Do you follow the trends? Or avoid them?
joyjoyjoy
13 years ago
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kitchenaddict
13 years agokitchendetective
13 years agoRelated Discussions
Do you make plans and follow them?
Comments (17)Great thread. Haven't thought about how I am doing things of late, but now that you ask....I have always thought of myself as a planner to a fault, but once I found that implementing a plan became problematic for me, I adapted and find that I still am a planner but I am more open to changes than I used to be. I can identify with most of what everyone else has said. I absolutely do plan and wouldn't work without a plan. I do site evaluation, measurements, use graph paper to put down my ideas on paper. I research plant material, make tons of lists. But as I go along, things change. I am almost finished with a planned design in my yard. Much of my very first attempt to design it is what I ended up with. Probably because I try to design with function in mind first and foremost. The sunniest part of the yard has to have the plant material that needs it...under the trees has to be the shade garden, the patio needs to be closest to the doorway, etc. Some things I wanted to do ended up being too difficult to implement. Some things were surprise additions that have been last minute and fun. Also, the budget changes, your likes/dislikes especially in plant material change with new information, availability of what you need, etc. What is great though, is that I am happy with what I ended up with. Happy that my original ideas worked. It is very rewarding to see something you planned in your mind come to fruition and work the way you wanted it to. Happy that the changes that were made worked out great too. It isn't the showplace I envisioned in my mind. [g] But I realized early on that it wouldn't be because of many restraints. It is a huge improvement and it suits our needs. It is comfortable and neat and fairly easy to maintain and still working on colorful. What I have discovered is that I am trusting the process more. I make the plans but I I know they are not in concrete and instead of being frustrated with the changes, I am seeing them more as opportunities. The hardscape and overall design is something I prefer to work out on paper and I do try to stick to that unless there is an important reason to change it as you start to implement. Or if I get a brainstorm or better idea. I don't do as much pinpointing of plant material as much as I used to. I have had too many times had a very specific plan for what I wanted to grow where and get very invested in it and then can't find the materials. So instead I arm myself with the knowledge of what will grow where I need it and give myself a number of options, and start looking at what is available before I start planning the plant choices. I find that less frustrating. I think we can all identify with all that planning and hard work and the next thing you know, it is the deer, rabbits, chipmunks, winter moths, too much rain, too cold a winter...etc. etc. That is another reason that I am still planning and trying to take all these potential problems into account, but investing in my plans a lot less because you know the old saying...'the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.' [g] Oh, I love your wall too Laurie! :-)...See MoreWhen you collect Salvias, how do you avoid having...
Comments (11)Wow, great ideas! I like your combinations, Robin. And it's a great idea to have a lot of one type of Salvia to focus an area, Westelle. Also like repeating plants in the areas you can see. I guess my problem is that I have several collections and I am starting by growing one or 2 plants of each - to see if I like them. That adds up to a lot of "specimen" plants. One of the problems is that my beds in the back are mainly long perennial beds with no bones to speak of. The front yard looks better cause I had a plan for the bones & just added perennials where they'd fit. Actually that is the area of more steady temperatures. What a great explanation of micro climates, Rich. That is totally my problem. The back of the house faces south to southwest. Plants that look fine in the blazing sun one day will shrivel up & die the next. I need to be careful to shade them for a bit of time when they're new. I have most of my beds in full sun at the rear of my house & a long side border which gets afternoon shade from my neighbors at the top of the picture's pines. I am in the low area & I have a slope going up to my neighbors in the rear. Actually there are a couple of swales running across my yard dividing the slope. Those areas can be like a river during a storm and then dry out pretty well the rest of the time. The slope is facing the house thus northeast but is not very steep & with no trees to shade it, it is in full sun for most of the day. That's in the summer. In the winter there seems to be quite a bit more shade as the other neighbors also have pines. This picture is from Microsoft TerraServer - taken several years ago, before any of the beds in the rear were created. The top of the picture is north. It is set with each side being exactly North/South/East/West. The large thing in the rear is a swing set with maples shading it. One day that may be a screened pagoda(in my dreams). Currently there are beds along the houses rear & sides & one long bed by my neighbor's pines to the North (on the picture). The arrow shows the hill & the curved line shows the major swale. I had an idea to do a rock bed at the bottom of the swale where the yard is level. The area on the curve after the arrow. The yard is 2/3 of an acre & I already need help maintaining the beds that are there, so I've been concentrating on doing the beds I can see from inside the house. As I acquire more of my faves, there is the need to create more beds. I have a large Lespedeza thunbergi "Gibraltar out on the hill facing my deck. Ideally I would terrace the hill a bit. Instead, I have slowly planted into the hill. It is quite overwhelming. You can't see the trees we have put in, mainly on the borders to block the neighbors. I also like the idea of some water feature trickling down the hill, but it would require quite a lot of work to make it look like it was there when we arrived. The land was somewhat barren with no trees when we moved in because it was cornfields. I've been reluctant to have any trees near the house cause I love the way the light streams into the windows all day long & I love planting sun plants. It does get rather hot out there midday & the mosquitoes are like you've never seen(or maybe you have). It doesn't help that the swale water empties into a stream a few backyards away. In high mosquito season, it is so hot & buggy, I view the garden from indoors. Well enough of my dilemma, I need to figure out exactly how much time & money I want to spend on this backyard. I just don't want to do so much that it will take a team of people to maintain it. Just call me Muddling in Maryland. Rose...See MoreDo you listen to the gurus or follow trends?
