GUEST BLOGGER-SUE JONES

LESS is MORE

 by SUE JONES

 I have been collecting antiques all of my married life (38 years and counting….) and a rug hooker for the last 25. 

 My husband and I built a 1750’s Connecticut reproduction home in a suburb of Atlanta , Georgia 13 years ago, and it gives us the perfect backdrop to display and evolve our collections.

This house has seen some changes in the last few years, as I have entered my minimalist stage.  I don’t want to see clutter, and I don’t want to dust it.  So I have sold off half of my collection, and I am much happier with a “less is more” philosophy. 

 With online shopping, it  is so easy to put an entire collection together in a matter of weeks, and I found myself addicted to the whole concept...  Not anymore!

  Selling can give me the same high as buying used to, and I love the money going back into my wallet as well as a 

cleaner look for the house.

Another thing I recently did was change my rooms around.

  The old living room is now the dining room, the dining room is now a small visiting/keeping room, the living room furniture went into the family room, and the family room furniture went out the door~! 

 Just because a room is to “be” the living room or dining room doesn’t mean it “has” to.

  By re-designating my rooms it gave me a new interior design without ripping down walls or having to move.

Here is the old living room, now the dining room:

 And my rug hooking has taken on a different look as well.

  I sold kits and finished rugs at the folk art shows in the Midwest and East Coast for years, and some of you may have hooked my kits or own one of my rugs.

  More than likely it was a pictoral ~ a house, an animal, a tree.  But these days I only like to hook geometrics.  I think it’s a control “thing” ~ every loop I pull up is in a orderly, repetitive pattern in a geometric, and this is also reflective in my current decorating style.

  

Yes, my decorating has definitely evolved into a simplistic style, but my love of early samplers, stoneware, and small painted pieces is still evident in all of my rooms. 

 Will this new simple look carry me through my collecting years I have ahead of me?  My husband certainly hopes so, as it’s very user friendly on the checkbook~!

(Sue's hooked rugs have been featured in Early American Life magazine)