The Big Picture: Mini House Tour

Typically here at The Thrift Shop Romantic, we talk about a specific decorating item, or project, so we focus on the details. But it had occurred to me that there were a few rooms in Waterhouse that you folks had never really gotten to see.

So that’s why I’ve scheduled this mini-house tour.

And admittedly, it IS a mini-house.

Yes, indeedy, I do live in a Victorian, but you’ll want to wipe from your mind any preconceived notions that it’s some rambling genteel estate, or elaborate vision out of The Haunting. Waterhouse is a modest little Victorian-- Victorian Lite, if you will.

This has presented its own challenges to decorating. It means I rely on a lot of wall shelving and clever corner cabinets to display my collections.

It also means that my love of art sometimes tends to exceed my wall space.
So-- got your comfy shoes on? Then here we go.

You’ve seen this entryway before no doubt. Yup, this is the one I’d just painted in a flurry of activity during Whirlwind DIY week. So let’s just go to the right and pop into the dining room.

I’ve shown you a number of table and mantle displays in this room over the years. But I thought I’d show you some corners of the room you normally don’t get to see.

Like the one with my beloved fainting sofa. This lovely lady is no antique-- I got her from the clearance center of Levin Furniture. And though I don’t have space for both a dining room and a parlor, I think the piece works pretty well here under the picture window.


Oh, and see that? That’s where one of the recently thrifted paintings now lives.

Here are a few more corners you may not have seen.

And this, this is a bit of an embarrassment to me, but hey-- I try to be up-front about these things.

This was a built-in cabinet at one time and I found it in my basement, freestanding. I need to fix this, and have needed to do so for a really long time. I’ve tried to add trim, and plan to add legs to make this more moveable and useful. Admittedly, right now it’s a bit of an eyesore. It’s on my to-do list of projects for this year. Currently, I store china and linens in it.

Let’s head into the living room. This is a bit of a deviation from some of my other rooms, but I’m happy to have an appropriate home for that enormous Edwin Austin Abbey print of Richard III. You can also see where the Mille-Fleurs TV armoire lives.


I’ve tried to stick with a medieval/William Morris tapestry feel in this room.

Okay, in the interest of keeping the file size of this page to a minimum, I’m not going to take you into the kitchen from here. If you’d like to see the kitchen, you can always click here to see the feature on my kitchen cabinets.

Let’s head on up to the second floor.

Here on the stairway are some of my relatives-- heya, Great-Grandpa, how’s it goin’?--

...And most of my art deco prints. I’ve grouped them gallery-style so I could take advantage of the limited space I have. I know some folks would regard this as clutter. But I think they all work pretty well together.

Now on to the guest room.

I think you all have seen bits and pieces of this room through various other features, but here are just a few quick snaps. This and my kitchen are my most cottagey-Shabby Chic rooms.

And now onto my room.

Guests visiting are usually a little opened-mouthed about this room-- probably because there’s so much color and so much darned stuff going on in it. Frankly, it’s a joy for me to be in here.


It’s a little bit of Eastern India, a little gothic, a little Victorian, and pretty much mixes art deco and art nouveau together, no holds barred. But somehow I think it works.




Growing up I’d always wanted a posterbed, and now I’m lucky enough to have this wrought iron one which I’ve covered in curtains and sari fabrics, fastened in place by vintage pins.

Well, that’s pretty much the whole of Waterhouse, without taking you through my housemate’s territory, which out of respect for the renting, is not on this tour. You can, however, click here to see the bathroom if you haven’t seen that page before.

Or, for something completely different, you can follow me to the second feature for this week, where thrift goes to Antiques Roadshow. Click here.