Cozy corners Inside an old house, despite the winter chill.

        I often complain that we live in the coldest house in Tennessee. It's not well insulated and our heat comes from gas cast iron stoves placed in two rooms. But despite our frigid rooms I try to keep things cozy with my decor. You could call my style Early American, English Country or just plain primitive, but it is the style I have always loved. I collect things;

 I like  hooked rugs and Samplers, old and new,

Some of these were stitched by me, some are "very old", "somewhat old" and "not at all old".

I just collect the ones I fall in love with. That's what collecting is all about, right?

I like spinning wheels. I found this walking wheel at a church sale just a mile or so from Shaker Village in KY. and was thrilled to see one, nearly identical inside the weaving house of the Shaker Museum. James bought me 2 wheels from Lithuania, they were delivered in  pieces all marked to be put back together. They even included some flax and a yarn winder. I SWEAR, they must be at least 200 years old, but they don't spin very well, actually, I don't either.

Are you as crazy for 19th century teapots as I am? 

You can always find beautiful Britainia-ware, silver-plate, pewter and enamelware teapots at antique shops and online auctions. They come in hundreds of shapes and sizes. These tea pots are in a cozy corner cupboard, looking neat and tidy.

 Pewter is always the most expensive, but the Britainia- ware is very affordable and really, the most interesting in design.  You can pay  less than $10 for a nice teapot or as much as $300. This fabulous coffee pot is pewter and enamelware, love those blackberries!

Tea sets can be placed in any room, just mix and match. You never have to actually use them, they just sit there looking lovely.

 The wonderful pot on the end is from 1830's made by Dixon and Son's.

If the birds aren't singing outside in the meadow, at least we can have little and big wooden birds...INSIDE THE HOUSE.

They don't make a peep, but are nice to look at  during the bleak mid winter.

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I stenciled the entire wall in this room and all the way up the stairs. It's easy to stencil; it is historically accurate for an old home and you can find just about any stencil pattern to fit your taste. And best of all, it is much less expensive than wallpaper.

   The winter mantle is decorated with branches and birds nest and acorns and some evergreen,

with a hornet's nest added for good measure. I will keep this out till Spring arrives.

You can see that the silvering on the mirror is disappearing due to the age of the mantle, but I really like that. If your decor is crisp and white, you may not appreciate the rustic look of "Country decorating". It is not right for everyone . I love country French, but it just doesn't work in my house... can you imagine me trying to keep everything white  and pristine after spending a day in the barn??! .. or digging in the garden? Not to mention our 3 house cats. I have a deep affection for the look of old, warm pine and primitive, early furniture. The more battered the finish and patina, the better. A good example is this dry sink.

 So named because they were actually used as sinks using an attached pump. This one actually did have a pump, but I put it in my garden. A zinc lining was usually present in this reservoir. Or a tin bucket was simply placed inside to wash dishes and such.

These beautiful hand made and hand painted "band boxes" are special treasures.
They were made in the 1980's by artisan Bess Leaf.

The wonderful wooden bowl was given to me from my mother, who got it from her best friend, who got it from her great gramma. Sometimes it is filled with fruit or nuts. Today it is filled with Potpourri.

Pie safes were a very common item in Early America and fresh baked goods were placed inside to keep the flies away. Mine is filled with books, not pies. The tiny spinning wheel atop was likely a flax wheel.  It works better than any wheel in the house. It may have been for a child or a sales-man's sample. I am really not sure. I bet my cousins from the Corgyncombe Courant Blog would know. Or maybe you, Linnie?

The punched tin doors, were for circulation, sometimes screen was used instead of tin.

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Another wonderful thing to cozy up the corners are textiles such as antique woven coverlets and olde baskets. The crockery is called Salt- glazed stoneware.  I love all the folk-art designs applied to the pieces.

I hang the woven coverlets over the sides of cupboards. Sometimes. if you are lucky, you may find a dated coverlet.

 

 The date is woven into the corner on this coverlet, 1849.

 Shall we go up the stairs?

And into my very favorite room in the house...

My 1910 bathroom..

where there are lots of cozy corners.
.(  you may remember when we re-did the bathroom in a post entitled "Transforming Ugly")

 These hat pins, antique purses and beads hang from a dress form I purchased when a department store closed it's doors for good.

This corner is also filled with vintage photos and beauty aids.

Look at this wonderful  bodice from Victorian times.

 The lovely collar is a velvet-like fabric, just fabulous to the touch.

Cost was a mere $20, including it's dress form at our local antique shop...  the waist is oh-so-tiny.

Can you guess what these little heads were used for?

Hat stands of course ! The hairstyles indicate they are from the 1920's and 30's,

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sweet faces!

I  like living with old things in our funny old house. Maybe because I love history, and it is my way of touching and holding in my hands reminders of a past day and age. For our home, they add interest AND make for cozy corners.

Okay, my house and collections tour is over for now. Since we cannot tour the gardens in the winter, I thought we would just walk through the house. I hope you enjoyed it, I have a lot more pictures to use till Spring pops its little green spikes up through the earth.

I love to see home tours on blogs. I hope some of you will guide us through the cozy corners in your abode as well.