A New Direction
The chance purchase of an antique country cupboard steers an Illinois homeowner’s decorating style in a new, rustic direction.
The serendipitous purchase of a primitive cabinet steers an Illinois homeowner down a different, more rustic decorating path that leads to aged wall treatments and unique antiques displays.
In lieu of a cushion on the 19th-century bench in her dining area, Michelle Tacker folded a quilt into a rectangle for instant comfort. The farmer’s table features a few examples of her colorful banded bowl collection, and bonnets in similar muted tones bring softness to a nearby peg rack. A painted floorcloth lends pattern at ground level. Michelle thinks the rustic cupboard at right may have once been in a general store, as the bottom compartments include large swing-out bins possibly used for storing produce.
MMichelle Tacker grew up in a house filled with antiques, but it wasn’t until her fiancé, Brad Shellady, bought her a primitive cupboard “right out of someone’s barn” in 2010 that she felt her decorating style had truly come home. “The piece was a built-in from the early 1900s, a farmhouse probably,” Michelle recalls of the cabinet that they now keep in the garage. “After that, I was hooked. I have new things, of course, but if I could get everything old, I would.”
Bringing home that cabinet—an event Michelle considers an “aha moment”—steered her and Brad in a more rustic decorating direction in the conventional Taylor Ridge, Illinois, ranch she bought 30 years ago, where she raised her five now-grown sons. Not long after the serendipitous acquisition, the couple decided to gut the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home’s small kitchen and remove the four-season sunporch in favor of a large country cook space and a family room that could accommodate a fireplace.
Although they used an architect for the design, Michelle and Brad’s family and friends gathered to help them build the addition, which produced another 550 square feet. Often filled with the same people who helped construct them, the new kitchen and family room have become Michelle’s favorite areas in her cozy home. Not surprisingly, she has gone on to adorn them and the surrounding spaces with primitive treasures and things that speak to her heart. She limits bright or reflective surfaces in favor of a more muted palette of mustards and reds. She also happily incorporates rustic relics and nature’s bounty into her decor, a nod to the farmland around the property. “Primitive pieces are comforting; they make you want to slow down and imagine a time that once was,” she explains. She enjoys thinking about the people who used her antiques before her and loves coming home after a busy day working for the Department of Defense. “Having raised five sons here, life was always hectic and noisy. I like primitive’s calming effect, the warmth of the mustard and red tones, the glow of the oil lamps.”
Michelle believes her mom instilled in her a respect for and a love of the past. Like her mom, who adored salvaged pieces, Michelle has tried to pass on her appreciation for yesteryear to her sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Her son Dustin is especially interested in antiques, as is her son Bob’s wife, Stephanie, who, inspired by Michelle’s decor, recently switched her style to primitive from “IKEA contemporary.” Even grandsons Max, 8; Micah, 7; and Preston, 5, enjoy keeping up with Michelle’s vintage purchases. “They love coming over and seeing what’s new and different,” she says. “It’s an ongoing adventure for all of us.”