How did they get the raccoon poop...  

Cleaned off them?  It seems the latest decorating rage from across the Pond is old grain sacks.

Fabric sacks, like the kind traditionally used by European farmers up until the middle of the last century for carting grains to and from the mill, can be spotted all over the home this fall.
On pillows. On tables. On lampshades.
Many retailers like Target, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware as well as the design community have their own applications for these textiles, some of which are authentic and others only inspired by the past. Even so, bringing this sort of woven simplicity to decorative pieces is on the rise.
"I definitely see this as a big trend for fall," says Sabrina Soto, Target Style Expert for Home and HGTV celebrity designer. "Vintage-inspired pieces -- reminiscent of what you might find at a
Kymberley Fraser designed this penguin-themed grain sack pillow for her 3 Fine Grains line of home goods.
French flea market -- can create a traveled, eclectic look in any room."
The two looks emerging include striped linen and printed burlap.
Historically, linen grain sacks were produced on the farm.
Family farmers would set aside land for growing hemp or flax. They would harvest it, soak it to loosen the fibers, clean and spin the fibers into thread and then weave the fabric (because in those times durable fabric was not readily available). From the rolls of fabric different textiles were created, including utilitarian grain sacks.
"The grain sacks were used for the harvesting of whatever they were growing," says Wendy Lewis, a Vermont-based textile specialist and importer who sells high-quality antique and vintage grain sacks acquired from the descendents of the farmers who made them (www.textiletrunk.com). [More]

No matter how we farm, our older cousins always seem to do it a little cooler and cuter.


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