Premier: Floral decor is "out"? Who told you that?? I see lots of floral designs in the latest fabrics, wallpapers, etc.

Thank you so very much for posting that, Amity. What wonderfully eloquent truths.

As for "socio-economic" class ... It matters not one whit. Money and formal education are not important in the overall scheme of what it truly means to be a human being. The only thing that truly matters is what you are on the inside, and how what you are builds up the lives of others. As Ann Landers so pointedly reminds us.

beachlily - thanks so much for posting about the light that orchids need to flower. I guess I have sufficient light because mine keep blooming without me doing anything. I will pay closer attention to the color of the leaves. I have 4 right now and all are in bloom. I have never been able to keep flowers blooming before - I killed every african violet that ever looked at me.
Sky

Les is very articulate. I think she said exactly what she meant and meant exactly what she said. Backtracking above, in response to your saying

"And the bigger issue is not whether they look real or not but that having silk flowers is looked down upon as pointed out by the OP and the tv program sky referenced.,

"Les said

'People with real class never look down on others.

As far as people with lots of real money only having real plants, no acrylic tubs, yadayadayada, or always wishing to spend their hard-earned money on such material things, that's just old hogwash. They surely do not, and those things are not always inexpensive and cheap looking. Surely some are so social 'class' conscious that they wouldn't be seen in an acrylic tub or with faux plants in their house, but I don't think it's a tell-tale sign (oh, puhlease!) of income level. Maybe moreso in previous generations. Today, the world is plastic. Besides, if you're trying to hunt down tell-tale signs of income level, it wouldn't be that hard or complicated.

Often people with lots of money are also very frugal and/or live below their means. Maybe the 'hunt' is about who is living above their means! Ha!

Moreover, who cares! The class-conscious! The battle of the classes is such a joke. I think maybe somewhere along the line, the polished upbringing and finishing school manners and etiquette associated with money, and having 'class,' in the past, has diverged.

A 'classy' room may take money, but a classy person need none.

Well said, squirrel!

And FWIW, a "classy" room doesn't always take money (I know you're not saying it does). It more often takes imagination, creativity, and ... the willingness to break some of those silly rules that uptight people put into place eons ago!
;-D

Thanks Amity, I had not seen that version. The one I had was a lot shorter, but still made the same points. When I was younger and mu friends and I would be joking around about someone who was pretentious or obnoxious, we'd say "yea, they have a lot of class......all low." Then we'd laugh like fools!!! Ah, to be young again. LOL

On this decorating and taste discussion I've come to realize I have great taste, but lack the talent sometimes to put it into action. Like in explaining my dream guest room. I can envision things to a point, then I'm blank!! Thank goodness I have y'all now or all my rooms in my new house would be partially decorated. HA! HA!

I'm sure the good taste, but lack of decorating experience is far and wide and encompasses the rich and the poor. In growing up we didn't have a lot, but we were always clean and neat. When we'd move into a dump the first thing my mom would do is scrub it down and paint it up. All of our houses looked nice, but were't "decorated." I don't remember ever having decorative items, just clean "everything." It's no wonder I grew up with no design style. LOL My mother was of the belief that "you could be poor, but that didn't mean you had to be dirty." So true.

Thank God for Christopher Lowelll who helped me lose the fear and go forward. With each baby step I learned I had good taste, just didn't know how to decorate. I always was a sharp dresser having a pair of shoes and matching purse for every outfit. Don't tell that to the kids of today because that concept is foreign to them.

That reminds me of my mom's other pet peeve, clean shoes. Don't ever go out of the house with dirty shoes. She always said the shoes make the person. HA! I have a sister who still to this day will judge a man by the condition of his shoes. Isn't that funny? I must admit when I see someone with dirty tennis or unpolished shoes it does make me uncomfortable. When I see people with filthy tennis shoes on I want to tell them "You know you can throw those in the washer with some bleach and soap powder and they'll be like brand new." One time I was at a doctor's appt. and she noticed my bright white tennis and says to me, I live you tennis, are they new? I told her no mame, they are old, I just wash them regularly. She was surprised. I really don't think people realize you can wash tennis shoes.

