Funnily enough, one of the people I know who uses toile de jouy in a non-ironic way popped in to see the house today, and in the process reminded me of what a sensitive business this renovation thing can be. I knew from the minute she stepped over the threshold that it was a bad idea, and every step she took confirmed this. The sharp intakes of breath I'm used to, but I couldn't quite forgive the endless slightly disparaging remarks about the plans we have for decoration (the old 'How can you possibly have an IKEA kitchen in a house like this' which I'm fairly used to and pretty much impervious to, but her snottiness went much further than that, to the extent that I just want her to get OUT). She did that old 'With all the experience I have in renovating houses I think I know better than you' which of course gave me a headache with the effort of keeping back the words that were just desperate to come out, (cf toile de jouy and a certain kind of taste that may not be shared by all). She was all 'Oh', pursing her lips disapprovingly 'You're going to have to walk through the kitchen to get to the dining room, are you sure that that is a good idea?' Apart from anything else this is simply the layout of the house which we decided to keep; I sort of muttered feebly about that being the way that we entertain but she was totally unimpressed. And then she went on and on and on about how we were never going to be able to move in in July and we had no idea what we had taken on. 'But it has the makings of a lovely house, if you do think you'll be able to do it up properly.' I think she was hoping that I would ask her to help me, but given my strong feelings about toile de jouy and swagged curtains, I think that would not be such a great idea.
9 comments:
so so curious. wondering if her name begins with n. interestingly enough, on the never-mentioned-again-after-this topic of toile de jouy, i was just reading in the new domino magazine an interview with india hicks--she talked about her new toile de jouy curtains. with her pedigree, i was shocked
or was it dreaded m-i-l?
Neither. Guess again and you've got it. Greenwich, Connecticut, anyone?
well, i thought that, too, but that seemed too remote/oblique to piss you off in that particular way. whereas s-i-l OR m-i-l could. but n. wouldn't use toile d. j, would she? not white, billowy curtainy enough.
I'm amazed how upset I was. I mean I don't care what she really thinks, and yet...I guess I'm still that scholarly schoolgirl desperate for everybody's approval.
sort of a back-handed compliment, true, but maybe just take away "the makings of a lovely house" from her, set her on the plane back to greenwich, and leave it at that.
meet her halfway?
http://www.timorousbeasties.com/products/wallpapers/Toile%20Wallpaper/9
We so like your use of 'non-ironic', which with one swift sweep of your blade sends her reeling. We (sorry but let's be frank) so don't like her. Eek.
But we do like the window man, a friendly face in the woods to take the sting out of the wolf-bites. Ironic t d j from Timorous Beasties could be cool, I agree. They used to do a good London lampshade...
whatever you choose, get on with it and share with us!
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