The Plain House - Outside Touches

Southern Shadows 2 by Kimberly Hudson from Lovely Whatevers

The gingerbread brackets for the corners of the overhang or porch roof are not expensive anymore, and sometimes you can get them at craft and fabric stores, made of metal and other products that withstand the weather. You can now get picket fence sections that stick into the ground, which add interest to plain houses. Corner brackets can also be used on the inside of the house in areas that separate rooms, such as the dining room opening or kitchen entrance.

Coquina Coast 2 by Kimberly Hudson, from Lovely Whatevers

Most of the shutters on the sides of the windows are merely decorative, but outside shutters that actually open and shut are now becoming more available. A plain house can be made interesting from the outside by painting these shutters a contrasting color.

Southern Shadows 1 by Kimberly Hudson from Lovely Whatevers

If you live in a plain house, do not agonize over it. Look carefully at any house, and the bare bones of it is always a box shape anyway. It is the addition of columns, fences, cornices, lamp posts, fences, railings and plants that give it shape.

You can make a sign to hang on the outside, with a number or a message, that will add a bright spot to the outside. If in the end you find you cannot afford to add embellishments like this, a nice curtain in the window and a plant will still give a look to a plain house that says someone lives there who cares.

Coquina House 1 by Kimberly Hudson from Lovely Whatevers

Houses of the past often bore special names chosen by their owners. Rooms inside were also given names associated with the character or memories of those special spaces. It seems like any plain house could be made more interesting with a good name.

A Plain House - Inside Windows

Painting by Robin Anderson from Lovely Whatevers

If it seems more difficult to add interest to a plain house, these last few posts have tried to explore some possibilities for making that a little easier. Today I tried to find ideas for the inside windows that will be seen from the outside.

One source of discontentment at home could be the window furnishings. Women at home look out a window often. A window needs to be dressed with something so inspiring and lovely that it feeds the eyes and the mind with every glance. Home decorators have sometimes made such a big deal out of draperies that we feel absolutely intimidated by dressing a window. It need not be this way at all. If you cannot afford a curtain rod at the moment, try putting a string or rope or slender piece of fabric through the pocket of a curtain and hanging it up any way. Even if it sags a little, it can still be very charming.

My own solution was to get rid of the complicated drapery rods and those stickery hooks (ouch!). Who invented those, anyway? I was often picking up the stray hook to keep a child from being injured, and more often looking at a sagging drape where too many hooks had gone missing. Then, the machinery itself was so difficult to manage, often getting snagged when the drapes were pulled open or shut. Another problem with them was laundering. They are so difficult to hang up again that one would rather not have them washed at all, if indeed they actually could wash them. Most of them required expensive dry cleaning. The hardware itself required special installation that was not simple enough for me, so I opted for a plain curtain rod.

Like our mothers and grandmothers before us, curtains are a simple, doable solution for any homemaker, and always will be. They do not have to be expensive or complicated. I know that because of the expense, a lot of people will put a sheet or blanket up in the window, but for just a few dollars they can get a simple rod and put it through the hem of the sheets and hang them like drapes and it looks so much better.

I read in an old homemaking book that curtains with a rod pocket put on a simple rod were a much better idea. It is easier on the homemaker to wash them. Mine were made of 109 inch white muslin, and trimmed with ball-fringe. I've always liked the way that looks in a window from the outside. All I had to do was iron over a portion of the top for the rod to be inserted, and make a hem at the other end. The sides were the selvage.

Curtains are, all around, are less expensive and more versatile. When you need a change, it is not a major expense to put up a new set in a different style. Cotton is the best cloth for them, can be washed in hot water, bleached, or dyed. The sun can fade them out and it is no loss, as it can be replaced for a dollar a yard. They can be made of cotton velvet, or any kind of chiffon or silky material, in the same simple way as the fringed muslin curtains.

Painting by Robin Anderson from Lovely Whatevers

A lot of the houses had those awful aluminum framed windows, with no window sills. I had the same problem, and found that you can put a small table of the same height of the edge of the window, and on it, put a pretty plant or a vase of flowers, a lamp or a candle, in the middle of the window. It looks great from the outside.

Thanks to the comment who supplied me with this link:

http://www.irvins.com/ sells window lights that attach to some difficult windows.

I have seen a few front windows where people have placed a nice desk with a lamp and books and a basket of flowers and it, too, looks great. Just be sure the desk looks as good from its back side as it does from the front, before you expose it to the outside world. A sofa-table or buffet table might work as well, as it often can be turned any way you like and still looks good. Some of the desks are not finished on the other side and do not look good from the street.

Spring Window by Consuelo Gamboa.

If you have a sofa or couch in front of the window, you can still put a table behind it and make it look like a window-sill.

French Windows and Curtains by Francois Chopin

Apartments can still have a homey look. I know someone who has a plant outside her door and a wreath on the door. She brings them in at night. Apartments can still have lace curtains at the windows or at least a lace panel in the middle if there are drapes that can't be removed. Now, there are candles that stick to windows that, with a little effort, can look quite charming. If you use the table-idea and create for yourself a window sill, you can use electric candles on candlesticks, in the windows, or a plant. If the windows are high, you can mount a shelf in front of them and use that as a sill.

painting by Robin Anderson, from Lovely Whatevers

In keeping with the frugality articles I would like to add an excellent description of the Great Depression, here http://thesparrowsnest.typepad.com/the_sparrows_nest/2008/04/homemaking-depr.html?cid=111747204#comments I commented that although it was much worse than people have experienced nation wide today, these survivors have not carried the bitterness and resentment from hard times that we so often see today, often only from trivial matters. We are blessed that so many of them are still with us today. As commented by someone before, the pictures in her article show people dressed with dignity, even daily, in their own homes. Pictures are worth a thousand words, especially to those who mock the past and say that women dressing up did not really exist. In the late 40's and 50's, people saved their jeans and tennis shoes for rough work, and dressed up the rest of the time, even in the house.

Awhile back, someone requested I post a photo of the family newspaper idea. I am hoping to do that, eventually. Also, when I have more time, I'll take pictures of the muslin curtains.

French Window and Curtains by Francous Chopin