When I saw this “Colonial-Style Living Room” at Homes & Gardens, those pieces of fabric draped over the sofa cushions gave me pause. My mom used a throw to hide a hole in hers until she could get it reupholstered, but I doubt that’s the issue here.
So what is? If you sat on on the sofa, you’d mess it up, so it isn’t exactly inviting. And with the pillows arranged “just so,” it’s a little too fussy for me. I won’t be trying this look at home.
Hmmm. Is anyone else having visions of that paper that rolls out to cover a doctor’s exam table for each patient’s visit?
Another room that gave me pause: Doll Heads on Display.
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Hanging my head is shame, I put towels (matching of course) on the new chairs in our family room that my husband and I sit on. When company comes over I take them off.
Too funny Julia! It does look like the disposable paper roll at a doctor’s office. Very odd. I’ve never seen any feng shui application like this, so I don’t think it has anything to do with that. And this is described as “Colonial-Style”? Is that Colonial South Africa?
Other than the “paper rolls”, I like the room (except I’d paint the shutters a little color).
I wondered the same thing about the “Colonial Style” description. Which colonies are they referring to, exactly?
I guess it would certainly make cleaning the couch a whole lot easier… I often look at styles in magazines and wonder how pratical they are, when people are actually living in the space… you know, like what happens in the real world… Lx
.-= Laura´s last blog ..What a beautiful Summer =-.
You have me cracking up this morning…which is exactly what I needed after being up all night with a sick child (or maybe I am delirious!). The room kinda has an oriental flair to me???
XOXO
.-= BeachBrights´s last blog ..Some of my Newest Purchases! =-.
Maybe the homeowners have incontinence issues.
Maybe they are doctors who like to like to play house! ;-D
Seriously, the white towels(?) are most likely there to keep the upholstery from getting soiled, though I now wonder why the chairs aren’t covered.
I put a sheet on the sofa when one of my boys has a stomach virus. So that if a. . .um. . .accident occurs, it’ll be the sheet and not the sofa that suffers. For a regular look, though, I’m not buying it.
And just how is this “colonial”? I’ve often thought of my own style as “British colonial,” encompassing at some level just about all the British colonies, but I don’t get how this look is anybody’s “colonial”!
When I think Colonial I think pineapple carved wood. I think traditional. I don’t think of towels on a couch and in a stark cold feeling room. This is a new twist on Colonial! LOL One I’ll skip
Julia,
You are on to many design magazines. They show how pretty a room is without any regard to how it affects the use of the room. The minute you set on this sofa you have messed it up, like climbing into a made bed and then getting up. If I had to “make the sofa” whenever I sat down either I wouldn’t sit on it or the scarf/pillow thing would be gone.
Too “Staged” in a bad way for me.
LOL! I didn’t notice it until you said ‘doctor’s office paper’ and now I can’t see the room as anything BUT looking like a doctor’s office. You have a brilliant eye girl!
xo
Kate
Too funny! Not my style either, but it may be functional if you have small kids or pets??? hmmm.
xo,
cristin
.-= cristin @ simplified bee´s last blog ..Best and Most Stylish Daily- Weekly & Monthly Planners for 2011 =-.
And too bad, it’s such a great room other than the white sheets!
Reminds me of my grandmothers living room, with plastic on all the sofas and chairs!
Maybe they’re germ-a-phobes
.-= Heather Collins´s last blog ..Free to wait a while =-.
I am moving away from throw pillows on my furniture. They aren’t comfortable, I always dump them on the floor when I sit down.
My mom always had ugly blankets and afghans on the couch. They were a pain to keep straight. She didn’t even remove them for company. The structure of my mom’s couch finally collapsed (it was one of those reclining ones). When she took it to the dump the upholstery was perfect
.-= Carrie´s last blog ..Hotel Review =-.
We put sheets on the sofas in the summer when it’s super hot out (little to no a/c) which is a great trick I learned from my mom. Something about the sheets is so much cooler than the upholstery of the couch-or maybe it’s all in my head. Now, I think my totally cheesy sheet covered sofas are in style!! Even when they are 35 year old disney sheets : ) good to know I could be in a magazine!
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The ol throw a sheet over the couch is akin to plastic covered furniture to me. Definitely too fussy for everyday living. I know my mom used to put towels over my pillowcase when I was sick (you know, just in case) but that’s the extent of covered furniture in my home. I’m not really seeing “colonial” in the above picture either, it’s a perfectly nice living room, but the fabric covered couch has got to go.
.-= Bre´s last blog ..Try It Like It- NARS Blush in Douceur =-.
I totally agree! Goodness. It looks so sterile and uninviting. It seems to say have a seat but don’t muss up my couch.
Cheryl@My Own Snug Fireside
.-= Cheryl´s last blog ..FALL IS ALMOST HERE! =-.
