I'm taking a little break from my vacation here to write this special post for Blog For Digs: a fundraising blog crawl to raise money for an amazing cause called Dwell For Dignity hosted by Stonehouse Love. Dwell For Dignity is a wonderful organization that helps create safe and inspirational homes for families in need. Let me first thank Fabulous K for passing the blogging on to me. Please take a moment to visit her blog and all the other wonderful stories from designers and artists who have contributed to the crawl. They are great fun to read.
My favorite thing about my childhood room was the red velvet paisley wallpaper. It was not only ridiculously bright and cheerful but it had a wonderful tactile quality to it. The only thing that would have made it better was if it was strawberry flavored scratch and sniff like those stickers from the 80's. I loved running my hands along the wall and feeling the grooves and ripples of the paper. It was soft and velvety and reminded me being in a castle. I felt like a princess.
This matched my favorite red blow up chair that I would sit in and read Richard Scarry books. There is nothing like inflatable furniture. It's very functional in California as it can go in your living room or in the pool. I have a picture of this chair somewhere but unfortunately my parents have just moved and it is stuck in a box in the garage. I will try and find it though.
I shared this room with my brother for a few years. We loved making tents out of sheets and broom poles so that the whole room was a fortress. It was awesome. Indoor forts are the best I have to say. My mom made us 'people of the world' sheet sets which were wonderful and had people in native dress from every nationality. I loved being tucked into bed and being told stories about where the people were from and where they lived. I would fall asleep dreaming of places I wanted to go.
Years later my brother moved to his own room and my room was redone. Down came the red velvet and up went the white and pink rosebud Laura Ashley wallpaper, matching towels and pink carpet. All picked out by yours truly. Every 10 year old girl's dream. I also had a quilted green window seat built into the bay window where I would curl up and read for hours. My room had old white shutters which I always loved and you just don't find nowadays. The kind with the really slim slats and little latches.
The one decor item I always wanted wasn't really a decor item but more of a lifestyle. I dreamed of living like Pippi Longstocking and doing things like washing the floor with brushes on my feet and having a horse in the house. That would've been cool. And a monkey. Have to have a monkey.
It gives me great inspiration for when I have a family. There will be no rules. I would love to do things like have a swing in the living room, secret rooms, lofts and charcoal walls to draw on. My childhood was wonderful, imaginative and filled with inspiration. In my teen years my parents let my brother and I design our rooms as we added a second floor to the house. This included hammocks in the bedrooms, splatter paint and a 50 gallon salt water fish tank built into the wall. I was always allowed the freedom to explore and use my imagination which definitely shapes my design sensibility today.
However to this day that red velvet wallpaper still remains my favorite memory. I will always be inspired by it. It reminds me to be bold, be brave and to break all the rules!
Please make sure to check out Fuerst Editions tomorrow for more Blog For Digs stories and don't forget to make a donation to Dwell for Diginity. Anything is appreciated! Merry Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment