Decorating with Texan Antiques

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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