Mid-century Farmhouse?

13 years ago

Hello all -- I've lurked on these forums for ages, but now I'm in an indecisive pickle from which I hope you can all extricate me.

As a forward, I should let you know that I'm a bit of an oddball in that I like challenging myself with decorating -- and by challenging myself, I mean doing things that don't necessarily come natural to me.

That said, I've just renovated my kitchen/dining room -- the kitchen is open to the dining room and has a modern farmhouse look (white, inset shaker cabinets, polished nickel hardware, dark countertops, farmhouse sink, warm grey paint) -- I am looking forward to putting a sturdy, aged farmhouse-style dining-room table (like the Pottery Barn Benchwright, but something, perhaps, less expensive...) in the dining room.

Now, originally I was going to go with more period lighting, and lean towards schoolhouse fixtures, but, on a random stroll through Ikea (!), I ran across their Tobais chairs (chrome and transparent/translucent chairs) which I thought would make a very compelling contrast with the farmhouse table, and then I started thinking about using globe pendants (such as Ikea's Fado pendants) and an oversized drum pendant (CB2's Equator pendant) for the dining room table. I've never been a fan of mid-century modern, before, but I think it's such an interesting juxtaposition with the farmhouse style -- rough, worn wood against the clean lines of chrome and opal; a sturdy, aged feel against something that is a bit more ephemeral and futuristic. Am I crazy?

Also, I may not live in my house much longer than 4 or 5 years... do you think I would scare people away? I was originally going to design to something a bit more compatible with any future tenant's style (I figured modern farmhouse goes well with both classic and contemporary furniture, for future home-owners to be), but I think I'm being drawn to the siren's song of my new idea.

What say all of ye?

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Comments (6)

palimpsest
13 years ago
I personally like a bit of a mix if the mix is not isolated to one room. In particular contemporary lighting in older houses tends to work for me, especially the MCM globes or a simple drum shade fixture--because they are so plain and non-referential to anything other than a glowing white ball of light or cylinder of light.

Many of the old houses in my neighborhood were rehabbed in the sixties and the hallways were out fitted with various sizes of (then Lightolier) globes. It was simple,and inexpensivee it was effective lighting, and it was not trying to (unsuccessfully) mimic a historical style...and these houses were too old to have been lit by anything besides candles and Argand Lamps...the most appropriate would be victorian looking gas fixtures (expensive) or early electric (also expensive)--some of the buildings have been re-rehabbed, and imo, the big glowing ball is still better than the sorta historical but not really period appropriate things that have replaced them
dirtymartini
13 years ago
I am no expert by ANY means. I am on this forum strictly to *get* advice, not dole it out. LOL. That said, I ***LOVE*** the eclectic look. I guess that is basically what you are describing. I want to be eclectic, but I know there is a fine line between "eclectic" and "a crazy person lives here" or "I got a bunch of stuff for free and threw it all together."

I defer to the experts on the forum. I would love to see pictures! I am off to google those chairs now....
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pps7
13 years ago
I love the look and one of my favorite's is firsthouse_mp's space.

Here is a link that might be useful: firsthouse's kitchen
susanjf_gw
13 years ago
listen.. aside from the light fixtures, have your modern/mid-modern pieces and enjoy for the next 5 years...

when it's time to sell, remove all your personal stuff amd show the home...your kitchen sounds classic and buyable...
chaosamoeba
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the support! firsthouse_mp's space is absolutely amazing. I'm not sure mine would even be half as nice, but at least I have a great new inspiration to work from!

dirtymartini -- The place is in a bit of a disarray right now, but I will try to post pics as soon as I can tidy it up a bit.
dirtymartini
13 years ago
looking forward to it.

And I found those chairs...love them!

Mid-century Farmhouse?

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palimpsest

dirtymartini

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Mid-century Farmhouse?

Comments (6)

palimpsest

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