the simple life

i've been in love with colefax and fowlers classic bowood wallpaper for what seems to be forever.  always in the back of my mind i fantasized about putting together a delightful and feminine room with either the walls papered, or curtains made from the fabric, or both.  as loft dweller in the city, as well as owning a tiny lilliputian size house in the country/suburbs of gorgeous green pennsylvania, neither dwelling ever seemed to be the right place to splurge.

the new york loft is large and sunny and spare, and well...super simple.  i thought about maybe having maybe a small slipper chair reupholstered in bowood for my bedroom there, but never did.

my tiny little house in the country is so fresh and plain and freshly scrubbed.  surrounded by giant oak trees, and towering pines, it is newly lime washed white brick on the outside, and inside the rooms are small, the ceilings lowish, and the old wood floors are worn, and just begging to be painted.  every wall is white or off white, and all embellishment is kept to a minimum.  think hudson bay blankets, and wicker chairs and baskets filled with firewood and shelves full of paperbacks.  imagine patchwork quilts, the odd scrap of faded chintz and mismatched furniture and leftovers from previous and grander abodes, yet the house is still, well...super simple...and my favorite place to be.  it is truly the coziest place in the world, and is my respite.

the only wallpaper in the house was a lovely sky blue wallpaper from york that just blended into the bathroom walls, which other than the kitchen was the only option for wallpaper, since the rest of the house has unpaperable, rough plaster walls.  i papered it myself years ago, and while i still loved it, it was not well done.  the pretty butterfly pattern truly just looked like an extension of what was outside the window, and the walls just disappeared and the tiny little bathroom looked bigger and open.  my faded old green silk balloon shades were perfect with it, but it had to go.  the combo was a sublime mix, but truthfully a long shower would have steamed my cheapy diy work right off the walls!

so i hired a the best paperhanger in town, lol, and was giddy with excitement after ordering my four or was it eight, tiny rolls of colefax gorgeousness.  truly i fell asleep that evening imagining hot fragrant deep soaks in the tub surrounded by those very proper, iconic grey and green blooms, earl grey filled tea cup, or bourbon tumbler perched on the side of the bath, byron candles burning, and fresh rose and pine scented air wafting in from the open window...

so imagine my disappointment when the first rolls of the fabulously gorgeous bowood were hung, and they started looking wrong to my eye.  beautiful, yes....but so wrong.  what I thought would be light and quaint and almost whimsical, looks so exquisite and decorated and formal, and almost brown in tone.  too exquisite for my humble, scrubbed, and whitewashed little house!  i had imagined it would be a very light and fresh paper, but in the tiny little bathroom, it looks very dark and sepia toned, and the room looks smaller and crowded.  instead of blending into the background like a vintage bouquet, it takes front and center stage in the humble little abode.  it is the star.  a fabulous, busy, orderly shining star that really looks like it should be in a grander georgian home in england, instead of my humble little shack in rural pennsylvania.  the green shade looks so formal and heavy and dreary now.  maybe i simply need to replace the green taffeta with white muslin, though now i am wondering if we should stop before the last two rolls are hung, and just call it a day?

alice says proceed and finish up and maybe it will look more comfortable and lighter in feel after i see the finished room, but then again, i could just start over and paint the walls in farrow and ball borrowed light, a gallon of which i just happen to have in the basement, all ready to be used somewhere, and keep the remaining paper rolls for another place, another time...

i was so excited to see the new paper.  the paper hanger is meticulous, and primed the walls with a very dark looking sizing, which makes me wonder... 

fresh free range eggs from a friends farm are always in the kitchen.

my mothers cast iron cookware is in use.

chipped mugs are the sentimental house favorite.