I was just over on my favorite country living site and found a new article about country Christmas decorating.

You’ll find it here: Prim Country Christmas

It was a fun little article that helped get me in the mood for Christmas, but what I enjoyed most was clicking around on the links on the right of that page.

There are listings of categories of home-made and some vintage Christmas items that would be so cute to add to this old farmhouse this winter, and I even picked up quite a few ideas for crafts that I could make with the local teens to sell (giving them some spending money for presents for their families).

One of the girls I worked with last year spent her time making a donations box for charity and spent her time at the craft show talking to people about the charity she’d targeted for the holiday season.

read the rest…

I stopped in on my friend (and former decorating client) Susan last week since I was in the neighbourhood. She loves primitive country decor but she’s a bit eclectic in her style. She likes the old farmhouse feel - old barn windows refinished with a crackle paint and a new mirror tucked in behind, small (but heavy) cast iron gates and bed rails hanging in the sunroom for her vines.

Now although her house is gorgeous and everyone feels right at home the moment they enter, I get a little nervous when I see such heavy items hanging. We talked about this and then I decided to share some thoughts with you here.

First and foremost I won’t attempt to explain a process that could steer you wrong if you just visited the average hardware store. The wall decor I’m talking about here are 25-30+ pounds and they’re being hung on standard drywall or panelled interior walls.

To ensure your satisfaction, the integrity of the wall, and the safety of your home visitors, you don’t want to take any chances with hanging these items correctly. read the rest…

After spending considerable time with clients, friends and in designing my own living space I’ve come to realize that primitive home decorating is a task that always seems to be ‘under construction’, but lovingly so.

As you grow and change and discover your personal style, your home changes with you - room by room. You may find that you have naturally created a French country decor in your bedroom, a farmhouse primitive look in your kitchen and so on. Even though a verbal description makes your decorating style sound unpolished, such is not the case on a walk-through.

Primitive home decorating encompasses, blends and matches many similar styles and gives your home uniformity. A uniformity that matches your distinct tastes and styles. read the rest…

A primitive country focal point in a room can be compared with the active verb in a sentence - you need it for the room to be complete.

Once decided upon a focal point, you can then arrange the larger pieces and furniture in a way that will empower the accent or collection. In other words, when you are sitting in the room eyes will natually and easily be attracted to the focal point in a most natural and comfortable way.

Well talk about some some country decor focals and accents in a moment, bear with me, I just need to discuss the room at large first…

read the rest…

Let’s talk about a few items you’ll want to have around for primitive country decor. This is especially so if you decide to take decorating other’s homes or rooms as a side line - for fun or for profit!

The Country Decorator’s Necessities

• Inspiration comes in many forms but decorating magazines keep you up to date on what’s current, trendy and desired in primitive country decor!
• A measuring tape.
• Paint color swatches in the most popular country colors (right now chocolates, pale blues, muted yellows and weathered reds are hot).
• Wallpaper, and carpet sample books. Keep them in your car.
• Business cards are must haves. Carry 20 around with you at all times and leave them everywhere! On bulletin boards, at friend’s houses, in paint and wallpaper shops, even on bus seats! Business cards can be purchased online for less than $20 a box - get 500 to start, use them up and they’ll more than pay for themselves in the decorating jobs you pick up.
• If you have photos of rooms or houses you’ve decorated country, carry them around in a case in your car. That way you can quickly and easily show people your primitive country ideas and rooms. (You never where your next client will turn up and you want to be ready to close the sale.)

Below is my list of some of the things that I quickly learned when I started my own decorating business to help you prepare for what’s ahead… read the rest…

Spring is officially here, and that means that opportunities abound for those of us who like to take older, worn-out pieces of furniture and turn them into primitive country decor accents.

Spring cleaning, and the yard sales that result from it, bring ample opportunities to the prim country decorator. Don’t limit your eye for finding usable pieces to yard sales though - second hand and thrift shops are also great places to find inexpensive items that you can re-purpose.

Primitive country decorating is versatile. It can be a make-do approach to redesigning a room. It can be a mix of vintage pieces with modern. And in the garden it can be a means to display discarded architectural artifacts among the brightest of flowers.

Primitive Country Decorating Ideas for the Garden

A friend of mine had an interesting display in her garden of a collection of old bird cages (the kind that you would normally keep indoors). She hung them from trees in her garden, atop old posts, and directly in the garden bed. These looked really charming with lobelia-laden pots inside the old cages, moonflowers and trumpet vines growing up the posts, and after a year of weathering in the elements, moss growing on the rooftops. It was a true country garden with some really unique accents!

Primitive Country Decor - Inside

For interior country decor, keep your eyes open for great deals on used dressers and side tables. If they are structurally sound they both look great with a coat of paint. If you’re into a real aged look, you can simply sand off any paint flakes and add a coat or two of varnish to smooth out the surface (this gives you the vintage look without the hassle of dust and dirt collecting in all the nooks and crannies of older pieces).

Finally, you might try your hand at some simple stencilling designs. Yes, I do know that stencilled art is passe, but it was very popular ‘back in the day’. So, if you’re looking for some vintage pieces for primitive decor, and you want to make a table or dresser appear authentic, then lightly stencil some of the classic designs on the item, then sand it off in the standard ‘wear’ spots. If you color match it to your other pieces it will look great!