Mmmm.....Wintergreen though. I always stay away from floral prints. For some reason they say '80s to me. I guess because my mom had alot of floral furniture during those years. If I do have anything floral, it's flowers from my garden in a vase. But that's just me. I have some old china too of my husband's grandmother. I love it. They don't make china like that anymore. I have a cup and saucer on a chalk painted vintage table with an old tarnished silver vase that I also inherited in my laundry room with a very small vintage blue Downton Abbey household book. I also took a couple of simple black rods and some beautiful vintage cloth napkins that I also inherited, and placed them over in triangles to make a curtain. I don't have the newest washer and dryer either, and it just works, and I love going to my laundry room.

This appears to fit right in the OL category

All the wallpaper and prints you've ever wanted, all in one room! Kinda like my tchotchke cabinet! It's a look . . .

I've come to realize my dad has "old lady" style. Inability to edit, check. Penchant for "decorative items," check. Clutter, check. Unfinished projects, check. Florals, check. Mismatched furniture from different eras, check. Family photos randomly everywhere, check. Glitzy color palette, check, although that goes in and out of style, it just happens to be "out" right now. Disrepair and lack of cleaning, check. And he has a cleaning lady, but he always say, "she doesn't know what she's doing." He had this style long before he became old.

The Traditional Home article amazed me. Looked at element by element, it screams Old Lady. But my sister and I attempted to analyze it as a whole and didn't find it to be too old lady-ish. Sister, who is better at analyzing these things than I, noted that all of the furniture looks comfortable and a few of the prints were very contemporary.

Nope, that room would be so cool in the words of my DD (early 20s), except for the valance. She'd go with lace. DD also has dug out my mom's crocheted cotton sweaters.

When I married my first husband 50+ years ago, my Mom gave me her Mahagony Federal style furniture, including the beautufully detailed four poster bed. I saw it as old fashioned, aka, old lady, and quickly updated it with 2 coats of ivory oil base paint~what was I thinking. Guess I was way ahead of my time with my painted furniture. While DH didn't care one way or another, my friends loved it, but my poor Mom was appalled I would 'do such a thing'. I think many young people think of stained furniture, especially vintage pieces as old and dated, or would even use the term old lady. Youngest DD, hates what she calls *wood* furniture, but what she really means is stained, which she has in the MB, only, but is planning on getting a padded headboard and mirrored furniture eventually. She's into Hollywood glam, and DH is happy if she's happy. Smart guy. ;)

I thought of 2 more things I haven't seen mentioned (or may have missed..) a giant wooden spoon & fork set as wall decor and milk glass. And the kicker is my DD (early 30's) is incorporating both in her remodel, though her overall style is fresh & uncluttered

She's putting her own twist on their display, as did the teacup collector in robo's post above. These were items from my Mom's home that evoke warm memories for her.

Sometimes OL items just need to skip a generation to be desirable ;)

Amck, I remember having the *huge* hanging spoon and fork, and it was 50 years ago! They were selling them at Pier One not too long ago, and looked identical to what I had, but not as heavy. Have also seen them made of metal. I think you're right about the generational thing. ;)

I used to babysit for a family who lived in a brand new MCM home that was totally unique in my experience. The woman had the greatest style with the home and food and was my inspiration for creating my own style that was vastly different from my mother's (altho we were poor, so hand me down furniture was probably not my mother's real style).

Something I distinctly remember seeing for the first time in that MCM house was a fork and spoon on the wall and thinking they were the coolest things, ever. Yep, 50 or so years ago.

My father got remarried after 20 years of being single. He adored collecting unique and lovely MSM furniture, and a wide variety of antique pieces. He had exquisite taste, but had so much he had his garage full of pieces he was trying to fit in as he edited his collection. My stepmother moved in bringing her chrome plated ultramodern 80s style monstrosities. The first day he was gone to work on a double shift, she called a junk man and PAID him $100 dollars to haul away what she viewed as junk. She felt that Eames, Noguchi and Wegner were "crap".