OK, I'm done talking about stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the original post. Forgive me, I ramble in my old age!!

Just using the term 'classy' room the way it's usually used -- rich and expensive looking, upscale, high-end. How we often hear the term 'very classy' looking around here. Expensive!

Oh, I know.
:-)

Hmmm, should I post a pic of my daily runaround 'shoes?' They get me where I'm going! Why waste the money :) That's funny, Brutuses, I remember seeing someone looking at my feet in seemingly just that way (when I was dressed up). I didn't think there was anything wrong with my shoes, although they weren't new or fancy. They were flats. And, you know what, he was short! Ha! That's what I turned it into :)

Then there was that nasty, snotty girl in class, judging people on their attire, in her bright white sneakers. What a piece of work she was. Surely, you're not like that!!

Squirrel, that's funny. No, I don't do that. I just want to tell them they can wash them because I think they are most probably just throwing them away after they get dirty enough and what a waste of money that is. You know me, always thinking of ways to not waste anything. HA!

There's nothing wrong with flats, that's all I can wear these days. However, are yours clean and polished? LOL

No, they were not polished, but yes, clean!

That's how my sneakers fall apart. I wear them in the garden, so they can get muddy, too. Washing them a few times makes them fall apart -- even the ones that weren't $7 from K-Mart! (Why pass a good deal like that ;) If the rich lady in town can do it (and she does :) so can I!

Good for you!! Nothing makes the rich angrier than finding out their cheeky secrets. HA! HA!

And you know what? Haven't been matching my socks recently, either! I do love it. What a rebel! (I'm feeling very anti-establishment these days ;)

Do you mean wearing two different color socks? Oh my you're giving me a heart attack. HA! HA!

Two colors. It started when the lighting was low in the morning. Said, hmmm. Oh yeah. Who needs matched socks. How ridiculous!

I'm definitely going to have to clean up my act when I try to help people with their houses ;)

premier:
"Floral decors are not considered stylish. Silk flowers, floral window treatments, bed spreads, floral wallpaper etc."

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Someone better tell the folks over at Traditional Home magazine, considering they did a feature on it in their April 2007 issue, and several of the other homes they featured in the same issue have floral wallpaper, window treatments, upholstery, blah blah blah. Designers charging big fat wads of money for it, too. (I don't normally read it, but a friend gave me a stack of various house magazines to peruse while recovering from the move.)

brutuses:
"I have a sister who still to this day will judge a man by the condition of his shoes. Isn't that funny?"

Someone told me that many years ago, so even when we were at our poorest (and we're talking hurtin' poor) I kept a pair of "special" shoes for DH to wear to job interviews and the like. Don't know if it did any good, or if it was always DH's innate salesmanship, but it's a neurosis. Even now I won't let him wear the really nice shoes the rest of the time because he is just SO hard on shoes, and the $200 shoes (obtained frugally for $50 on eBay LOL) don't last any better than the $25-at-Sears ones do, but I've gotta have that "special" pair in the closet for him.

Whether ya love 'em or hate 'em, I still think this is one amazing sight, and it's like this all over here:
New Mexico Cemetery

I have silks on my family grave. Putting live flowers to die in the hot sun would be cause for my poor mama to do a flip. LOL

Well, this redneck has this arrangement in a bathroom that has this wallpaper.

It was a gift from my classless husband because he saw the arrangement and realized it was the wallpaper I used and thought it was a good idea for my birthday. That skank. I must tell him how I deserved a real one although it would have never bloomed again.

That is gorgeous, Patricia! Magazine worthy.

"Fake flowers are #1 on HGTV's top 25 biggest decorating mistakes."

Since when is HGTV gospel? Most of their decorating is NOT what I would want. Silks can really add a lot to a room, if they're high quality and not overdone.

