When I look at homes that are decorated by people that want an authentic 1930s, 40s, 50s, etc... look, I often wonder why every single thing is from one decade.
For example...
(Sorry, but I couldn't find the whole thing online.)
After my mother and I had both watched it, I called and asked her if the 1950s were really like the way these woman had imagined it.
In other words, was it authentic?
She started laughing.
I knew she would.
The first thing she pointed out was the way they lived their lives...
To sum it up, she said that it was like they had watched too many episodes of this:
or this:
Then the way they dressed...
I'm not even going to tell you what she said about that, but let's just say there was a whole soliloquy about their tattoos.
Then it was about the decor...
She said (and I'm summing it up again) that it looked like it was decorated by a set designer and looked nothing like real life back then.
For example, here's an ad from the 50s:
And here's real life:
Now, I'm not saying my mother is an authority on the 1950s, but since she grew up in California back then, I would say that she would have a pretty good idea of what it was really like.
Personally, I think that if they're happy, that's great and I'm not trying to pick on them or be mean, but if they're trying to emulate that decade as it really was, then I kinda have to agree with her, especially about the decor.
Thinking back on my own 1970s childhood and then looking through pictures of decor ads back then, I can see why people would think that's what every home looked like, unless they were alive then.
By looking at those ads, you would think that everyone's home had shag carpet...
and I can guarantee you that there was only 2 houses I ever saw it in and it wasn't at my parent's house.
By the way and maybe it's just me, but doesn't it look like somebody used the hide of Snuffleupagus to cover those stairs?
;)
If I were to live and decorate like these gals, but instead of the 1950s, I went with the 1970s, it would be like me watching too many episodes of this:
and we all know how realistic that was ;)
So where am I going with this?
Well, although I live a "vintage lifestyle", my life is nothing like what is often portrayed by in tv programs. (There's another example at the end of this post.)
And that's why my home looks the way it does and not from only one decade.
I'm not trying to look or live like an ad or a tv show.
I live a life, surrounded by things that were passed down to me or gathered slowly over time and mixed together. It just happens to look like it stopped somewhere in time, but you're not quite sure exactly when.
A good example would be my living room...
where I can count all the "new" objects on just about one hand.
Everything else is from before 1960 with most of it being from much earlier decades.
Which, as it turns out, kind of resembles some of the black and white pictures of old living rooms that I've seen in family picture albums.
Same picture in black and white:
And my kitchen...
where even though the cabinets are original to house and the sink is from the 1930s, it's a mishmash of different eras.
There's no way to pinpoint either of those rooms as looking like any particular decade.
In fact, people that come over for the first time, say things like, "This reminds me of my grandparents home" or "I feel like I've stepped back in time". They never say "It looks like a 1930s museum", because it doesn't.
As you can see from the real 1950s kitchens, I showed you above, most homes back then had things were acquired over time.
Which is what I wanted.
Even my grandma Bonnie (that I've mentioned before) got a microwave for Christmas one year and there it sat in her little 1940s kitchen on a tray table from the 1950s like the one I have:
Not that any of this makes me better than those gals.
It doesn't at all.
I'm just going about it differently.
Here's the other show about this vintage living stuff:
Yes, I can relate to some of what they said, especially to that father's confusion about his daughter dressing that way (my mom feels the same). Actually, people in general stare at me when I'm in my vintage clothing, but I've gotten used to it and most of them, that live here, have gotten used to it too.
But obviously I don't agree on their views about having children, since I have two. And unlike them, I watch regular tv, modern movies, I know who the leader of my country is (lol), I'm not naive enough to think that there weren't problems back then, I don't hide my laptop, and I cope just fine in the modern world, going to restaurants, bars and the grocery store.
I just happen to like walking into a home that shuts most of the modern world out and living my life there, like they would have in the past.
Like I've said before, it's just me being me :)
xo
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