Jamie Patterson Managing EditorMy husband Jason stood in silence as he looked over the new living room arrangement.
I have the luxury of having a best friend who also has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to interior design. She and I had spent the morning moving furniture around, shifting accent pieces and rearranging the whole design of the living room.
That was over a year ago, and Jason is still complaining.
“I sure would like to have a place I can sit my cup down again,” he said, huffing in his recliner.
Now mind you, there is a side table sitting between the two recliners in the room. I can sit my cups down next to me with no problem. But apparently, he has a problem with extending his arm to the left to utilize the table.
“I liked it just the way it was until ya’ll came in here and moved everything around,” he said. “I need to have some input next time.”
I would love to see what Jason would come up if I allowed him to decorate our home. I let him have one exception in our sitting room, and now there is a giant deer head staring at you from above the fireplace.
This is the same man who would like to have two matching camouflage recliners in the living room. You know, in case we ever need to blend in with our surroundings while we are watching television.
He has photographs and blueprints drawn out of an antler chandelier he would like to construct one day. He even wants to wrap our front door with antlers to give it an “outdoorsy” feel.
Decoration elements like this would work perfect in a log cabin or at a deer camp. But I am just not seeing his vision in our 1950s cottage.
My Paw Paw also had a “vision” when it came to decorating.
Growing up, he always had a series of reminders in our house, letting visitors know that he was a hunter.
It was a different era then. Paw Paw brought home the bacon so Maw Maw kind of had to let him decorate some. She had her antiques, but there were clear traces of him scattered throughout the house.
There was the classic living room lamp with three stuffed squirrels on it. The squirrels were mounted up a wooden stand that led up to the lampshade.
Then there was the gigantic ox horns above the television set. These things were so massive that they were not safe to hang up on any wall. Trust me, I know. That thing came crashing down on my doll house one night with me barely escaping. The horns went back up, but Maw Maw told me never to play there again.
Deer heads were everywhere in our home. And there was a gigantic bass mounted as well.
But the most orignal “man piece” I have ever seen was found in an old photograph I discovered.
Paw Paw had taken the hooves of a deer and made a gun rack out of them. I am not making this up.
Placed upon a wood board, two hooves were placed across it. When entering the Jackson home, you could hang your weapon or even a jacket on Bambi’s feet.
That must not have lasted very long because I never saw it. But the photograph proves it existed.
So, I guess I should let Jason dream a little. I might even be able to live with camouflage recliners or even an antler chandelier.
But I’m drawing the line at furniture made from feet.
“Hey, that’s pretty neat,” Jason said, looking at the photograph of Paw Paw.
I just hope he doesn’t get any ideas.