I wasn't quite sure what that meant and you too may well ask what is perfectly imperfect?
The Urban dictionary offers this definition ~ "when someone has strong feelings for you they may tell you that you're "perfectly imperfect" basically saying that they accept your flaws, they like you enough that they see past your insecurities, a way of saying that you're perfect to them."
Our front porch is looking cheerful, almost pretty...but do not look too close!
These touches are meant to be a distraction as our front stairs are falling apart and the house paint is peeling.
We have several projects on our do list...but for now we must embrace the imperfections.
Is your home orderly, perfectly maintained and tastefully decorated?
Is there a sense of order or do you prefer disorder?
Are you a minimalist or do you subscribe to the "more is better" way of living?
I read with great interest Ellie's recent post about decorating and I am in awe of people who live in homes that look like they have been staged for a magazine shoot...
Our 100+ year old arts and crafts bungalow is imperfect and has many flaws.
The flaws are obvious, some even glaring.
Not unlike the face of an older woman...there are spots, wrinkles and laugh lines ~ evidence of the aging process.
"Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty."
~ Coco Chanel ~
Our home is small and is steeped in the arts and crafts style.
We opted for small scaled mission oak furniture and have collected many pieces of original old hand hammered copper pieces and vintage arts and crafts pottery.
First Nations baskets and Ojibwa duck decoys round out our collection.
Most of the wool rugs are new as are the window treatments.
With the exception of our two linen slip covered love seats and our bed all of the pieces are originals from the period from 1912 -1918.
I suppose you might call it "museum style decorating" because the pieces have their original patina and are worn, marked and distressed from years of use.
Two lamps are new, the rest are originals from Water Glass Studios.
This vintage chair was a boulevard freebie...
I carried it home and painted it then distressed it for effect.
It's been on our front porch for several years.
This tool box was treated to a coat of paint and distressed...
It often holds pots of geraniums in the summer and pine cones in the winter.
Check out those muddy footprints..."someone" needs to wash the porch!
This chair was a freebie too...
if you look closely you can you see the imperfections.
"Optimism - the doctrine or belief that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly."
~ Ambrose Bierce ~
"I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may,
- light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful."
~ John Constable ~
37 comments:
Don't be so sure that those people whose homes are photographed for magazines live in perfect houses! Two of our houses have been featured in magazines--and let me tell you--these houses are imperfect. At the current time, our farmhouse has at least two rooms that desperately need repainting. Our stairs are scuffed and need attention. We have had rodents in the attic! Now, there is a tale! And, when the photographers came, they moved things all around to get the look they wanted--it was NOT how our house usually looks. Even the lighting was altered.
It does my heart good to know that other peoples' houses are like mine---not perfect all all!
I think your house looks both visually appealing and comfortable and well-loved. Isn't that what we all really want?
We have been in our home for 37 years this year! It is a small Victorian cottage in Sydney Australia.. It has original marble fireplaces and lath and plaster ceilings. We are only the third owners in all those years . We renovated the kitchen 35 years ago and finished a week before our daughter was born!! At the young age of 62 and my husband 68 we are redoing the kitchen and knocking out walls to bring in more light and bring us into the 21 st century !! We have lovely Victorian antiques in the front of the house but I've decided to go a little modern out the back. I love light bright spaces. As one gets older I feel light is very important. We are up to our armpits in light fine dust but I know the end result will be a lovely space for our future and for our first little grandchild Isabel ( 8 weeks) to enjoy. Ann
Your home looks cozy and you love it. That's what's most important. No home is perfect, as I tell my daughter and son-in-law who are currently in the process of switching homes. I think the imperfections contribute to a home's charm - where people live and laugh and love (and argue from time to time).
You have a beautiful house and it's best feature is that it looks like a well lived home.
Dear Hostess, it all looks perfectly perfect to me, your home so sensitively and sympathetically considered. I think of myself and the space around me as imperfectly imperfect but am happily resigned to the fact!
I love to feel cozy at home. Candles, books and well-loved pieces make any place a home. Your house looks beautiful in spite of its imperfections! The yellow pansies look so cheerful.
Thank you for this post, Leslie. Just what I needed. I know my home is imperfect with many unfinished or waiting to be started and finished projects. I keep wondering when it will be the way I want it to be - I'm waiting on hubby to do most of these things :-) Thanks for helping me feel better about it all.