She paid someone to haul away all of it - including a pair of these:

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/chairs/pair-of-teak-hans-wegner-armchairs/id-f_3290172/?utm_content=control&gclid=Cj0KEQjwr5G5BRD_n-T0pf7x4ucBEiQAlxHOP2HuxpYpKJUruOJ-AoBgX2HVbsbF-GbfWbiF_mBo8zcaArn_8P8HAQ&product=f3290172 

My grandfather inherited his parent's house and hired someone to haul away all the old junk (aka antiques). My mother was furious. My grandparents decorated with Danish modern so naturally I thought that style was old lady.

We are getting ready to move and I told DH that I was tired of our vintage Colonial revival bedroom set that we bought at an auction for $600 for thirty years ago. Solid mahogany, dove tailed drawers, the works. We thought we were pretty fancy.

DH said, "Okay, we can sell it, it's really nice so we should make some money." His mouth dropped open when I informed him that it is now considered Grandma furniture and we would not be making a fortune by selling it.

Have you ever seen the "fork and spoon" episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond?" One of my all time favorites. Fork and Spoon Episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond"

Rest in Peace, I love you Doris Roberts!

OMG Yes!! My first thought was how outdated it was, but then looking at the rest of the kitchen it didn't matter. It was ALL outdated!! Lol

Ok, my bathroom with floral wall paper and lace curtains definitely qualifies as old lady even though it's been that way since I was in my mid 40s. Honestly other than the green floor (bad Mistake). Honestly, the room works best with the old lady style. Trying for modern or trendy would make it stick out like a sore thumb in this 1930s house. The size of the bathroom is original, which is surprising for its vintage.

Mojo, IMO, it's the right look for a 1930's style, including the dark green tile which looks almost black. I can't imagine a trendy counter top sink bowl, although I know it's being done in renos.

mojomom, your bathroom is beautiful and not "old lady". I like the green tile floor very much. Light colored bathroom and kitchen floors always look cold to me. The room is not fussy and every piece has quality. Good taste in action!

Thanks Patty and Ingrid! That makes me feel better. It is a comfortable soothing place. Lace curtains are so not me, but the room made the call! I do love the magnolia wallpaper. This tree is right outside the windows

the room had different wallpaper when we bought it, which really wasn't bad -- but it also had swan doors enclosing the bath. Those were a little much!

I see what I think of as "old people decorating" creeping into my own home lately. The pair of matching recliners came after I fell and had to keep my leg raised for a month. I bought the plastic pears for the fruit bowl because we're empty nesters now and can't eat it all of the real stuff before it spoils. I have a toothpick holder and a blown glass bird that sit on my kitchen windowsill because my mother downsized to senior living and gifted me with all kinds of "treasures" that I don't need but I can't bear to part with. Until I read this thread I was tempted to replace a couple of the real plants in my house with good fakes because I've spent a lifetime fighting against "brown" thumb and I am growing tired of it. How much of old lady decorating is function, rather than form?

If you like your stuff then who cares what it looks like because you are the one that lives with it. Just because it's new doesn't make it pretty. In the words of my Mom "if they don't like it they can buy me new" which no one ever has...EVER! HAHA! I always ponder the question, "if it was great back then, why is it so ugly now?" It really doesn't make any sense. Read The Story Of Stuff and see, it's called perceived obsolescence. It's to get us to continually buy new even though what we have already is perfectly fine. Our economy would cease to prosper if we stopped buying new stuff.

I think for me it means not getting rid of things that are used and useful for the sake of style or what's "in". This is pretty unisex though. Also, collections of bitty things the owner dosn't overly care about but it gives adult children and grand children an easy theme to purchase gifts for. There is an elderly lady down the road who once mentioned she liked giraffes and now has everyone in her family buying her anything "giraffe". She doesn't want a collection of giraffes but what can she do when they all enjoy trying to find the perfect giraffe trinket? For us older ladies here our parents or grandparents may have lived through a depression so their thoughts on material things are different. You don't just replace things for the sake of it. What you do is add something new next to it if you are feeling indulgent.

arkansas_girl, I think related to your post is the fact that we sometimes buy stuff or receive gifts and display it and then ignore it. It's not about getting rid of things that you love/like it. It's about periodically looking at things with a fresh eye. People's taste change. Or they have been displaying something for years because it was a gift or it was an expensive mistake. Sometimes it was never "great back then".

