Flashback Friday: My mom's teen room

My mom found this picture of her room from her teen years, and I can't tell you how much I LOVE it.  First up: that FABRIC.  Love the feeling of movement in the floral, and the blue that keeps it from being too sweet.  But how about the matching bedspread, drapes, and cornice?  And the detailed scalloped edge on the cornice?  And don't get me started on those pink moire chairs.  This is why I love moire: it seems that my grandmother loved it, too.  IT may feel old fashioned and grandmothery now, but I think it's classic, and almost faux-bois texture of it will always seem modern to me.  (I made chartreuse moire bolsters for my girls' room and insisted on fern moire tablecloths at my wedding.)  Of course I love the hexagon table and the white and brass lamp.  But the stroke of genius is grounding it all on that sea of raspberry wall to wall.  I've been crushing on raspberry ever since moving into this house and putting it on the girls's headboards and the guest room curtains.

I also just noticed that the bulky thing on the hex side table is a turntable.  Very hip, mom!

Flashback Friday: First solo-apartment Bedroom

Love that space: Park Slope, 1999

The Vision: Tropical Mod

The Elements: bed on the floor, sheepskin rug, bamboo blinds, 1950s barkcloth in a tropical floral, leopard print throw pillow, plexiglass tulip chair with zebra print seat.

The Huh? Factor: a 1920s blown-glass lamp with a fringed shade--see it on the windowsill? (Total DIY, by the way. There weren't entire stores devoted to lampshades back then, so I bought a plain white cone shade and hot-glued 3-inch magenta fringe in a zig zag around the base!)

The Analysis: After almost two years sharing a 300-sf one bedroom apartment with my roommate and best buddy Jeff, I moved into an 850 sf park slope 2-bedroom, solo. I bought the full sized bed and ran out of money. The barkcloth throw had been the curtain in my old room, and dressed up the all-white bedding nicely. This was before there was a Home Depot and Lowes in every town, and the bamboo blinds came from Pearl River, an amazing Asian department store on the southern fringe of Soho. All in all, I have to say the room is casual and "undecorated," but has some style. Or maybe I mean guts.

What Remains: that exact sheepskin is in use in our bedroom (okay, actually in the closet.) The barkcloth calls to mind the bols tropical print on the curtains in the girls' room. I will always love bamboo blinds. And I wish to goodness I hadn't sold that rockin chair!

What did your first solo bedroom (or post-college bedroom) look like?

Flashback Friday*: Freshman Dorm

I have always been interested in the way my space looked. I remember making floorplans and elevations to turn my childhood bedroom into a studio apartment when I was,like, eleven. I've also always had a distinct point of view. Whether or not it was in fashion, I always had a vision, and I always did what I could to execute it well.

I'm not altogether sure this is wise, but I've been digging up photographs of some of my early decorating decisions, and I thought I would share them here. Gulp.

First up: Vassar College, 1993.

The Vision: French Country, via Florida. (very often my vision is one thing with a dash of Florida thrown in, for better or for worse.)

The Elements: Sunflower bed-in-a-bag, white wicker shelving, Matisse posters, classic ceramic lamp, and--ummmm--a display of wide-brimmed hats on the wall.

The Huh? Factor: I've never been a stuffed animal person. I'm not exactly sure where that fox came from, or why I felt that freshman year in college was the time to drag it out.

The Analysis: I had recently spent a year in Switzerland. I had a thing for Laura Ashley cocktail-length dresses. I have written here about the concept of choosing an identity to project upon arriving at college, and looking back, I truly wonder what I was thinking. But I will give it this: it is polished, considered, and, well, coordinated, in a phase where most kids were pinning tapestries to the wall and calling it a day.

What Remains: I still love stylized flowers, particularly combined with stripes. My wicker love has evolved to a love of the more "refined" woven woods: rattan, bamboo, and caning. I continue to love yellow. That's actually a lot to take form this, and it just goes to show that our style evolves, but it doesn't completely change.

I'd love to hear about your decorating faux pas or finest moments.

* The idea for "Flashback Friday" come from my friend Rebecca over at On Being Blythe. We did a post-a-day challenge last February and this was her invention to wrap up each week.