This was a lol post. Your sense of humor adds so much to your blog. I love looking at rooms through your eyes!
As long as they don’t add stirrups, and I don’t mean the kind on a saddle. The fact that was published has me completely speechless, and that isn’t easy.
Following on from Kristin, the stirrups may be absent, but I dread to think what procedure the item on the nearest side table is used for!
.-= Struggler´s last blog ..Home Office Mood Board =-.
You are positively right about the” visions of a doctor’s exam table.” I don’t know if that would have popped into my mind though. You’ve got quite a few comedic readers who would most likely make my face hurt from laughing so much! I do like the room a lot, but I would want to put something behind the sofa as the wall is too stark for me.
This is too funny! When I come across pictures like these, it makes me wonder where they got their ideas from.
Come to think of it, that coffee table is definitely wide enough to operate on!
.-= andrea peterson´s last blog ..My Names Whoa- Damnit! =-.
Julia – Now that you’ve pointed that out, I can’t see it any other way. That’s hysterical!
.-= Lesley @ TheDesignFile´s last blog ..Etsy pick- Start an art glass collection =-.
Hmmm…other than the shutters, it doesn’t look very Colonial. I think you hit the nail on the head with the doctor’s office description.
.-= Amanda @ Serenity Now´s last blog ..Coffee Break =-.
It looks like they’re expecting a pair of wet bums to show up – fresh from the swimming pool? What a ridiculous photo – best left, surely, to the professional hands of Catalog Living!
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Day 12- Othello and ducats =-.
I agree. I am not loving it. It is totally impractical in real life.
Maybe if the pieces of fabric were in a rich color, it wouldn’t look quite so sterile? Like maybe a deep green, or bright red, which is an accent color I love!
.-= Josanne´s last blog ..A New and Simple Chocolate Bouquet! =-.
You are too funny and that couch is too fussy! It looks over worked while the walls are bare — no balance.
How funny! I do this! My husband will come in from doing chores (in the barn) and I take one look at him…tell him sweetly to let me get a …..TOWEL…and then he can sit on the sofa! Buwahahahaha….
Maybe this is a modern touch? Perhaps a necessary piece of fabric for the drooling or spilling or messiness of the couch sitter? hahahaa..
Very funny post.
Blessings,
Debbie
.-= Debbie´s last blog ..Welcome FallFarmhouse Tour =-.
You are totally right! It looks like Doctor’s paper! All I can think about is hearing it crinkle when you sit on the sofa! (Ewwwhhh!!!)
.-= Jess @ Frugal with a Flourish´s last blog ..Fall is Cozy =-.
I can’t even think of a comment.
You hit the nail on the head Julia!
.-= Pat´s last blog ..Beans- Re-Purposed =-.
First impression: wet bathing suits
On the way back from a day at the beach in our 1960s Ambassador stationwagon, my mom always draped towels over the seats to protect the upholstery from our damp backsides.
I am seriously lol!! All of you are So funny….
Since magazines are NEVer thinking about the practical aspect of things, my guess is they were trying to break up the color of the couch. They would have been better of using a striped upholstery fabric than all that fussy fuss.
LOL, maybe it is to deter guests from sitting there. That is so odd!
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I agree that it looks “staged” and not practical for actual sitting or guests.
That said, I kind of like the look. It’s kind of an elegant and unique way of adding color, flair and style to the sofa.
Not practical but nice for pictures. Or a show room.
I could see putting a towel on the sofa to protect it when guests aren’t around but then it wouldn’t be so neatly and carefully arranged.
Oh Julia, you are hilarious!
yeah it looks too contrived….your doctor office analogy is hilarious!
.-= amy@maisondecor´s last blog ..Just when youre not looking =-.
I thought the same thing when I saw it in the magazine! It looks weird, doesn’t it?
.-= Elizabeth´s last blog ..Color Trends 2010 =-.
so weird! i love those shutters though!!
.-= jan´s last blog ..a 4 centerpiece =-.
Agreed. Makes me feel like I’m at the lady doctor. ICK!
.-= Juju at Tales of Whimsy.com´s last blog ..Christian Historical Fiction Contest- Pearl in the Sand =-.
What about those horns on that sculpture.. They look dangerous.. Although beautiful you can tell they don’t have kids. The towels on the couch give me an idea for my house… Maybe I can put a big sheet down where my husband sits and just shake it out everyday to get rid of the food debris from his snacking…. LOL
Ha! Not a bad idea, Shelly! -Julia
I didn’t like the room, but I never would have thought of the doctor’s office angle until you mentioned it. Where do they hide the stirrups?
.-= Amy´s last blog ..Preoccupied =-.
The accessories are wonderful but those couch drapes need to go and a taupe wall color with white trim would make everything warmer.
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