Cluttered, kitschy, dark. Because by the time you get to be an "old lady" your arms and knees and ankles hurt and clearing out is hard to do. So you don't. Or you cannot bear to part with the memories which is OK, too.

If that's your style don't worry. As I always say, Architectural Digest probably isn't coming to photograph your home anytime soon. So why would you care?

Be happy with your house -- or work on it until it makes you happy. If others like it great. If they don't so what?

I always try to resist the need for approval. Most of what I see in others homes is nothing I would ever want. So why would I care what they think of mine?

I'm not sure why this topic is important. We all get older. Lives change but stuff doesn't because, at a point, you stop needing a whole lot more than you have -- or you risk become a candidate for an episode of hoarders.

Yesterday, our town had a textile recycling event. DH went through his closet and we filled up a bag with stuff that was ratty or he didn't like or didn't fit. I went through another box of mine, I went through my cleaning rag drawer and edited and threw in some shoes from the 80s and 90s. It felt really good to get it out of the house.

Those old person clothes will be recycled and will likely have a new life again in an Ikea rug in a hipster home in Finland. I'm just so happy that there is someone else to deal with my stuff.

Mojomom, your bathroom is very nice. I think what keeps it from being old lady is that, first off, it's very clean and fresh looking. Also it all looks like such good quality. Good painting on the cabinets, good tile, good fixtures, and especially good wallpaper. I love the dark green. I think it's classic.

Regarding the original conversation, just because something isn't right spot-on-the-nose trendy, doesn't mean it's grandma. If one chooses high quality to begin with, it will stay in good taste. If one chooses cheap, low quality items, then it will date, because it wasn't good taste to begin with. I wish Palimpsest were here to chime in on this. I always enjoyed his point of view.

A couple things come to mind, smelling like moth balls and those plastic slip covers for the sofa and chairs. HAHA!

A lot of useless clutter which you've learned to ignore could be "old lady". Looking at your surroundings with a jaundiced eye and discarding items that no longer have meaning for you keeps you and your rooms young. Items that do have meaning for you stay, no matter what anyone else thinks, A lot of times it's also not what you have but how you display it. I'm still struggling with that because I have so much Chinese porcelain that I have to guard against the place looking like a booth at the flea market. Even the fact that the items are genuine (athough I confess to also having reproductions) doesn't always save the situation. It helps to have a grand house with large rooms and expensive furniture to display these items well, but I have neither the one or the other. Just have to keep struggling......

Lots of lace, faded floral fabrics and knickknacks, cut crystal, landscape paintings that match the sofa...everything with a ruffle or a bow. Cute-sy...

Oh nooooooo! I am an old lady. Even my pooches have cut crystal bowls.

i still don't understand the big deal over OL decor. I've seen pics right here that I would consider dated/OL but if it were my friend, I have/will never say so. Must not matter (unless it stinks of mothballs, ha)

To me, Old Lady Style is doilies, knitted loo roll holders, knickknacks, collections of knickknacks etc as well as heavily patterned wall-to-wall carpet (in the bathroom being worst of all!), textured walls and florals everywhere.......oh, and the aroma of moth balls! Tbh, when I think of Old Lady Style I think of my late parents' house......

I'm 49 and my parents were married for more than ten years before they bought their first home and had me - dad was a naval officer so they moved around a lot when first married - and by the time they went into a nursing home in 2012 they still had much of the furniture they bought for their first home in the mid 1960s. It was good, well-made, solid stuff (but never the height of fashion, apart from some great G-Plan items they sadly sold in the 80s) and I think as a result of some kind of 'war time mentality', they believed in buying once and keeping it for life. Their three piece suite was reupholstered once and had new slip covers twice and apart from the aforementioned G-Plan plus a couple of new bedroom suites in the 80s, they never replaced any furniture. Their carpets were ridiculously expensive, but for the most part looked like an explosion in a florist's shop. My mother collected Waterford crystal and Coalport figurines as well as Victorian cranberry glass. These - standing on the obligatory doily - covered every surface. As an aside, when we had to clear their house for sale we found many of their wedding presents, unused in trunks and cupboards, still in the original boxes with gift cards attached, so I think they were hoarders too, to a certain extent.

