Design Rocket: Rules of Decoration: There are no rules

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VINTAGE EYEWEAR
Well, you can go get glasses at the local Lenscrafters, OR you can hunt down some spectacular vintage hand cut frames at your local antique shop and have them fitted with your prescription lenses. Or maybe---do both. I have some very normal, "don'-t-cause trouble" frames, and some "in-your-face" frames I like to wear when I am feeling "con cohones" and have had a drink or two. Better to buy "new old stock", if you are going to invest much in the lenses. It is not good to throw money into old frames in bad shape that will fall off your head or lose an arm and need that proverbial piece of masking tape to keep them together. Unless that is the look you crave--the look of half the boys in my nerdy seventh grade class circa 1965. If so, I have an old briefcase and a pocket pen holder I would like to sell you. I'll throw in the slide rule.
Lawn art and ashtrays
Back when guys stayed home more, listened to the radio and do other things at the same time, they probably labored over homemade lawn art, standing ashtray holders, and door stops. Usually they were made out of plywood, then painted. Look for slightly crackled paint. Many of the best of these were old comic strip characters like Jiggs and Maggie, or the ocasional Disney character. Black cats are plentiful. Also Butlers. You do not have to smoke to appreciate them.
old silhouettes
Many of these come from the 20's and 30's. You can often guess the age of the piece by the dress of the person whose portrait it is. Hung together on a wall, they have a wonderful impact.
Old cookbooks by local groups: i.e. Grange cookbooks, church cookbooks, college cookbooks, etc.
Tacky Souvenirs from old site seeing locales

Rules of Decoration: There are no rules

I've made it no secret that one of the ways I deal with stress in my life (won't bore you with the details) is finding comfort by using the decoration of interior space as an art form. While I paint large canvases, design fabric, create on paper, write books and illustrate (with paint and on the computer), all of those artistic endeavors are part of my business as an artist. In other words, they are my profession and I am paid for my efforts. Money aside, I love all of those ways of being creative. But--I also do "house." To me, how one arranges the interior space of a house is like making art you totally surround yourself with. And, I enjoy it as much as any other medium I work in. The different part of doing “house” is that I do not do it for compensation. In that way, it is a relaxing and freeing.

Over the years of having my own home, I had to learn to do house. How does one learn to decorate? Not sure. How does one learn to draw? I guess it helps if you are predisposed to doing things for the sheer purpose of satisfying your aesthetics. And, to decorate in a way that is true to your own tastes and purely individual, you have to learn to trust your instincts and listen to your heart.

After years of trying to be “tasteful”, my heart told me this one important fact: I did not have to conform to anyone’s expectation in décor but my own. And, I did not have to decorate like an adult. What happened is that I started to decorate the same way I draw—by instinct. The best way I can describe it, is that I got to that space you get to when you doodle while talking on the phone. Aren’t those always your best sketches? Mine are. That is the place I like to go to when I create. And it’s the same place to go to when you decorate. It’s located somewhere in the middle of the chest. If you spend too much time designing with your brain, instead of your heart, your rooms will be tight and stifled.

Of course, designing with your heart is not as easily done as drawing with your heart. Certain questions, like “will this piece of furniture actually fit in this space?” and “is this cupboard going to make it through the entryway?” have to be answered. Can’t bring the old eraser around to solve those issues. But, really, engineering aside, anything goes.

The easiest way to be expressive in a room is to find unique ways to hang things on a wall. Groupings of the strangest things can be dynamic when hung up. There is something about a collection of like objects that can rock a room.

Collections do not have to break the bank, can add color and texture, and are often a lot cheaper than hanging framed art on the way (this honesty coming from someone who sells paintings). And the fun is really in the hunting and gathering. It’s treasure hunting without the risk.