Decorating with Texan Antiques
Carol Taylor achieves an unmistakably Lone-Star look by carefully restoring her 1850s Round Top, Tex., dwelling with regional antique furnishings.
Carol Taylor took little notice of the small house on her Round Top, Tex., farm when she first toured the property. What she found inside the humble dwelling would change the course of her lifelong pursuit of antiques.
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1
Early American Texas House
Fifteen years ago, Carol Taylor and her husband, Gary, fell in love with an 80-acre farm in Round Top, Tex. The house that stood on the property--an 1850s saltbox with several later additions--was an afterthought for the couple. "It was smaller than what we needed, but we adored the land around it," Carol recalls. Little did she know that restoring the unassuming structure would begin a new chapter in her life as a collector.
Pictured: The pitched roof of the original 1850s portion of Carol and Gary Taylor's Round Top, Texas home is visable behind a stand of white 'Lady Banks' roses.
Pictured: The pitched roof of the original 1850s portion of Carol and Gary Taylor's Round Top, Texas home is visable behind a stand of white 'Lady Banks' roses.
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2
Red Entryway
Curious about what lay beneath the wallpaper and sheetrock that covered the home's interior walls, Carol tore away tiny sections to reveal traces of original buttermilk paint in jewel-toned hues of red, green, and blue. Once everything was carefully stripped from the wood-paneled walls, Carol realized that the Victoriana she'd collected for years looked out of place in its new rustic setting.
Pictured: Tomato red paint in the entry hall had been hidden under wallpaper for decades; The Taylors cleaned the paneling with ammonia water, coated it with beeswax, and buffed it. Texas antiques inclued the trunk beside the door and the open cupboard filled with quilts.
Pictured: Tomato red paint in the entry hall had been hidden under wallpaper for decades; The Taylors cleaned the paneling with ammonia water, coated it with beeswax, and buffed it. Texas antiques inclued the trunk beside the door and the open cupboard filled with quilts.
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3
Antique Iron Tub
Guided by her mentors, local antiques enthusiasts Faith Bybee and Marge Maddox, Carol gathered primitive Texas furnishings that were not only better suited to the date and style of the house, but also held a special significance for Carol, a fourth-generation Texan. "I was meant to find this house," she says.
Pictured: Carol tracked down antique iron tubs for each of her home's bathrooms, as well as this guest bath in the property's restored log cabin.
Pictured: Carol tracked down antique iron tubs for each of her home's bathrooms, as well as this guest bath in the property's restored log cabin.
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4
Carol Taylor
"A house will tell you how it should be decorated," observes homeowner Carol Taylor. "You just have to listen closely to what it has to say." Carol is a member of the Bellringers, a group of women in Texas and surrounding states who decorate their homes with antiques.
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5
Yellow Storage Cupboard
Bold colros on walls and furnishings allowed rural homemakers to brighten their surroundings in centuries past. Carol's collection of painted furniture in original red, blue, mustard, and other hues is a natural counterpoint to her home's strong palette.
Pictured: To add a burst of color to a bathroom, Carol turned a small storage cupboard with original mustard paint upside down and mounted it on the wall.
Pictured: To add a burst of color to a bathroom, Carol turned a small storage cupboard with original mustard paint upside down and mounted it on the wall.
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6
Woodstove Electric Range
Regional antiques made in and around Texas give the Taylor homestead its authentic flair. "The scale of the furniture is just right," says Carol of her cupboards, tables, chests, and chairs. "These particular pieces were made to fit this kind of house."
Pictured: The Taylors turned an old woodstove into an electric range.
Pictured: The Taylors turned an old woodstove into an electric range.
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7
Rustic Dining Room
Bare floors and humble pine shutters at the windows in place of curtains create a clean-lined look that pairs well with the home's primitive antiques and reinterprets the way the interior originally would have been decorated in the mid 19th century.
Pictured: Traces of blue paint on a late-1800s table complement the dining room's walls.
Pictured: Traces of blue paint on a late-1800s table complement the dining room's walls.
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8
Stone Hearth with Painting
Simple lighting such as table lamps, chandeliers, and wall-mounted lanterns instill the ambience of days gone by. Not every fixture is period perfect, yet each has an old-fashioned feeling that halogen bulbs and recessed lighting cannot capture.
Pictured: Carol's husband painted the portrait of Sam Houston that hangs above the hearth.
Pictured: Carol's husband painted the portrait of Sam Houston that hangs above the hearth.
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9
Antique Quilts
Antique quilts sit neatly on display.
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10
Log Cabin with Texas Flag and Dogtrot
The Texas flag flies in front of the log cabins dogtrot.
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11
Basket on Antique Cowhide Chair
A new basket rests on a antique texas cowhide chair.
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12
Black Rocking Chair
A welcoming rocker patiently awaits the next visitor.
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13
Guestroom
One of two guestrooms in the log cabin.
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14
Log Cabin Sitting Room
A log-cabin sitting room.
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15
Front Porch
A front-porch vignette.
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16
Texas Porch Bed And Pie Safe
A late-1800s Texas porch bed and pie safe.
"I wanted the rooms to look the way they would have when the house was built in the 1850s," says homeowner Carol Taylor.
"I wanted the rooms to look the way they would have when the house was built in the 1850s," says homeowner Carol Taylor.
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17
Rose Arbor
Roses adorn an arbor.
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18
Antique Wooden Bowls
Antique wooden bowls and a maple rolling pin.
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19
Painted Wood Buckets
Painted wood buckets from the 19th century.
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20
Straw Hats
Straw hats on a bedroom peg rail.
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