Many people would probably consider our decorating/furnishing style to be 'Old Lady' - in fact about ten years ago a visitor to our then (1880s) home declared it to look just like his grandmother's house - as we collect antiques (art nouveau & arts and crafts), favour dark colours, like pattern and have a fairly cluttered period home. We hate what we term 'knobbly knickknacks', only buying what we truly love and there's certainly not a doily, fitted carpet or floral pattern - except a bit of William Morris, lol - to be seen, but although we decorate to suit both our style and that of our homes, to a minimalist it's going to be too much ;)

I worry about that with my decor. We downsized to a townhouse in the D.C. area although we still have our big house in another state. Some of our good furniture and some of our worst is in the townhouse (my DH flies back and forth). I'm a young 66 and here's what the townhouse living room looks like. The problem is that the rugs, furniture, etc. were all, and still are, terribly expensive, and we are at the point where many have a sentimental value and where we would just not want to spend the money to replace them. Many of them are from my in-laws' (parents' and grand-parents') showplace house. The velvet on the dining room chairs are Scalamandre.

Emily, I think you should start a new thread in order to get the best responses. This is an old thread with a lot of responses to wade through. Please take the time to post your question and pictures in a brand new thread.

Having said that, I don't there is such a thing as little old lady decor. However, houses have to evolve a bit over the years to keep them fresh. I don't mean big things like buying new furniture, but smaller things like new throw pillows and some accessories.

I am not one of the GW decorating sages. You will find many people here who can offer extremely useful advice. All I can offer is that perhaps you could consider changing the color of your walls. I think a pale pink could be nice, for example. And some new throw pillows to coordinate and tie together the sofa and bergere (I would consider re-upholstering the bergere; it looks a bit dingy due to its color compared to the sofa.)

The solution to one "old lady" or "old fashioned" issue -- clutter:

Older people (especially those cheap siblings and/or a lot of grand kids) tend to have a lot of nick knacks and candy dishes and cookie jars -- decorative clutter -- given as cheap gifts. A "stuff" cabinet with glass front doors to put these in helps decrease clutter. The items don't even need to be arranged -- just move different stuff to the front next to the glass to be visible according to the season; the rest can be crowded in behind that. displayed in this way, the more ugly and useless stuff usually becomes "out of sight; out of mind" forgotten.

When the cabinet gets too full to hold more, you can donate what items you like least to Habitat for Humanity Restore Store or a local charity thrift store.

Glad this thread popped up again because it was good to read.

Maybe there is such a thing as a “cookie-cutter old lady?”

Because my mom is not.

My mom is in her mid 80s.

She has Danish bookcases that she’s had for as long as I can remember, and a Scandinavian dining set from 30 years ago. She prefers pale leather sofas since they are easy maintenance and comfortable. She has no collections of Lladro, but you can find things from around the world that she’s collected from living and traveling abroad, or received as gifts friends she’s made in other countries. These are mostly from Latin America and Japan.

Good luck finding a lace doily in her house!

She still uses her china from her mother for special occasions, along with some family tablecloths. Beyond that, she didn’t have anything else passed down.

In my kitchen growing up, we had a huge wall hanging of a Chac Mool and red geometric wallpaper. I’m not sure many people can say that! My dad painted our wood kitchen set red to match. Maybe that’s where I got my love of red?

My mom’s house is clean but she doesn’t spend a lot of time on it. She’s too busy passing out flyers at anti-war protests, attending peace and justice meetings, and making a difference in the lives of immigrants in her city.

Emily, definitely start a new thread!

LOL Suezbell! My best friend's mom always defended the state of her house/decorating style or lack thereof by saying, "It' not my fault. What can I do, I have nine kids and way too many grandchildren!"

Just for fun, here's a picture of my "stuff" cabinet from my last house. If it didn't have a current use, it either went to Goodwill or had to squeeze in there!

cool thread! Old lady style to me represents a lifetimes worth of accumulation of things that people cant bear to get rid of not because they love the stuff today, but because it had value in the past and it seems like waste to get rid of it. A lot of it seems like empty accumulation of things that dont really have meaning, like porcelain dolls or figurines that dont really represent anything. Can you actually tell me something about each item?

I like having empty closets or cabinets because it means I'm holding the line on not having too much stuff.

