Shabby charm in the Southern Hemisphere
I came across this charming little place on the interwebs a few months ago – it’s in a home converted from a turn of the century store in Port Melbourne, Australia. Everything looks as though it has been well-loved for generations. The kitchen almost looks as if they made that peninsula out of orange crates, doesn’t it? I only wish we could see a little more of it:
Charming kitchen with a home-made look
The bathroom is rich in original features and quirky charm, too:
The tub is equally dilapidated
Still south of the Equator, this time a Victorian country home in South Africa, with a kitchen that looks as if it could have catered to generations of the same family: (via Frank Features)
Well worn and well loved
Plenty of character
I always want to know what kind of stories rooms like this could tell – though I do wonder where exactly the line falls between old and inconvenient on one hand, and charmingly characterful on the other!
Hi Kate – tee hee, I love your line about burnt to the ground not being a good look, I’ll have to remember that one. Character is an interesting thing, isn’t it, less forgivable in something new that should be pristine than in something old that has earned its dings. I wonder as I walk my neighborhood of 50s ranch houses with mostly blah contemporary homes gradually replacing them, how long before the 50′s houses become desirable, the same way as the few craftsmen cottages left behind have done? And will the 90s MacMansions go through the same process? I guess they have to have been built with enough care in the first place, or they just won’t survive long enough to make the transition.
Wow! Lots to love in both those houses.
Sometimes it is hard to draw the line between awesome-old and awful-old, isn’t it?
Comfort, cleanliness and safety are a good starting point. A work surface built back when women were 5’0″ can lead to a bad back (unless of course you are 5′ tall). Any wood that causes splinters is a little too rustic for me. I’m very allergic to dust, and wood that’s unfinished or weathered is harder to keep clean. Old tile is great, but old tile w/ moldy stained grout, not so great. (BTW, still swooning over that worn tile floor from the other day!) Things like modern wiring and new gas fittings are important; burned-to-the-ground is not a good look.
Another starting point might be Form Follows Function. If something is purely decorative, then it becomes a matter of personal taste. But if something is to serve a purpose, then it should do its job. A few small cracks or chips in old tile is not the end of the world — unless it’s in a place that allows water to seep through. (Water and pigeons are an old home’s enemies.)
I’ve been thinking about your imperfection post. I wonder to what extent the sagging cabinet door and scratched kitchen door bothered people because it was a pristine white and fairly modern kitchen? If those two imperfections were shown in the kitchen above, would we be more likely to say “Well, that’s over a century old, what do you expect?” — perhaps without thinking that we can’t have a wonderful kitchen like the one above without a hundred years of those “imperfections”? One person’s imperfection or damage is the future patina someone else will fall in love with.
Ok, probably putting too much thought into this. Hazard of living in a 19th century home, I guess.