Accessorizing With Country Antiques

When Connie and I started accessorizing her Vermont home, she definitely liked the feeling of an "American Country Home".

I probably brought in stuff from all over the world, but it fell together to work with the Americana  tone of her house.

I started a collection of wooden spools that were from local mills,

(I think.....)

and added in some wooden boxes.

Then I went and found some treenware, which is a wonderful thing to collect, if you're looking for stuff......

Treenware , for those of you who don't know.....

is household items made entirely of wood.

The pioneers made this stuff, 'cuz all they could get their paws on was wood.

'Cuz there was lots of that in pioneer times.

Wood, that is.....

They made dishes and bowls and cups and chalices and on and on.

You've probably seen it, and didn't know what it was, if you don't know what it is, that is......

Here's a picture I found on the internet to show you a close up.....

source
Then Connie and I started collecting paintings.
We liked the feel of the dark paintings against the creamy walls.
They worked well with the armoire that was painted in a black milk paint.
On the mantel I did a collection of rams and sheep.
The painting had sheep.
The mantel shelf had rams.

That's a ram on the pipe holder in the middle

On either side of the painting is a wooden grid that allows the warm air from the fireplace to circulate back into the room.

It's a heatilator.

They usually have really ugly vent covers, but the wonderful woodworkers who worked on this wooden home made the wooden grids in their woodworking shop.

They would if they could, so they did!!!!!

So here's the way Connie's collection looks when not in a magazine shoot

Here's the two ways the bookshelves look.

On the left is the Traditional Home styling.

On the right is the way it is every other day.

The editor felt the way Connie and I had it, would look too spotty in the picture.

This is just an example of what looks good in a picture may not be the best for real life.

On the bottom shelf is a framed piece of tatting that spells out Nast, which just happens to be Connie and Chris's last name.

I don't think that's a coincidence.....

Do you?????

On that note,

Latah, Gatah