We dont collect anything except refrigerator magnets of the places we have been (when we break one it is time to go back). My wife has even taken them off the refrigerator because of the clutter.

Goodwill has been my salvation because I can imagine that someone else will get use out of it and Im not actually throwing it away. Some people keep their kids old cute clothes, art, toys etc. We take pictures of the kids in the clothes, of their art and give the stuff away.

I personally want to travel light through the world. The only thing I really care about are the electronic pictures that I have stored on harddrives and backed up in the cloud and they have no weight at all.

My millenial sister in law and her husband sold everything they owned except for a single suitcase of clothes each and are traveling europe teaching yoga.

I think some old ladies have classic good taste and aren't driven by trends to acquire more things.

That was my childhood International doll collection, and yes, there is a story behind each item, many very meaningful to me. However, I did cull every other tchotcke from the rest of the house. Some of us have always liked to be surrounded by stories and and the people that go with them. I think it is a personality thing, not an age thing. My SO is totally different. He's old and had no friends and very few belongings and only two significant family members other than me. His clutter that he loves is gadget clutter. Is that hipper?

I am sooo sorry to see this thread revived. :(

I pinkmountain, I have my cabinet of salt and pepper shakers. LOL! I think it is good to keep our tchotchkes in check. I have been purging but don’t think I will be parting ways with these for a while.

Floral fabric and varying shades of pink is definitely old lady style. We recently stayed in a house.... every room had floral and pink in some form: tiles or bedding or couches or bar stools or wallpapers.. and nearly all the curtains!

"Old lady" should not be used as a disparaging term. Nothing wrong with old ladies. Actually, there is a lot right with old ladies.

I thought about that distinction..travel and experiences vs things..to me, it's also not either or, it's both. I traveled less that I wanted to, planned to, yet quite a lot; most of things I love were bought or found during trips, whether several hour trip, or travel to faraway places. So that things I love they remind me of travel, experiences, certain people in my life..and travelling somewhere allows me to experience, to see people I love, to meet new ones, and to see and appreciate many wonderful things as well. Not all of them I'll be able to snatch and take with me, but I'll remember them. and most likely I'll snatch something small too:)

So to me, it's two sides of a coin..the coin being, well..a journey. And each journey will be unique of course; but the point is to have it..recognize it...try to have a blast when possible, since once upon a time that journey will come to an end, and hard to know what the next one will feel like. Probably very unlike anything we imagine.

I'm not afraid of becoming old lady(yes, I'm vain and shallow nevertheless lol, and would like to still look like I'm 28..))..I'm more afraid of not having a chance to become one..:) That'd be a pity..

And I hope to live to see my grandchildren one day, to love and to hold, you know, and I'm pretty sure they won't find me or my place ridiculous:) Funny, quirky, strange, different from what it will be(what it will be then?)-maybe. Well it's all cool. We don't take our journeys alone; others continue it, and they'll take from ours so much, even if no things will be left, no actual place, and very little memories.

I AM an old lady (officially a senior citizen, semi-retired and collecting SS) and I detest pink anything!! And anything "flowery" for me needs to be in a vase or growing on a plant.....nothing I could sit on :-) I do collect some stuff (blue and white Chinese porcelain) and I do have a collection of antique tea cups and saucers (also blue and white) but that's about as close to "old lady decor" as I get.

Great thread! I'm a senior citizen and a collector of a few things. I'm now questioning if some of my collections are OL. I really want your honest opinions on one of my favorite collections. Is this OL? I guess it doesn't matter what my make-believe friends think. But, I really do want to know! LOL!

I don't think so... Beautiful collection

Thank you, rhoder551. I do edit frequently and ruthlessly but you never know when the OL may creep up!

Karen, I ***love*** your paperweights. There is nothing wrong with them at all- and I am not yet an old lady, though when I see what the young'uns are up to in decor, I am proudly old fashioned.

iheartsix, that is a lovely display.

Iheartsix, I love your transferware and I'm partial to the brown. My friend has the red/pink transferware that she uses for her special occasion dishes. Food always looks so good on those dishes!

Thank you, Rita. One of the things I struggle with, in decor, is finding that balanced sweet spot between old-fashioned and current decor. I like it all!