Old English? American Traditional? Take a peek into our hard to define home:
Though Nathan and I hail from two very different parts of the country, we somehow share the very same taste when it comes to the spaces we seek to occupy. In short, our style is American Traditionalist. In full, we admire:
Classic interiors, ripe with heirloom artifacts and literary enchantment, spiced by flavorful dark woods where upon a few scuffs only add character, bright white floral bouquets, masculine/collegiate plaids, muted yet wild greenery, stately art that is either crowded by layers or refined by the contrast of a stark wall, counter-balanced with a few modern oddities and treasured tokens of travel.
So, yeah. We've had a hell of a time trying to come up with key words when searching for Pinterest Inspiration. The best we have come up with so far has been "Ralph Lauren Home". (???)
Our last apartment, which was a great deal smaller and occupied by myself alone before Nathan came to keep me company, had a decor-style inspired by the nearby Betsy Ross House. Since moving to Philadelphia, I always knew that I wanted to keep with the Patriotic theme in some way. In that former space, the look was "modern-Americana" as displayed through red, white and blue accents.
It was a style that I truly adored but that ended up being, almost, too feminine for a shared household (which is saying a lot because my style is almost never - ultra fem).
When Nathan and I moved into our current apartment in March we decided immediately to capitalize off of the property's age. The place we live in now was constructed in the 1780's and that meant that we could browse through local antique shops to our hearts delight (old souls through and through) to find the perfect period-appropriate pieces to honor our new home.
Nathan's belief has been that "one should surround themselves with things that they like, plain and simple, staring with your spouse." ( <- hes trying to earn husband points here)
He's right though. If you like, pink, make yourself a pink Paris Hilton-looking bedroom! (I mean, ew, but still...) If you like toys, sprinkle legos all over your carpets (... and expect no one to come over). Do you, and make your space a place that feels right. For us, paying ode to the charm of this unique home by browsing through old relics has felt just perfect.
The bonus? Each one of our pieces has a story:
The fireplace was originally green. For a quick fix we turned to non-permanent/removable wall paper. The beauty of a very old place is that nothing is ever quite level. If you ever want to test the strength of your relationship we suggest trying to hang a vertical patterned wall paper under such a circumstance.
This acrylic coffee table gave us the modern touch we needed. It is also our cats favorite place to pretend that they would rather be zoo animals where they can be seen but not touched. The carpet was a generous gift.
Our living room wall was the first place that we put our layering love to use. Here we have collected semi-period pieces and combined them with vintage black and white photos of family.
The Underwood Portable was Nathan's first gift to me. It is the same typewriter that Jack Kerouac used to hammer out "On The Road".
This is another example of layering. Just as we imagine was the case for early-Philadelphians our home combines English staples and American symbolism.
Funny Story: I found an old painting that belonged to my grandmother and told Nathan, "I found this great piece of a little boy holding a shotgun!" ---- It turned out to be a girl... holding a broom.
The vintage art in our kitchen was the first item we purchased for our new home. We actually hung this massive painting before we moved anything else through the door.
OK. LIKE SERIOUSLY. THIS is my favorite room of all. This pantry sits behind an iron door and adjacent a glass wall off of our kitchen. It appeared at first to be a simple (very) old storage room but Nathan soon transformed this into the most haunting/divine cellar that America has ever known.
Nathan said above to surround yourself with things you like. Clearly he did just that in his above-ground cellar.
We do not shame pieces for having a few bumps or scrapes. It really only makes them more valuable to us. As for the above mirror, we purchased it only to find that the only thing securing the back side of the mirror in place is an issue of AARP magazine with First Lady Michelle Obama on the cover, wedged under nails. Clearly, we kept it there.
A few new wedding gifts sit before very old art.
Welcome to our downstairs den! The living room on the first floor is the one we most commonly use, but this room is quickly becoming our favorite. I mean...Nathan's favorite - as its apparently his "man space". For this, we wanted the historical character to overlap, literally, with a more collegiate feel.
Have I mentioned how much we love to layer? Our downstairs den offers a great example of this. See - the plaid (self-reupholstered) ottoman, cowhide rug (vintage - I'd cry before letting Nathan buy one new) and a neutral braided rug below.
George sits above our fireplace. For good measure of course.
We really do embrace bumps and bruises of old. This fantastic console table came from the basement of an old man's house in West Philadelphia!
...cherry wood for days. This was an antique store purchase and has added just the right amount of masculinity to our upstairs living room! (This find was all Nathan)
Another Nathan find was this glorious, old, velvet chair. No photo could ever do it justice. It feels more like a throne (no offence Mr. Washington).
