Encyclopedia of me- Chapter D

Photo taken from Oh joy!

Encyclopedia of me meme is not dead. No no no. I should have done D earlier but I dozed off before getting to it. Now as far as D goes, there’s one representation, my love for Decorating. This is the chapter I share my recollections.

I have always enjoyed decorating and if I recall, I began moving the furniture around my room before I could learn to spell. The elements of Decor is like food and water to me.( Food and water is simply just food and water now that I am pregnant, since registering this theory I am happy to say that I have gained a few pounds) When I think back , where did my love for pretty Laura Ashley floral patterns and shabby rustic things derive from. Nope no English, no French blood in me . Having lived in South East Asia the earlier part of my life, there were dashes of Colonial English and French decor but they pretty much had an Oriental finish to it. More on the concept of British India designs. Having thought really hard I guess it must have been the House and Garden magazines my mother bought by the truckload. My mums love for design magazines is like no other person I know and she introduced me to a sense of style that I've come to admire immensely . Well as a little girl 9 ish- tenish flipping through the pages of those UK editions was a serious thing, I’d call on my younger sister ( who laughs donkeys whenever I remind her of this) and we’d play a game of lets flip through the pages and choose our favourite houses. Who ever had their hand placed first on the page meant that the house or furniture was awarded to her .While we did this for hours on end the other children on the block were happily playing hopscotch in the playground . When I think of it now , boy was I a boring child and I think Alia my sister ,who many would attest is the total opposite of me will blame me for life for introducing her to such dull childhood games. Don’t get me started on the real tea time sessions we had. When I was studying to be a teacher, I learnt about the importance of pretend play and it struck me how I took pretend play to another level that was no longer pretend. Super serious I was. Rummaging through my mothers’ linen closet was one of my other favourite past times and changing the valance and comforters in my bedroom were a weekly affair .I am happiest when I am decorating.One of my fondest decorating memory was when I saved gift coupons , you know the kind you get from doing grocery shopping, The deal was to collect enough so that you could redeem anything of a certain value from the shop. It took me a whole year, I had collected enough coupons to redeem a set of ceramic collectibles for my dresser . I was 13, I should have bought cool clothes , a pair of sunnies or something. When I say I’m going shopping , it really actually means I’m out looking for stuff to decorate with. Where decorating is concerned I’ve gone through the motion of having purple walls to stencilling sunflowers all over my room, painting my wardrobe yellow, stripping off my floor, sewing curtains and silk screening cushions. Decorating at weddings and for friends homes. I’ve done it all!When it finally sunk inside of me that I was getting married, the first thing that popped into my head was not ‘ Hmmm what kind of dress am I going to wear’... it was more like ‘ hmmm what shall the wedding quilt look like’. When I retell the story I laugh but sometimes I do think I’m a bit way off. Of course the wedding quilt story was a mad rush to fabric stores just to find the perfect silk fabric, then the mad search for the perfect quilter.It was crazy, I was lucky enough though that a lovely designer friend took the bulk of the madness and had the wedding quilt organized for me which gave me a breather to think about what I was going to wear instead. Decorating has just been on a role for me ever since. Many would not believe this but I actually moved to Perth with a container load of decorating knick knacks I bought during my stint in Indonesia. Indonesia is a decorating haven for the decorating enthusiast, you can get anything and everything custom made for you and should I add for dirt cheap. That’s the only good enough reason I like Indonesia.For the moment, when I think decorating, I’m thinking of my new home. I'm feeling inspired by an eclectic mix of French design, Italian ornate frames and shabby white furniture. I want it all.Of course there are a few things to be done. Taking one project at a time. The one that tops the list has to be the baby room. I am drawing out the to do’s . Choosing a colour palette, falling in love with duck egg blue .Nope I don’t know the gender of the baby yet . Oh this is so fun and its making my tummy rumble or is it the little one kicking. I hope you stay tuned as I might take you on this decorating journey with me

To sum it up for chapter D of my meme. My 3 favourite decorating must haves are :
Flowers- the fresh kind, scented is a bonus. Love bringing a little of nature inside the house.
Lighting –warm, no no to fluorescent. Lamps , every room needs one.
Fabric- I go wild for textured or uniquely patterned fabric. Fabric for cushions, drapes, and anything else that needs upholstering.The pictures above are the work of Carolyn Quartermaine. Love her fabric designs. Truly inspirational, takes me flying to a decorating wonderland.Hope you enjoyed this meme as much as I enjoyed sharing. Cheers to Decorating!