Thought it would be fun to hear of anyone's decorating pet peeves they have seen at friends/family homes. Figure this might be good for a laugh or too:
My pet peeve? Well, too many nic nacs. My Mom (bless her heart) has a lot of expensive royal doultan's and crystal bowls, candle holders, etc. and I am always saying "less is more Mom". She has little groupings everywhere in her living room. I can honestly say, she has at least 25 "nic nacs" of different types and styles in her living room - drives me nuts!
Comment Guidelines
We welcome your feedback on Houseandhome.com. H&H reserves the right to remove any unsuitable personal remarks made about the bloggers, hosts, homeowners and/or guests we feature. Please keep your comments focused on decorating, design, cooking and other lifestyle topics. Adopt a tone you would be willing to use in person and do not make slanderous remarks or use denigrating language. If you see a comment that you believe violates any of the guidelines outlined above, please click “Alert a Moderator.” Thank you.
i have to add icle christmas lights left out all year long and the over use of potporri and air freshners - who are you kidding. "mountain air" doesn't smell like that. there are subtler ways of making one's home smell nice.
this is my all time pet peeve, No .. the colours of the flowers do not match with the lace curtains!!!!!
Get rid of the dollies!!! UGH! ;o(
It also irks me when people pile up clutter in their window sills (we can see it people!)
I roared laughing when I read that! Too funny.
thanks for the welcome. I am and I am not surprised to hear that you miss Saskatoon. Now that the -40 weather is over, I really enjoy the city.
Did you find any awsome places to shop for decorating ideas? Any good second hand stores that you can recall? The shopping choices is about the only thing I don't like.
let's not lose our sense of humour...i got so many laughs from this subject...who did it hurt?? I was amazing to me that many of us dislike the same things...after all we also LIKE the same things dont we?
teasing - that's all;) Let us not get too serious...afterall we have the "real world" where we are sometimes forced to be so...besides some of those brought tears to my eyes:) AND I repeat... WHERE IS COPENHAGEN???
I think everyone has pet peeves. Knowing what other members don't like can help us when giving them advice. It's nice to learn a bit about people's personnal taste, it doesn't mean we have to agree with it.
I don't think I've ever been offended by someone not liking my taste. How many times have you tried a new hair colour or style, and received mixed reviews?
Vent away!!! Freedom of speech and all that :)
After all, we aren't American!!!!!
.......two things we really need to hear about on a decorating forum...gardening life maybe LOL
licking spiders.........p....lease.
another strange one.
...........really a strange topic to even discuss.
Thank you for the gentle "whack on the back of the head". You are right, of course. We shouldn't be so unkind!
I agree, to each her own on this one!
Sorry,everybody but I don't really like this topic too much. I mean we don't want to sound like decorating snobs! Remember some people don't have the time, money or inclination for such things. Or hell maybe they just like it that way! One man's trash is another man's treasure...
exactly what my grandma's house used to look like. Even though I hated her decor somehow I still loved to go there.
I just noticed you are a new member so I thought I'd say hi. I also noticed you are from Saskatoon and my husband and I lived there for a couple of years and I really miss it. It is the perfect size of city and so friendly. Shortly before we left there to move to Edmonton we were travelling on a plane to Ottawa and the man next to me said he had lived all over the world (London, etc...) and he said that he would like to retire there b/c he thought it was a special city. I was amazed to hear that but now having left I realize how much I miss it too.
Not only does my mother in law have plastic on all her matching lamp's lampshades she has homemade, itchy afgans(knitted blankets) on all of the matching furniture that is lined up against the walls, with the pictures that are hung to high and the 1970 gold curtains that are to short for the window.
she did though change the bedding in her room to match the green diamond pattern of the new lino she put in all of the bedrooms.
I know that you guys don't know me so I will tell you that I am being sarcastic.... I just want to help her out a bit but she thinks her house looks fabulous. (I guess a person has to be comfortable with where they live.)
I'm with you...was rereading those and having a good smirk...also agree about shows having u get rid of all your stuff and buy new....who are these people that can afford to throw out perfectky good stuff and some of it timeless?...I thot accessories were the new way to update things...
I read alot of the posts again and was laughing all over again.
Elise: I read my post about the oversized wedding portraits and realized that I said bedroom iby mistake. I have no problem with big wedding pics in the bedroom - that's a private space. My sister's wedding pic hangs in the DINING room. Do you have any idea how distracting it is to have to look at this huge honking pic my brother-in-law dipping my sister with his face against her chest??? I have to sit with my back to it every time I'm there!
