RISING FROM THE ASHES

Find inspiration in the story of a Pennsylvania couple who lost all their possessions in a fire but used that loss as an opportunity to create something new out of all things old, distressed and primitive.

Two Pennsylvania residents overcome a devastating fire that destroyed their apartment but view it as an opportunity to create a new place that’s a perfect complement to their primitive aesthetic.

When life deals a big blow, there’s really only one thing to do—pick up the pieces and start anew. This is exactly the position that Edith and Ed VanWhy found themselves in five years ago when a fire consumed the one-bedroom apartment in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where the couple had lived for more than a decade. “We lost everything,” Edith recalls.

Despite the extreme difficulties of their situation, the VanWhys saw it as an opportunity to embrace a new decorating style. They had long been collectors of antiques, but they displayed those pieces against traditional country oak furnishings. When the couple moved back into their newly rebuilt apartment several months after the fire, Edith embraced a more primitive aesthetic.

She began filling the space with distressed cupboards, wooden tables and old benches as well as primitive accents such as firkins, butter churns, spice boxes, apothecary cabinets and casks in all shapes and sizes. “Buckets, pails and baskets are my favorites,” Edith observes. “I love putting buckets on top of cabinets.”

Edith’s new signature style consists of grouping similar items in stacks, rows and layers. To that end, she might arrange firkins in neat lines along shelves and display wooden plates and dough bowls in wall racks. Color offers another way to organize goods, and Edith usually assembles assortments by hue, such as earth-toned stoneware or blue transferware.

She intersperses a variety of small accessories, such as pewter pitchers or candlesticks, with larger pieces. As a result, her primitive-themed apartment is stylish and interesting but without feeling cramped or cluttered. “I think it’s homey,” Edith says. “At nighttime, if you dim the lights, the primitives have a warm, comfortable effect.”

Although Edith doesn’t have any hard and fast rules for decorating, she is consistent in one respect—nothing stays in the same place for very long. “I change it around every day,” she says. Adds Ed with a chuckle, “When I come home, I never know where anything is.”

Edith would like to improve upon certain elements in the home, but she takes comfort in the fact that their living space today is a cozy haven during life’s ups and downs. “Someday, we’ll get there; we’ll have all of our primitives,” Edith shares. In the meantime, she’ll rearrange and refresh her rooms to her heart’s content.

“At nighttime, if you dim the lights, the primitives have a warm, comfortable effect.”

72 JANUARY 2021

To create an authentic primitive vibe near the kitchen eating area, Edith gathered a variety of antique and distressed woodenwares. A simple dining table and chairs balance the antique dry sink accented with signage, firkins, dough bowls and primitive plates. Nearby, a ladder leans against the wall next to an old wooden mortar and pestle, while two hanging cupboards complete the monochromatic theme.

Left: In her living room, Linda lined up casks and barrels on a high, sturdy shelf to fill vertical space above a floor-set cupboard. She placed bigger barrels in a corner and next to a chair to double as side tables.

Edith displays buckets, bowls, barrels and firkins in distressed cupboards with open shelves so that all of her collections are visible. Ed made the wooden shutters to match a rustic bench filled with primitive goods.

Linda brightens up an assortment of crockery with playful accents. Here, an antique sign for the Lynn Township School District parallels a children’s wooden rocking horse. A fire-engine-red union suit provides a pop of matching color in the VanWhys’ master bedroom.