Home is where the art is
March 28, 2017 8:12 AM   Subscribe

“'Someone very dear to me once said, ‘When I’m in your house or at the Rancho, I feel like I’m walking around inside of your body.’ I love that he didn’t say ‘mind,’ because I don’t create with my head. I create with my heart,” [Sheila Youngblood] says. “What I wear, what my spaces look and feel like—these are expressions of my own heart, and inviting people into a space where you can feel the love and the soulfulness is my goal. It’s an invitation into something deeper. It’s gratifying, inspiring, and undeniably real.'” From Texas Monthly, a lovely photo essay: The Most Colorful House in Texas.

The "curated collection of treasures" is a favorite of mine. Maybe you have one you're willing to share?

Enjoy this pop of color in your day!
posted by MonkeyToes (20 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
Why does everybody else's house full of crap that is meaningful to them always look so much more beautiful than my house full of crap that is meaningful to us?
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:19 AM on March 28, 2017 [13 favorites]


A good eye and fancier crap.
posted by crumbly at 8:49 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


Someone recently told me I was "brave" for sometimes painting the ceilings the same color as the walls.

Someone needs to give this woman a medal.
posted by ernielundquist at 8:55 AM on March 28, 2017


In this photo, the ceiling's awesome, no argument but: That coffee table! Look at it! I'm consumed with envy. And a little fear, which only sweetens the deal tbh.
posted by rewil at 9:01 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


It's awesome when an octopus coffee table is the most restrained thing in a room.

Not all of those are rooms I would want in my house, but I love the bright colors and vivid personality.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:11 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


Really nicely done, she has a great style. A little more restrained than I was expecting, a lot more white walls.
posted by bongo_x at 9:42 AM on March 28, 2017


It's a gorgeous living space, but I am super duper uncomfortable with the idea that she bought a set of pillows in Chiapas, Mexico, and then had an artist copy the pattern onto the ceiling. The homeowner obviously has a heart for indigenous textiles and prints, but I'm guessing the artist who painted the ceiling was paid quite a bit more than the pillow maker.
posted by redsparkler at 9:56 AM on March 28, 2017 [3 favorites]


As we're in the process of trying to get our house prepped to sell, my first reaction to all that amazing decor is the house is a realtor's nightmare.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:17 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


As we're in the process of trying to get our house prepped to sell, my first reaction to all that amazing decor is the house is a realtor's nightmare.

It's well-done, so it might not hurt the value, but it definitely would limit the number of interested buyers.

This is something we have debated without clear resolution -- there is one way to remodel if you don't care about resale, and another way if you want to be sure to attract the most buyers possible. I tend to like the results of the first approach (like in this FPP) a lot more, but I don't have the wealth to not care about resale.
posted by Dip Flash at 10:25 AM on March 28, 2017


As we're in the process of trying to get our house prepped to sell, my first reaction to all that amazing decor is the house is a realtor's nightmare.

If you're not making structural changes it's surprisingly easy to strip the soul out of a house.
We pulled out all of our funky decor and painted all the walls, which had been a dozen different colors, neutral off white. For some reason it seems a lot easier to neutralize a house than to funk it up from scratch.

I'm not rich, but I don't want to live in an environment that is dictated by possible future resale value. People worry a lot about things like paint colors but paint is cheap and easy. That pool or remodeling project; you're never getting that money back, it's hard to change again later, and some future buyer is going to hate it. You can buy and live with granite counter tops thinking that it will help resale, but it's a trend that is already becoming a liability.

Go with what you love, you can't predict the future. I've seen people live in decor they don't like from worrying about resale, end up being there for many years, and then the shit's so old it needs redoing or is a liability anyway. That's living in some other hypothetical persons house.
posted by bongo_x at 10:47 AM on March 28, 2017 [9 favorites]


What bongo_x said. One of the big reasons I prefer owning to renting is that I get to do what I want with my house.

Mine's not as dramatic or as carefully executed as hers by a long stretch, but I paint my walls and sometimes ceilings (!!!) in saturated colors, and I am uncomfortable with minimalism and matchiness and symmetry, which is probably pretty apparent, but the vast majority of the modifications I've made could be undone in pretty short order if I ever needed to put my house on the market.
posted by ernielundquist at 11:13 AM on March 28, 2017


"They brought in barnwood flooring from France"

To Texas. Passing no old barns on the way, I'm sure.

That not-really-aside, and thinking about remodeling for resale and for yourself -- I figure the more emergy-expensive and irreversible the remodel is, the less personalized it should be. The actual structural walls should be in fairly boring, universal places, but you can paint anything! Even black paint can be painted over!

Though if you're painting over good woodgrain, do prime with something to keep the paint out of the grain for the person who wants to strip back to wood. It will come back in style before trees have regrown to replace the trim.
posted by clew at 11:17 AM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


None of it is my style except that bathroom. I can imagine taking a bath in that tub.
posted by twilightlost at 11:50 AM on March 28, 2017


"They brought in barnwood flooring from France"

To Texas. Passing no old barns on the way, I'm sure.


Oh man, I had the same reaction. I was going to say something but my eyes rolled back so far in my head I passed out for a minute. But maybe they had a good excuse.
posted by bongo_x at 12:20 PM on March 28, 2017 [5 favorites]


Why does everybody else's house full of crap that is meaningful to them always look so much more beautiful than my house full of crap that is meaningful to us?

When it comes to photos? Mostly staging and good lighting.

So if you had your house full of stuff really well-cleaned, carefully staged, and beautifully lit and photographed, it would look pretty awesome too.

This is sort of the ultimate Texas Monthly article, though:

1. About a Texan
2. Who does something whimsical/artsy
3. But who seems to have an awful lot of money that is carefully not mentioned, thus enabling said whimsicality
4. With the end result that it becomes a sort of aspirational lifestyle piece and makes you want to buy things

You too can travel the world, have attics full of clothes, buy beautiful whimsical things, buy original artworks! If you have the cash. And Texas Monthly assumes you do.
posted by emjaybee at 1:44 PM on March 28, 2017 [6 favorites]


good post, thanks.
posted by theora55 at 1:57 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


I don't disagree, emjaybee, but I loved seeing her style and the colors she chose--even if it is miles away from what I like and live with. But that little cabinet? I think I'm fascinated by things like Cornell boxes, mini-shrines, small displays of carefully chosen objects that tell a story or otherwise represent a thought/self/what-have-you. [Disclaimer, I am overrun with cats and all of the neat tiny objects I'd like to display are likely to be used as cat toys. Also, my daughter i s a magpie and loves to "borrow" my bits and baubles. It bums me out to see my collection jangling around in a drawer, and I wish I had a flair for display and a taste for clustered oddments. I can look at the curated cabinet and dream, sigh.]
posted by MonkeyToes at 2:28 PM on March 28, 2017 [2 favorites]


I do like her house, MonkeyToes! I've just been reading TM forever and can't help noticing their formula. Also the print edition is like 75% ads for high-end vacation spots, plastic surgeons, real estate and other rich-people items. It's Texas, but not the one I live in.

I don't know how high your ceilings are, but you could maybe hang some knickyknack things up high! The fronts of all my IKEA bookshelves have random objects that are there to be touched and looked at and fiddled with; a little boat, a wooden frog, a tiny bowl of random foreign coins, my mom's old brass notary stamp. Nothing truly valuable, but all things that make me happy.
posted by emjaybee at 3:01 PM on March 28, 2017


Typical Texas Tacky (modern edition) in my book...
posted by jim in austin at 8:40 PM on March 28, 2017 [1 favorite]


the rich...they are not like us
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:08 PM on March 28, 2017


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