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ANTIQUES + MODERN RUSTIC: Salvaging, or even inheriting items that don’t particularly fit your impression of your style, creates compelling environments. The juxtaposition automatically draws your eye to the unpredictable. This is storytelling on an intensely personal level. As I’ve said before, style creates a dialogue. Like it or not. I was grilled about this while staging log homes for marketing when homeowners were struggling with hanging art on rounded log walls. More recently, I was asked quite a few times during my gallery curation about hanging art in an environment with brick wall backdrops because I was doing it! I was designing around the historical context and found ways to display without drilling into the brick. Most people have problems fitting their preconceived notions about design into old buildings. I love it. A long time ago, we had an antiques store downtown, with the most beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows upstairs I’ve ever seen!!! It was run by a lovely guy who used to just call me up and ask me to come walk around in the store because he liked to watch my brain work with the items. One day he called me up and asked me to come over, and immediately sent me upstairs, which he had recently opened. He said he would talk to me after. I was up there swooning!!!!! He was grinning ear to ear when I came down. To this day, I miss Booty May and his gifts to me of those magical experiences. He thought I was the bee’s knees because he could throw me in a pile of junk and I could just curate the hell out of it. I thought he was the Wizard of Odd magical experiences. Retirement to Florida claimed him from me, and it’s never been the same here for me without him. In a historic preservation situation, there is an absolute necessity to tell the story of the history behind the space. There are a million ways to integrate existing styles into industrial design. Don’t get rid of your existing items if you end up here. Trust me, they will work. I had modern art hanging in the gallery alongside a beautiful piece of innovative salvage art representing a local business, curated by the president of PRM and me. It is on my Instagram feed @behousedesign. We created a paradox that lured people in. It was just magical to watch people‘s faces in a small studio area with very modern art next to antique reproduction art in gilded frames alongside a piece of salvaged assembly items. The unexpected is what you have in your favour in whatever environment you find yourself in. Go big and go for it! #behousedesign #findinghome #curator #influencer

BUILDING STYLE

February 17, 2025/by Tessa Wood

BUILDING STYLE is quite simple once you know your story. If it captures your attention, it’s your style; it will work. It’s all about becoming aware of the connection. Someone in the UK told me not to worry about mixing styles. Even if you don’t see it yet. It’s got a storyline! I exemplified this in my house, and I have made the same discovery with every space I’ve ever curated. Even if the decades of the furniture don’t match the modern art, it’s still telling your story. I highly encourage the juxtaposition of contrasting colours and styles because it creates intrigue. I love the leaning of the summer art over the hanging art! What a great way to seasonally update without rehanging!!! A life that stays the same from birth to death is almost as boring as store-bought style in a bag. Let’s face it, nobody’s style stays the same. That’s not how an artful life works. #behousedesign #findinghome #influencer

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