Comments (57)I started nodding my head when I read Graywings' answer. Unless your house is done in something completely off-the-current-decorating-wall, most of you do also. When we check in here at Decorating, we either want help and will be getting (hopefully) some of the current ideas and colors and styles that others here are using, or we want to pop in and share our own ideas and photos and finds. Twenty-nine years ago, when Mr.Red and I bought our first place together, it had rust shag carpet and a brown/rust theme throughout. (Brand new mobile home) I was buying Country Accents and Better Homes & Gardens magazine at the time and went right out to find fabric to make peach & celadon green drapes with matching bed ruffle and ruffled throw pillows for the master bedroom. Friends who came over loved it. My colors reflected what was in stores and in the magazine spreads at the time. I even bought the pattern to make the goose wearing a bonnet & apron and made myself a nice goose to sit on top of the vintage doily on the antique cabinet in my living room. The "oooohhhs & ahhhs" flowed in quite flatteringly from friends. Interestingly, I thought I was ahead of trends. I thought my decor was pretty doggone original. The fact that peach & celadon & rust & blue towels were everywhere didn't even give me a clue that I was loving what I was seeing and adapting it to my own sensibilities. Seriously now, how many of you are doing celadon and peach right now? If someone posted a ruffly bedroom set with lots of old doilies on the furniture, would you be doing the "Holla!" for that person's help with your new living room? Nope. And while some of us here do doggedly follow a particular style or feel for their homes no matter what comes in or goes out, (wood trim when painted trim was considered the only way to go/white appliances when designers are touting stainless/wallpaper in a paint world/fussy Victorian furniture even while many were buying 'Ghost' chairs and mid-century modern credenzas) most of the people who buy decor mags, watch HGTV, or even ask for ideas when buying drapes or bedding or paint or dining tables, Do want something that looks fresh and pretty and fairly modern. Why else would we be here? Now, as for me, I know that I am influenced by what I see. I don't change things for the designers or even when someone says they don't love what I have. I've loved antique/vintage case pieces my whole life. I've shopped thrift stores and flea markets way before the first garage sale was ever held, thanks to a thrify mother. I usually prefer color to white walls. I like dark furniture and wood floors and even liked them in the 70's. Live plants will be in my home even if plants become completely taboo. And after nearly 30 years of buying decorating magazines and moving from Country Accents to Beautiful Home, I have absolutely decided that the Best Decorators and Kitchen Designers and DIY Experts are right here on this forum. You guys take the best of what's out there, ignore the stuff that will tank in 13 weeks and offer advice on what's truly liveable and can stand the test of time. When one of you whose style I admire tries a new paint shade or slipcovers a couch or paints their own cabinets, I pay attention. I may need that soon.... Red (and my disclaimer to the ruffly peach/celadon frilly comforter set people who may also have a heart-shaped ruffled peach chintz pillow on their bed....I already did that. It doesn't mean it isn't pretty. Mine was beeyoutifull. It just means YOU....May...NOT...BE...Trendy anymore!)...See MoreIs this a trend I should avoid?
Comments (19)I adore that you have 9 dogs and that your kitchen cabinets look so fantastic after 18 years. I think the two toned looks best in galley or other small kitchens where you want to open up the space with white on top, but you have a nice large kitchen that can really take the color, so I would do same color top and bottom. I have often wondered when looking at pictures of this recent two tone trend if it would get old fast or feel like a has-been trend in five years. I think so and would avoid it if it were my kitchen. Your house has a historic feel to it. I think a sage would look lovely on top and on bottom. Just don't make it too dark and it will not feel oppressive. I think the sage/moss color will look fantastic with the red tones in your ceiling beams. And, I think it will hold up as well as your yellow has with the dogs. Check out these examples: https://www.houzz.com/photos/riptide-beach-style-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~1691199-beach-style-kitchen-boston https://www.houzz.com/photos/heartwood-kitchens-2-traditional-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~10270694-Kitchens-2-traditional-kitchen-boston https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-austin-phvw-vp~875468-traditional-kitchen-austin https://www.houzz.com/photos/warmington-and-north-traditional-kitchen-seattle-phvw-vp~98831-north-traditional-kitchen-seattle...See Moree4849
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