I also have a new pet peeve. I am growing really tired of decorating shows where they tell you to get rid of your furniture or appliances rather than showing you how to make the old stuff work in a new space. How practical is it to replace a comfy family room couch with a sleek pure white sectional with no armrests? And not everyone can go out and buy new stainless steel appliances when their old ones are less than 3 years old!!!
I doubt that anyone is still reading this forum but...just had to add one more dislike.....drapes that PUDDLE...still look to me like u didnt know how to rehem them after moving from another place :(
My mother-in-law always cracks me up for the same reason. She has a bedspread and pillows shams that she has had on her bed for 15 years. Every night, for 15 years, she takes off the good bedspread and puts on another one and removes all of the pillow shams and replaces them. And every morning she puts the good bedspread and pillow shams back on the bed because she doesn't want to get the bedspread dirty. She is quite proud of the fact that this bedspread looks brand new after 15 years. Which is true, I guess I can't understand how a person could want the same bedspread for 15 years. I completely change my bedrooms every other year!!
She also has a sofa that is 25 years old and looks new, but that's because she doesn't allow people to sit on it!! I love her with all my heart, but sometimes I just don't get it!!!
Never mind plastic on lamps! What about plastic on a sofa? Yuck!!!! So uncomfortable and can you believe that people actually still do this?
I have a wedding picture on the wall too. Professionally framed and cost us a lot but I do not regret getting it done. My house is meant to be my personal space, what better place to put my own pride and joy instead of hanging somebody else's face on my walls such as Isabella Rosellini's modelling shots ( as seen in one of H&H's issue or Apollo's statue).
Have you not seen the Designer guys frame black and white photo's of their client's faces on their walls? They enlarge and photocopy them and hang them on multiple black frames with white mattes. Is that not artistic, dramatic and very original?
Alright Constance, what's wrong with the 2 ft. by 3 ft. wedding picture? I have one that came with my wedding photo package. Seeing as the photos cost almost the price of a building lot, I'm displaying that picture! I do have it in a tasteful spot im my bedroom, where I can look at it and weep at my fading youth.
maybe i should have said geese...i was thinking of the surgary sweet kitchen trend of the geese with bonnets on everything. which in essence is a "theme" which i guess i also find peevish.
Ok, I gotta know... what's the problem with ducks???
I agree with you on the oversized family portraits. The oversized wedding picture (really big with anyone married in the 80s) is also a big sore spot with me. My sister has a 2 foot by 3 foot picture wedding picture hanging in her bedroom that makes me crazy!!!
1. personal items i.e. make-up covering bathroom vanity
2. ducks...nuff said
3. art work hung too high
4. covering up space just for the sake of using the space
5. framed photos everywhere; especially in novelty frames and oversized sears family portraits
6. visable laundry
7. nagel prints
8. cheap over-stuffed leather sofas
I just do not understand why some people like the look of those frilly edged (not fitted) sofa covers in flowery designs, and to top it, they put cushions in another flower palette. The look is toooo busy... But they say that is the look they are trying to achieve which is country /casual /too victorian style. Also, homes where you cannot find a wall left without a wallpaper - yes those flowery wallpapers.
Also, if you love your cat or dog, why must you decorate your home with everything from cutesy cat picture frames , cat clocks, cat everything, you'd feel like you're at a pet store. Drives me nuts. I do have a beautiful Himalayan cat, but I do not decorate on pet themes at all.
I think these people should throw away their collection of old design magazines and clippings that they've hung on to and have been proud of for years, watch H&H, HGTV and BUY new mags...
I love your warped sense of humor! My mom also did the plastic table cover for a few years..... thankfully, she got over it before any of us had to threaten her with bodily harm!!!
Years ago my mother insisted on putting clear plastic over the tablecloth on the dining room table. After almost 15 yrs of constant battles she took it off. She tried to sneak it back on, once but I almost killed her and wrapped her in it. That was the end of that.
Homemade doilies! When I was growing up that's all my mom would do-was make doilies and swap doily patterns with other relatives. She'd say, 'look, I'm almost finished, this one is for you, for your hope chest when you get married and move into your own home'. Did she think I'd put them everywhere like my grandmother did (draping over the fridge, and on every other surface in the house imaginable?) HA! NO.
They are beautiful and I love them because my mom made them, but C'MON MA!!!!
My ex-mother-in-law had plastic on the lampshades and she had a collection of guest soaps and towels that NO ONE ever used. She never had guests except for family, and we weren't "allowed" to use the soaps, so they sat there, fading in colour over the years, along with the pretty guest towels, which she dusted occasionally. I have never "got" the idea of not using something meant to be used (and always thought - "wouldn't it be fun to use them so you could go out and buy some NEW pretty guest soaps?")