One of my favorite stores, Gumps, a high-end home decorating store based in San Francisco has lots of pretty faux floral. Gorgeous stuff, IMO. I doubt *most* people would "look down" on others who use these in their decor.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gumps

I wonder what class of person would like this? I know I do. Certainly NOT the price at $1299.00 with $155. handling

Here is a link that might be useful: Horchow orchid

Well, real is always wonderful and natural, but faux has come such a long way (so have those prices, BVE!). It's a great substitute for all the work and know-how of living plants.

And what's this? Why, of all things, it's floral fabrics. I guess Someone needs to tell these manufacturers that floral decor is pass One would think Brunschwig & Fils, Cowtan & Tout, and Manuel Canovas would know better.

Here is a link that might be useful: Floral Textiles

No to mention pets eating, puking (and dying) from plants!

When flowers go out, I'm checkin' out!

Well I appreciate all the new links for faux flowers because I've been searching (yes, actively searching) for some good ones. I'm trying to find some topiaries with blue flowers for my kids bathroom. If anyone spots one, let me know!

And just had to mention again, how expensive faux flowers are and why one earth someone (or a silly TV show) would think they are a decorating mistake. They were everywhere in all the million dollar open homes I toured.

Lindy

Lindy, I'm gonna keep living by this mantra: "HGTV can bite my butt!"

;-D

Or, "Don't believe what you see, on H-G-T-V !"

H Heinous
G [money] Grubbers
T Trolling [for]
V Victims

Oh, ok -- so that was a stretch! LOL!

Oh, Squirrel, that picture is from Horchow magazine. We have that wallpaper. It is the paper we got when we decided our blue paint in the bathroom with the blue pearl granite was just not right. I ordered the paper through BM, and I think it was Beauchamp but cannot remember. I had labored over finding something to set on the countertop and DH, seeing this picture in Horchow magazine, knew I would like it and unbeknownst to me (who would have balked at the price), got it for my birthday. He really does not like for me to complain about what he buys for my birthday, sometimes it is as little as a boar's bristle hairbrush I wanted and on one occasion, a diamond tennis bracelet, so he likes to surprise me and we have an agreement that I do not take it back or not like it. That agreement runs north and south, as I dont' want him to complain that I bought him A when he preferred B....blah, blah, blah.

Actually, he complained wildly about the wallpaper on the heels of paying someone to remove despised wallpaper and having the room painted, but he too,realized in the end, this wallpaper made the room look better, so I think he was patronizing me with the orchid.

Who died and made a televison station( HGTV) the arbitors of good taste?

Check out this floral wall:
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architects/100/annabelle_selldorf/selldorf_slideshow_042005?slide=4

Check out this slideshow:
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architects/100/alexa_hampton/hampton_slideshow_022000?slide=1

You can't tell me this is out of "style".

Just had to jump in here. Fascinating discussion.

Considering that they haven't had *any* good shows on HGTV in years, I don't take what they say at all. 98% of their shows are mindless, stupid fluff involving cheap and too-quick-to-be-quality makeovers. (With the exception of course, of Candice Olsen and an occasional Designer's Challenge.)

When they start coming up with quality programming that features tasteful, well done rooms, then I may start listening to them.

Just wanted to mention that there is a recent discussion at Apartment Therapy about whether floral pillows are a fashion faux pas.

One person wrote, "What do they do to you if you break a rule in the design rule book?"

Here is a link that might be useful: Floral pillows fashion faux pas?

Aw yes, just call me Ms. No-Class Tacky :-)

fake, fake, it's all fake

some more tacky

Ms. Tacky, you make some beautiful tacky flower arrangements. I should be so talented with my tackiness!! If yours are tacky, mine are pathetic. LO

I say we form a tacky club.......We can sit around fluffing our silk flowers and blowing the dust off our fake palms, scratching our feet and eating peanut clusters....who wants to join?

