Too Modern?

[shipperx]

So, now that Mom has finally settled on a house, (it's supposed to close at the end of the month) she is now looking for furnishings.

I think I mentioned that Mom sold her house to someone from New Orleans whose home had been destroyed in Katrina. Mom sold both house and furnishings, so basically Mom has one antique piece and new breakfast table (that's relatively modern). Now she's looking for furnishings. We have pretty much gone through every good furniture store in town. Mom is basically obsessed with home decor. She always has been. The woman has more copies of Architectural Digest than anyone I've ever known and when I was growing up she ran her own interior decorating business. The problem has been that she's one of these people who loves so many different styles that she can never settle on one style for herself. And in the last few years, she's found it increasingly difficult to settle down and make a decision on these things. She can waffle and be ambivalent forever. She's also constantly haunted by regret (to the point that, admittedly, my sister, myself and my dad dismiss her regretting decisions because she regrets EVERY decision. She constantly plays "what if..." and has analysis paralysis. My sister and I tend to have to push her into decisions. (I know that's dangerous, but otherwise no decision is ever made).

The problem is that with home decor, my sister and I are very, very different, so we aren't exactly pushing in the same direction. Mom decided tonight that if I really, really thought it was right, that I could go this weekend and order the sofa and chairs we had looked at last week. I've been pushing for this decision. In fact when I woke up last Saturday, my intention was to tell Mom "This is what you should do. Let's go order it today." Except, when I woke up, my sister was visiting and -- for once -- she decided to give in to my Mom's furniture obsession and visit all of two stores with us. The sofa my sister chose for Mom to buy is not the one that I had thought we would go with that morning. The sofa my sister chose was very nice... but more Edwardian in style. On the other hand, without her saying so directly, I'm quite sure that my sister feels that the sofa I was leaning toward is entirely too modern. Mom, in paralysis analysis mode, resorted to returning to the shop of an interior designer whose work we all love. She had intended to ask David (the designer) what he thought. Unfortunately, David was out on a job when we dropped in. One of the shop's workers suggested that we speak with am interior designer in the shop (I'm not sure whether this designer is someone that has recently been hired, or someone using the shop). . . and here's where it gets a tad sticky. The sales clerk had said "Oh, so-and-so has an iterior design degree, ask her." When mom and I left the store, I had snarked to her that the sales clerk didn't know. "How could someone with an interior design degree convince you when I have an architecture degree and was only one course short of graduating with an interior design double major, and I can't convince you."

So now, Mom gives me carte blanche to order the two pieces that I had selected... and now I am the one with analysis paralysis. I don't want to steer her wrong. Is this too modern for her (modern as in contemporary because it's not exactly Modern with capital 'M'... but I don't think she'd want it to be Modern with capital 'M'). She likes my home, but my home veres far more Tuscan in style. But both Mom and myself tend to be somewhat influenced by trends. I don't want to nudge her into a style that's too me or too trendy and not enough her. (I know it's not my sister, who tends to vere far more French in taste than either my mother or myself. )


Opinions? (And while the sofa is that color, the chairs are in a different fabric and camel rather than brown)

Comments

[dreamkeeper77.livejournal.com]

I like the chair better than the sofa. It's too modern for me. I like elegant, rather than trendy, but that's me. It sounds like your mother has varying tastes. Perhaps she could make the eclectic style work for her? Not many people can pull that off well, so I don't know. Sorry, I couldn't help more.

PS. I know what you mean about different tastes. My oldest sister is very Mediterrenean/Grecian (pilars and whatnot--everything is off-white), while my other sister and mother are all country (flowers everywhere)and me--leather and suede...lol.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Mother tends toward eclectic. She wants to go a bit more modern, but I don't want to actually push her completely out of her comfort zone (though her style has always been difficult to define).

However, in general, as a design philosophy, I tend to prefer that sofas not draw too much attention to themselves. I like them to be scale appropriate (not overstuffed) and not a focal point in the room. The size and scale has been a very big part of it because I don't think the size of the room can take anything overscaled. We want to emphasize what space she has. What's attracted us to this sofa was that its length wasn't lost in a rolled arm (but then mother backtracks and wonders whether she needs a rolled arm because the chairs have them).

I don't worry about the chairs because they're from the shop of mom's favorite designer (she still drools over the chaise I bought from him a few years ago). The only reservation she's had with the chairs are with the fabric (which isn't the same as what's shown in the photo.) I understand the reservation since there's really not much of a contrast to the wall color we're picking. On the other hand, since space is a premium in the room, it's best that the larger pieces of furniture not "pop" in the space.

Still, I tend to also go with a philosophy of "love every piece." You sort of have to love each piece that you have and there has to be something about it that speaks to me. But I tend to do that more with wood pieces and accessories than with upholstered pieces which, for some reason, unless they are truly unique, I don't like to draw too much attention to themselves.

Not entirely sure how I came to that philosophy, though.

[dreamkeeper77.livejournal.com]

Well, you know a lot more about this than I do...lol Good luck!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

It's the curse of having grown up in a home where my mother was an interior decorator and my father taught construction layered with my being an architect. We tend to be a bit obsessive compulsive in these matters. :)

[fishsanwitt]

Well, I'm completely useless here since I think both pieces are *gorgeous*.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I have no doubt that I love the chairs. They are scale appropriate, and high backed which is what my father prefers to sit in, but not so high backed that they'll block the windows.

The sofa I've debated on. In one way it's a very classic sofa with clean lines. It's not overscaled or overstuffed, which so many sofas are these days, but mother quite simply doesn't have the room for that (and in general, I'm over the whole overstuffed/oversized phenomenon.) But I worry that it's lines may be a bit too streamlined. In my head it's very close to sort of Carey Grant 1930s black and white era lines.

