The Interior DIYer
Furniture

2018 Style Trend – Modern Victorian

Yesterday Emily Henderson shared an Instagram post that actually made me utter a very unflattering sound and comment on her photo in capital letters. She shared her thoughts on what 2018’s design trend would be and let us all in on Modern Victorian. And I was elated.

Not that I actually pay much attention to trends because if I don’t like a trend I don’t like it, regardless of how popular it is. However, the idea of a trend that will encourage people to buy secondhand? I can get behind that.

I love buying secondhand furniture where I can (and where appropriate) vs. brand new pieces because I feel like I’m saving something from the landfill. 9 times out of 10 secondhand pieces are cheaper than buying brand new and there’s also the appeal that you’re buying something that not many other people may have. I buy secondhand as often as I can. Case in point; last weekend we got a French provincial style sofa and armchair secondhand on Kijiji …

The owner of the set said that if I hadn’t taken them, both the sofa and armchair would have been brought to the landfill the next day. I’m only sharing a sneak peek of it right now but WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHOLE THING! It’s gorgeous. I think so at least. Now yes, it’s not Victorian but it is oldy timey and I’ll be the first to admit that the old pieces we have are from all over the timeline and not exactly Victorian. But it’s close enough. And this Modern Victorian trend? I am more than happy to say I’m on board with it.

If you’d like to read more pieces I’ve written about going secondhand, here are a few …

Baby

Two designs, one room. Which would you pick?

I’ve been taking my time thinking of a design for Cora’s bedroom. I measured her room soon after we moved in and since then I’ve made quite a few designs on Google SketchUp. Some good, some very bad. But only within the past few days have I managed to narrow down the design to two options; a dark design and a light design.

Keep in mind that these mock-ups are minus a lot of accessories and details that will be added to the room (like Cora’s faux taxidermy pig, her Katy Perry cross stitch, our Bill Murray print and some Christmas lights to name a few), so it looks very bare. The dark walls may seem a bit overwhelming, but they’ll be covered with fun pieces.

I got fancy and made Google SketchUp videos to show the different angles of each design. I went entirely dark with the dark room, but for the light room I added a kind of feature polka-dot wall. I didn’t want just one wall to have polka-dots, but I also didn’t want the entire room to be overwhelmed by them, so I kind of ombre-d the polka-dots onto each adjoining wall. Does that make sense? I’m using a lot of hand gestures as I’m explaining, but I realise you can’t see that. These videos will hopefully better explain what I mean …

I like the idea of a dark room for Cora as it might be a calm space for her (especially around nap time and bed time). I also like the idea of going with a less traditional colour palette for her / “a little girls room”. But at the same time, I want Cora’s room to be somewhere fun so I keep coming back to the light design with polka-dots. I am leaning towards one design in particular, but I’m curious to see if it’s the most popular choice.

So which design do you prefer? Are you more dark side than light side? Or does the idea of black walls in a little girls room make you think WHY WHY WHAT ARE YOU THINKING I’M CALLING CHILD SERVICES. I’m very curious to know, and even more curious if there are very strong opinions on either. I’m looking at you, dark side.

 

Environmental Resolution

Secondhand baroque style mirror and console

Kijiji has fast become one of the most visited pages on my browser since moving to Canada [actually, since before we moved to Canada. I found our green chaise lounge and even our apartment on it]. More recently, one of the many things I’ve been looking for is a fancy mirror for our hallway. I came close to it a few weeks ago when I found a [proper] vintage ornate gold mirror with built-in candelabra’s, but at the last minute, the seller sold it to someone who had a car and could collect it themselves [welp]. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because just this week I found a baroque style mirror AND console table for half the price … 

Neither are antiques but TBH I don’t care too much about that stuff. Trust me when I say these photos don’t do either much justice. The mirror looks very plastic in the first picture, but it’s actually plaster and VERY heavy. The console table is solid but it isn’t marble; the seller was upfront about that and it’s not hugely obvious. And more importantly to me, it’s not something that bothers me. 

I was hesitant about hanging the console table here because of the heater in our hallway, but I mean, the heater is prettier than the storage heaters in our Dublin apartment so I’m not going to loose sleep over it. It’s a perfect spot for us to drop our keys, leave our laundry money and maybe a candle [because MOAR CANDLES]. I already have big plans for our little hallway and can’t wait to paint it [after the living room is finished being painted of course. I try to finish one project before starting another.]. 
Not bad for $75.