WARNING: Rebecca D. shows flagrant disregard for the rules of punctuation... She uses ellipsis with wild abandon... Punctuation interventions have been done to no avail... If you are offended by such irreverence to the rules of grammar... The very glue that holds our society together... STOP READING NOW... Move on... There is a little button at the top that says "next blog"... You would be well advised to use it... You were warned...

Does "Good Taste" Exist?...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

As I have mentioned in the past, we currently live with my Step-Mom. We are very close and have a really good relationship. Although 75% of time we really enjoy having three generations living together there have been some adjustments.

I am a "nester"... I love putting my own touch on the place where we live, but this isn't my home. Which is why decorating our bedroom has become such an important project to me. Don't get me wrong, my step-mom has been great about letting us bring a few of our possessions here so we truly feel like we are home. But the problem is she and I have opposite tastes

That leads me to the question... what is “good taste”... When we go shopping together she likes the opposite of everything I like. She is really into wax fruit... floral prints... silk flowers... silk lampshades... walnut stained oak and “theme rooms”.... I'm not....

Here take a look...

Lamps she loves:

Lamps Plus

Lamps Plus

Lamps I Love....

Pottery Barn
Target


Her shower curtain....

Wal Mart

Mine...

Garnet Hill

A sofa she likes...

Lazy Boy

One I like....

Pottery Barn

Daily dishes she loves...



Ones I love....

Pottery Barn

Vases she loves....


Vases I love...

Pottery Barn

Art work she owns...

ebay

Art.com

Art works I own...

art.com

art.com

Home Decor she loves....

ebay

ebay

Home Decor I love...

Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn

Her beloved china pattern...

replacements.com
replacements.com
My beloved china pattern...
replacements.com

None of these are remotely similar... I think I have good taste... she thinks she does... is "good taste" in the eye of the beholder? Then what does "good" mean... is there "bad taste" in decor.... or is that also in the eye of the beholder? We live together... how do we find decor middle ground?... When we don't want to?....

We compromise... we don't always like it.... we just do....

Thanks for listening,


PS: When I wrote this post I was just lamenting the challenges of two women with opposite tastes living together... I wasn't asking which of us have "good taste"... We both think we do... I think on some level we are both right... or at least have the right to our individual tastes... I am saying this because I have been reading the comments and I think I've confused the issue...

8 comments :

  1. Good taste does exist and you have it. Sorry Step-mom. Some things are timeless and others just become dated. The things you showed have that timeless quality and the others...well, they seem like dated fads (that are still somehow being sold). But all of this is just my opinion. A thoroughly researched and invested in opinion, but an opinion none the less.

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  2. Hehehe. Well everything gets outdated at some point, right? I guess I'm wondering, at what age do we get stuck on one idea that we can't move out of?

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  3. I have no taste... I go for practical! lol! So sorry.. no help from me!

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  4. Everything you picked out for yourself, I love, and have a lot of that look in my own home... so I guess we have good taste... tee hee hee!! lol!!
    xo
    Bryanna

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  5. Eclectic, retro, shabby, vintage, rococo, primitive; the possibilities are limitless. I do thing taste is in the eye of the beholder. Out of date; however, is never chic. She could keep most of her cool retro and vintage stuff and update her color palate and style with some of your ideas. Alas, it is her home... C'est la vie!

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  6. I love your style of furnishings. I would say it is understated and classic, and livable. While your mom's is ... well, not. Compromise is important since you share a home. Maybe over time you will convert her.

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  7. Well, I actually like some from both of you and dislike some from both so... I'm leaning towards eye of the beholder.

    Of course this is coming from a person whose house looks a lot like a patchwork quilt.

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  8. great post, rebecca!

    unfortunately, i, like Mom2xamj, have no natural instinct for fashions, so i'm no help :)

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