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Original Country Decorating; Avoiding the Trendy

© Paula Dundore

I have approached my decorating with the same attitude I had when choosing names for my children. Classic is good, original is better and trendy -- no way. While I truly loved the names Brittany and Dylan, I found at the time of my child's impending birth a few years ago that those names were just too trendy and common place.

The same thing can be said for my stance on decorating country style. I promised myself there would be no white geese with patterned ribbons around their necks in my home, no matter how cute they are. But where to get non-trendy idea's? Most magazines all played to that trendy audience. If you find yourself in the same decorating dilemma, then read on for some classic and original idea's.

The Vines

In our area, we have many thick vines around our tree's. These vines put you in mind of the type Tarzan might take a swing on. They can grow to be a considerable length and are easy to bend and manipulate while still "green". Once they are cut down, you need to start your project immediately as they will be too difficult to work with once they dry out. You can do many things with these vines to get a rustic and warm country look. Smaller pieces can be used to shape into wreaths and other craft projects. But I have chosen to use my vines as border in my living room.

Directly underneath the molding that runs along the corners of my living room, I have placed the vines and secured them by drilling a small hole and then nailing. You could also run the vines down the corners of the room to the floor. In addition to that, I have wound a silk leafy vine around the real wooden vine. You could choose to decorate these vines with leafy foliage or flowers.

An added unique element to this look, would be to add in some realistic butterflies and frogs. I found these at a large bookstore that has an environmental section. This is where they display the wind-chimes and realistic plastic figures. I found many colorful and fun tree frogs. From there, I purchased butterflies from a craft store. I used Velcro tape that you can get at your hardware store to attach them to my walls in and around the foliage.

Rather than using the vines simply as border, you could also use them to make patterns of design. By criss-crossing the vines or weaving, alternating thicker and thinner ones, you can make

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