairy door. People are charmed when they see it. The UPS guy even promised to bring a miniature package next time for the fairies who live with us!

Have you ever heard about the Fairy Doors in Ann Arbor, Michigan? It's a delightful story of fairy doors "appearing" on the streets of Ann Arbor. Google urban fairies to read how it started and see the enchanting doors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fairy door styles

I've seen cow and pig heads online also. It just takes time to find a piece in decent shape at a not so outrageous price.

I have a shelf full of antique toys in my "formal" traditional LR, and a full fledged raccoon collection in the guest bath...I would guess that to be pretty unexpected :^)

Have been thinking about this some more. One of the "unusual" things about our house is that we eliminated the formal sitting room. Since our living room had the best location for a TV (no glare from any perspective), we use that as our family room, and the family room is sort of our library/computer room where we keep the computers, the WII, music, and all of our books. Oh, and our water turtle's tank.

In our old house, our powder room was decorated with faeries to go with a faerie painting my mom painted for me some years ago. We included leaf drawer pulls, a vine-shaped light ficture and dragonfly robe hook to add to the garden feel of the room.

sueb20 - I LOVE your moose! Many years ago, I saw a huge mounted paper mache cow head in a junk store in Ohio. It could have been a twin to yours - it was bigger, but with the same goofy expression. The shop owner said it was a prop from a high school or college play. Man, I wanted it so bad, but my dh thought I was crazy. (Would have been a pain to get home with us too - it was huge and we lived out of state). But seeing yours, I wish I would have bought it. (It was $250 too - so you got quite a deal there!)

As you know, my house is very traditional except for the following pieces of art work that I have previously posted :

My husbands brother died unexpectedly and we inherited some of his more contemporary and quirky art. These two pieces we loved!

In Master bedroom entrance (and seen from living room)
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In laundry room

After a house fire, DH and I had to replace most of our artwork that didn't survive the fire. One piece that caught our eye was this pair of dancers. We put it in our children's TV room.

Fun stuff.

Sueb: where did you get your doorknobs. Very nice.

winder, my doorknobs came from Anthropologie. They're not regular door knobs, just really oversized cabinet-type knobs.

This craigslist ad has a suggestion of something different for you.

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Here is a link that might be useful: craigslist ad

Right now, I really don't have anything too whimsical. I found a perfect place to put a large, metal dragon sculpture for people to discover as they are hiking around our place. There is a great spot enclosed by trees where I could have the dragon resting.

Of course, if I could ever swing it, I would purchase the linked clock below. Of course, I would have a hard time deciding whether or not to place it as the first thing you see walking in the door or behind the door so that it jumps out at you once the door is closed. I admit, I absolutely love it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Whimsical grandfather clock

Nothing, really. I decorate only for comfort and symmetry, and don't really think about making a statement (whimsical or otherwise). I'm kind of boring that way. If anything is unexpected, it's probably the traditionalism of my taste. I'm pretty non-traditional in a lot of ways, and I think people are sometimes surprised by my house when they see it for the first time.

Oh, that clock is a hoot! LOVE it! :-D

I want the clock....that is wonderful!!! Thanks for posting!

Love the clock!!

I generally refer to my personal style as eclectic traditional country, LOL, so our home is full of little unexpected things.

One of our most treasured possesions is our cuckoo clock. Dh brought it back from Germany (in an era I refer to as "pre-me", LOL), and it has enjoyed a prominent place in all of our homes. I've lived with that little cuckoo bird for so long I don't even hear it anymore, but guests are often surprised when they hear it for the first time. Given that it features, along with the bird, a trio of dancing girls and two men drinking beer, I doubt it is to everyone's taste. But I wouldn't part with it for the world.

Carrie

cheerios, dust bunnies, and the occasional bit of banana :)

I just clicked on the link to view other works by the clock artist. I love the rest of his stuff too! Kooky and utterly cool!

Here is a link that might be useful: Other weirdness ...

a 1600.00 tile job..LOL!

The clock is definitely on my wish list for someday. Dh is not at all impressed but he will either be overruled or won over. I have plenty of time to work on him.

Auntjen, there are many other wonderful painted pieces of furniture on that website with colors very similar to those found in your home. Granted, none of it is cheap but I still enjoy looking.