Oh how I loved this post! I, too, have so many things on my to do list. There just seems to be so many other things more important. I adore everything about your lovely home. The Arts and Crafts era is one of my very favorite, and you have decorated it beautifully. Have a wonderful weekend. Bonnie
Your house is YOUR home...nobody else's. That is the way it should be.
Just this morning whilst changing the sheets I thought that our bedroom needs a re-paint and an update despite that fact that everything looked pretty damned gorgeous and completed for the home wedding just over a year ago. It just evolves doesn’t it? We are thinking of putting in a wood heater in our family room too for when we are retired. (coming up I feel). and that will necessitate a few changes of furniture placement. Maybe even getting rid of a sofa. When I was a little girl there were some Californian Bungalows in a street near us. I was always attracted to them and would fantasise that I lived in one. I love the verandahs/porch the columns, everything about them. Do you have a bay window? Love them too. I still love a californian bungalow to this day. Your home is so warm and inviting. I loved seeing your renovation post a while ago. Tonkath
Your house is wonderful and so charming. I so admire the way your have stayed true to its design. I wouldn't know what perfection is, I am constantly playing "catch up' here...as one thing is improved another needs doing. Like you I am amazed by those immaculate layouts and homes...maybe its like a Photoshoped photo ~ not real. And, don't feel bad, I can't keep my front porch clean either..sa la vie.
Well said, Susan!!
Oh, I have imperfection mastered! ;-) Your home has so much integrity -- that consistency of vision you and your husband have shared from first finding it has really paid off.
There's a great coffee table book "A Perfectly Kept House is a Sign of a Misspent Life". I know homes that look like they were staged are all over the blogosphere, but although aesthetically pleasing in a certain way, they leave me cold. I love your home, and the fact that I can tell that people who love it, actually live there.
Your house looks perfect enough to me.
I don't have one stick of furniture that's in perfect condition. I mainly buy my furniture from thrift and consignment stores.
When you have horses, dogs, cats, and birds, there is always mud, hair, and straw being tracked through the house.
I rarely even remove my boots, or shoes unless they're wet or muddy.
Perfectly imperfect is a way of life for me. I have never felt a need to strive for perfection, whatever that is. Cozy and comfortable suits me in so many ways. I love your bungalow and like that you have kept its heritage designation look. I like your freebie chairs.
I think you and your husband have honored your home in the best possible way. Your home is lovely. I tell my husband that our house is still living in 1987..the year of construction. While interior styles change, we tend to muddle along with our stained woodwork and wallpaper. Perhaps this will be the year to seek some measure of perfection! Smiles...Susan
I adore your home!! And it's yours so can be however you want.
Do I live in a perfect house? Hell no and have earned the right to enjoy it as it is.
As always, your posts inspire.
xx Jennifer
How very exciting to have your homes in a magazine shoot!
Our home was featured in The Globe and Mail many years ago...it's not a glossy mag simply a newspaper.
It does feel good to flop on the sofa and kick off my shoes after a long walk and not worry about who might see that!
Your renovation sounds wonderful! If you enjoy spending time in the kitchen as much as I do...it will be worth all the dust.
Congratulations on the birth of your grand daughter Isabel...grandchildren bring immense joy!
Your thoughts are very insightful Lorrie...
It does have a history and often I wish these walls could talk!
Perhaps the home decor magazines should add some honest messy "lived in" shoots?
Personal touches make a home comfy...your books and candles make it so.
Is anything ever perfect?
I think life can be messy...
we can learn valuable life lessons while we wait for things to get done!
It's good to hear that we both have long lists!
It's easy to fall into the trap that perfection is attainable...
We do not have a bay window...a large window looks onto the small front porch where we sit in the milder weather.
I think warmth is a great feature especially when sitting reading or watching TV.
It's very exciting that retirement is in your future...you'll be surprised just how busy you are when you are your own boss!
Thank you Adrienne...
I was feeling rather sheepish posting the muddy foot prints on the porch!
Sounds like we are in the same "camp" good to know!
I really need to read that book Kathy!
I like used furniture too...
sounds like you have a large furry family...I bulk buy those lint rollers...do you?
Perfecftly imperfect sounds very much like an English Country Living way of decorating...perhaps off the set of a BBC drama like All Creatures Great and Small?
Our home lives in 1913 and yours in 1987...should we let go of the idea of perfection and just be content and comfortable?
Thank you Jennifer...
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