Les917 said it best and I second her. Many of us enjoy our flowers and greenery much longer than mother nature would have us do and I will continue to use and enjoy them. Now if I can just get me some clean up, dust fairies that work for FREE!!

May I join the tacky club? I'll bring a whole bunch of loose floral stems and supplies and we can construct some new tacky arrangments together!

I checked out the link above for architectural digest,its a really good site.I looked at a lot of the slide shows there.They have floral fabrics, floral wallpaper, and would you believe it over half of the pictures have fake flowers or plants!!! Dont those designers know that fake flowers are awful and passe. Fake flowers are tacky. I guess those designers had better start watching Hgtv.

"Quote >I have heard twice in the last few months (once on tv and once in a magazine) that silk greens, plants, trees are just awful. Are they really? I mean, I know they are yucky if they are all dusty and dirty, but what about good quailty, clean silks?
Ae they still being used, or are they passe?
Thank you for any input! "Quote>

If you really want to know the truthful answer to that question you will have to answer it for yourself. Do you like them if so then the answer is no they aren't awful or passe. If you don't then the answer is yes they are awful and passe.

Why are we the only ones who can answer that question? Simple because we are all different and have different taste. Its what keeps the world interesting. I may not like a style that someone else likes but that doesn't make it tacky, low class or unfashionable. It just makes it not my style.

This world is full of people who CHOOSE to live their life by the standards that someone (who is that person anyway lol) else has set as the right thing to do. There are many people who CHOOSE to live their life according to what they personally believe is in, fashionable or a decorating do. Either one you decide to follow is ok because you only get one life and so however you choose to live it is up to you. I'm not knocking either choice.

With that said if you choose to live life according to what that someone says is in, hot, instyle etc. just be prepared to change often. Because what is an absolute must do today will be an absolute must not do tomorrow. Ex: remember when having chipped furniture with peeling paint was considered poor, you can't afford new furniture well, now its shabby sheek or however you spell the word. LOL

Some people like keeping up with the latest styles others don't. I say do what is best for you if someone else doesn't like it understand that its ok because they don't have to anymore than you have to dislike it now because they don't.

As my girlfriend says " do you". Who sits around and makes the rules of whats in and whats not is a mystery. I wonder what that person has in their home. LOL What's passe, tacky, low class is up to you. It can be what whoever that someone says it is or what you say it is. Life is all about choices.

We can sit around fluffing our silk flowers and blowing the dust off our fake palms, scratching our feet and eating peanut clusters....who wants to join?

Right now all I have is a few sprigs of faux ivy in a brass bowl in my bedroom. (Donna Freeman had better stay out of my bedroom, but not only for that reason.)

But I would be delighted to join you in eating peanut clusters.

I'm in...fake flowers, mirrors, greenery, and all that tacky stuff.

{{gwi:1798649}}

Yipee - another member added to the Tacky Club :-)

I did a search on "silk plants" because I had heard they were a "no no" these days. This has been a very interesting topic and I've learned a few things. I still don't know if silk plants are OK or not, but I have come to the conclusion that if they make me FEEL GOOD.. then it's right for ME! Here is an arrangement that I made for the fall. Once I got it finished and displayed it felt so right and I felt like I was living in luxury!

{{gwi:1840392}}

(The ficus tree in the living room is a different story, but it fills up space in my rather large living room....)

Here is a link that might be useful: Karen's fake flowers

Karen, your arrangement is very nice. Enjoy it!

Please add me to the tacky list.

It's not tacky, IMHO and we cannot grow the flowers we want year-round but we can garner smiles from colorful corners and green niches where fool-the-eye plants rule the day.

www.ndi.com

Mustangs, where did you get that wonderful flower arrangement in the white, cream and ivory colors I am looking for my junior chest? I love it.

Real plants die in my home and do not last long so I finally caved in and bought a small urn with silk off-white and cream flowers and I love it on my double dresser. I know want more silk flowers in my home since I like the look as long as they are quality silks.

I much prefer silk flowers than dying flowers and moldy flowers and no flowers.