Monday Musings: Wallflowers

When I was four years old, we moved out of our green house on Walnut Street, and into the house I grew up in. It's a big home full of rooms and wall space, an ample backyard, and many stairs to climb between each floor. Our move was in the mid-eighties and wallpaper was a BIG deal. In fact, the look of big was a big deal--big prints, big hair, big suits with even bigger shoulder pads--they were all the rage. Some of us remember the color palette too--bright, bold, neon, jewel tones, and lots of black and white as we moved into the early 90's.

My mother, being a woman who loves color and pattern, and who was ever attentive to the styles and design trends of the time, took it upon herself to select wallpaper for each room of our new home, and then did the hard work of cutting and laying the paper against the walls--all by herself. I still remember her perched on a ladder, five months pregnant, finishing the blue floral walls of the nursery.

My sister and I shared a room back then, and at our request (I think it was our idea) it was papered in pink. A bright, Crayola crayon sort of pink. The quintessential "It's a Girl" pink. It remains this color still. There are flowers scattered throughout the pattern too, but truth be told, they have little voice against that bright hue.

I'll walk into that room now, usually just to jog my memory, I'll squint a little at first, and then I quietly turn off the light and close the door. It's not that I didn't love the space as a young person (I did, mostly), but now, I find the experience a tad jarring. That paper is a presence. It defines the room, wielding a power that I can't compete with as an adult.

The room wins, and that's okay. I don't sleep there anymore.

So I suppose I had lukewarm feelings for a while there, but in the last few years especially, wallpaper has reclaimed a new, happy place in my heart, particularly when it's a print or pattern that soothes, tells a story, or invites a newcomer to spend a little time interacting with the space.

The prints and patterns at Grow House Grow, a Brooklyn-based company founded by illustrator Katie Deedy, do just that--they transport you. Deedy specializes in "narrative-inspired" wallpaper design, and her inspiration board is one of the most beautiful Tumblr sites I've stumbled upon in the last year.

Check out more here:

Katie Deedy's wallpaper is printed by hand, and what I love about her story, in addition to her passion for storytelling, is that she started her business right out of own her kitchen--proof that creative goals can take shape anywhere, and at any time, if they're nurtured.

Here are a few of her prints:

Mesmerizing. Read more about Katie Deedy here. She also has some good advice for any aspiring artist. Have hope, my friends, the dream is possible.  Happy Monday!

(top photo: "Sun, Moon & Stars" via the International Center of Photography)