I Am Not a Minimalist.

There isn't any doubt that if Marie Kondo walked into my house she would leave screaming, "Help! Save me!"  

Where do I start? There are several antique oak hutches in the living room filled with Depression Glassware, antique and collectible teddy bears (not toys) and miniatures. On any free space, there is an assortment of candles, brass and mercury glass candle holders, and stacks of books all over the place (Yes, I am going to read ALL of them). There's an altar with my selective statues of the Virgin Mary, various goddesses, crystals, my smudging tools, and old hippie incense to rid of bad JouJou (That's French for Juju). There are various framed old prints and tapestries covering the walls. 

The kitchen has a hanging copper pot rack hanging in the middle of the room right above the counter stovetop. Now I recently read that cooking ware racks are so "cliche" and not cool unless it's in a professional kitchen. No way am I ridding of it. I don't care how many frownie faces Chip and Joanna Gaines makes. I went through a lot to drag the rack around from downtown San Francisco back in the 1980s. And while I have a lot of counter space it is filled with stacks of old French cookbooks and empty red gingham lidded Bonne Maman jelly jars. Why? Why not? These old jars are the original European Tupperware! And in November I dragged home a couple of old antique pottery crocks. Maybe I will put some plants in the crocks - or maybe not 

Did I happen to mention I have a lot of books stacked all over the place? 

I gave up years ago my environment looking like a decor magazine. Now I am told that decor is all about minimalism and antiques are boring and the hip-cool-kids don't want them. So this is an interesting dilemma. We're told the importance of recycling by the hip-cool-kids, but we don't encourage them to recycle antiques and to not fill our homes with Made in China junk that we have to put together ourselves? Let's face it more IKEA stuff ends up in our landfills than any worthy vintage piece.

I refuse to buy into this thinking that no one wants the "old stuff." Someone must want the vintage and upcycling in their homes and if not then why are the majority of the vintage shows I have been attending in the last 10 years packed with vendors and buyers? And this vintage bug doesn't age or gender discriminate, either. I have seen various age groups looking to furnish their homes or add weathered art and ornaments to their gardens and flower beds. Can I tell you how many happy faces I have seen of people hauling off an old rusty chicken feeder or fender?

As this article says, F*ck Modern Minimalism Cheap Prefab Ikeaish Crap! Long live Antiques!


Did I happen to mention I have a lot of books stacked all over the place? 



Comments

Popular Posts