My sister and my mother's best friend have expressed some reservation with it being too modern looking -- and I think it's a valid concern -- but the "bones" of the piece look good to me. Very efficient and not overdone.

I just don't want her regretting the choice (which is hopeless because she ALWAYS does. She hired her favorite interior designer to do her last home... and she always hated the sofa that he chose. So if he failed, I'm pretty much doomed to also disappoint. Then again, mother has hated every sofa she's ever owned. She claims to love my sofa (conversely, I hate my sofa), but I primarily think she loves it because it's not hers. :)

[fishsanwitt]

I see what you mean about the sofa. It *is* more modern than the chair and although the structure might be good - that might not be enough to recommend it.

I hope you let us all know what the final decision is :)

[gamiila.livejournal.com]

Modern? The chair especially looks like a 1910-1920s design to me, and not the then avant-garde either! But if this is the sort of thing that your mum likes and can stand to have around her for a number of years, then by all means, go for it! Personally, I think both the chair and the sofa don't look comfortable enough, but I could be wrong, there being no way for me to try them out...Are they?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I kind of think of the sofa as verging on 1930s art deco.

The chairs are in contrast to that, so no, I considered those to be contemporary not modern (and not remotely Modern).

I've sat in both chairs. The chair and the sofa are both comfortable. The chairs we can have the floor models, but the sofa has to be ordered. And I don't really worry about Mom liking those as their from her favorite designers showroom. The sofa is from a different shop and they don't sell their floor models. It's rather similar to a loveseat mother had throughout my childhood.

[gamiila.livejournal.com]

Well, with the comfort box ticked, and what you were saying about the available floor space (always and important consideration!), and how these pieces would fit without drawing too much attention to themselves (another thing I agree on), I'd say it's time to make the purchase!

I kind of think of the sofa as verging on 1930s art deco

It does have that kind of feel to it. As soon as I saw it, I thought of my 'New Living' interior design catalogues of the late 20s\early 30s.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I think that's it. And I think that's where my sister and I have sort of a different take on the piece. In the show room the sofa is with many very Modern -- capital 'M' -- pieces, so my sister sees it and think's Modern whereas in my mind, I'm really seeing something that would be in place in Carey Grant's flat in "The Philadelphia Story." Stepping back and thinking of it, the house Mom bought is Tudor influenced. My sister seems to push for sort of the English Country Home aesthetic with the house whereas (I've suddenly realized) that I'm associating the Tudor with 1920s Tudor Revival, hence the sort of Art Deco influence that I see the sofa as pulling in.

Huh. I just figured out why that sofa appealed to me in the space.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

The chairs look more modern when not in the velvet in the picture. They're in sort of a raw silk in the show room. That kind of rough texture gives the chairs an entirely different look.

[gamiila.livejournal.com]

I've no doubt it does. Over all, the design puts me in mind of the Italian expressionist movement of ca. 1918 a bit, or the Amsterdam School of around the same time. The legs, and the studding along the back. The more I look at it, the more I like it. ;-)

[mistraltoes.livejournal.com]

Mind you, my decorating aptitude is limited, but they both look classic to me, and quite compatible for someone who likes to mix styles. I don't see the sofa as too modern; it does evoke an earlier era. Beyond that, my concern would be for the quality of the piece; I'm used to older, sturdy furniture, and every time I see something made recently, I'm disappointed at the shoddiness of it. But if these are well made, I don't see any problem with putting them together.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

The construction should be fine. The chairs are somewhat high end. The sofa is manufactured by the same company who made my sofa, and it's held up remarkably well the last ten years (damnit! I really wouldn't mind getting rid of it, but it looks as good as the day I bought it, so I have no excuse to spend that kind of money. :)

[timeofchange.livejournal.com]

The sofa is exquisite. I think it would end up looking great with any number of styles. I know it would be fabulous in my house, which is a semi/sort of Connecticut colonial with a few Craftsman details, and my furnishings, which are all over the place but somehow look okay together. The chair isn't my cup of tea. I find the back is too boxy for the legs and arms. Of course, it's all down to personal taste, yes?

[rahirah]

Personally I like the chair better than the sofa, which to my eye is sort of plain and boring. The (studs?) around the back and the little in-dippy part on the legs give the chair visial interest that the couch lacks.

But then, I decorate mostly in Early Impoverished College Student, so I'm really not the right person to be asking.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Hee! Well, yeah, the chairs are more interesting than the sofa, but I sort of planned it that way. I tend to dislike when the sofa becomes a focal point in a room.

Mom is in Destin today and she's going to a different show room which would ship faster than the place this sofa is from (which takes 9 weeks to ship. Yikes!) So, pending whether she finds something that she likes that can ship in a later time, she may switch to a slightly different sofa. . .or not.

I'm pretty sure that if the chairs haven't sold, that we're going with the chairs. I'll have to go down to Pepper Place tomorrow and see whether the chairs have sold since last weekend. Richard Tubbs usually only has what he has in his showroom as he's basically and interior designer and not a furniture store. If they have sold the ones on the floor, he'll have to re-order for us.

[molliemole.livejournal.com]

I like the chair a lot. It looks like it would be really comfortable to sit and read in. The sofa's only drawback to me is the length of the arms. You could only rest your elbows on them; then what would you do with the lower part of your arms? To me style and comfort have equal weight in furniture selection. But your mother doesn't hold a candle to me in the inability to make a decision department. I finally just replaced my sofa that I bought in 1974. I couldn't find anything I liked as well as it. And I looked for years.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Hee! I wouldn't be so quick to say you're worse than my Mom. My Mom still owns a love seat from 1968. :)