Day 18: Resourceful, Not Redneck

My house has an unmistakable Shabby Chic/Cottage vibe – I’m a great believer in making a virtue of necessity. Dents? Nicks? Flaws? A vintage well-used patina? A flea-market feel? Pretend that it’s deliberate and was expensive to achieve.

Those gouges in the hardwood floor I refinished? I beat it with a heavy chain to distress it, finishing it off with a hammer and some primitive pounding.

For an authentic feel, faux stains were painted in places where pets would be apt to pee, causing water damage after years of carpet-soaking. No dog-eared detail was overlooked.

There are instructional videos for these seasoning techniques. You can watch famous interior designers hacking into pristine new flooring to make it look as splintered and beat-up as mine.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

My person has a Shabby Chic vibe, too.  Same deal with my own dents, nicks, and flaws. There’s no missing my vintage well-used patina; it’s all part of the charm.

I’ve never been beaten, though, by anything but circumstances.

And plumbing. Handy as I am, I admit defeat when faced with water woes.

My sister, meanwhile, is unafraid to stride boldly into an old-boy hardware store and demand a replacement ball-cock joint for the toilet. Now, there’s a woman who can Do Stuff.

So the handle on the kitchen sink broke off this past holiday weekend, when the price of a plumber would have quadrupled the cost of the new faucet. I thought my solution was brilliant! Rustic, industrial, functional, even ironic — and set off nicely by the vintage wood-grain Formica behind it.

Perhaps I’ll post it on Pinterest and start a trend! The bathroom is next. I’ll get a gold-tone wrench to match the classic glitter Formica beside the démodé commode.

Your comments welcome!