Happy Mother's Day from HG 1941.

(click to enlarge)

A Scarlett O'Hara moment from House & Garden where the strawberry chintz curtains dress everyone and everything!

Have a nice day, y'all.

The Real HG, 60's Style.

HG declared the year 1965 the year of PINK, as you can see by the cover the the September issue. Bamboo was big, as was flamestitched fabric. Plantation shutters and Parson's tables were also in vogue (click on photos to enlarge).

Pink wasn't the only color of the year. Colors were divided into Sweet Pales, Subtle Smokes and Bright Accents. The room above combined the subtle smokes of putty walls and mushroom ceiling with a "burst of azalea on the armchairs." They considered the green at the time to be a subtle neutral as well as my favorite, timeless neutral, leopard.

As you can see, skins were "way in" in a room of espresso and mushroom with an ultramarine accent.


"Off-white plus off-black is the newer, more subtle version of the classic contrast of opposites" as seen in this living room. More skins, a Venetian mirror over the fireplace and chinoiserie screen in the corner. With the exception of the fabric being corduroy - Belgian linen corduroy - this room looks pretty modern. Oh, yeah, and the ruched festoon curtains? Hopefully that will stay a 1965 and Munsters trend.

This photo is from the September 1964 issue. "Off-black plus white plus color" equals fabulosity!! All these zebra rugs have me wondering if Margaret Russell has been in this business longer than we think. :-)

Hope you enjoyed this blast from the past. There's more to come.

The Notorious MIA.

I've been so missing in action since my Design Crisis post, living through what my husband has called an actual design crisis.

His parents both passed away in the past couple of years and he is preparing their house for sale. For anyone to be mildly interested in it, it was imperative to change its colors: mauve and blue and gold!! (but not in a good way, Karly) with wine-colored toilets and pink and slate blue bathroom vanity tops and blue and mauve flowered wallpaper everywhere. Yowsa.

So, we hightailed it down to God's Country, aka Salisbury, Maryland, and after one plumber, one electrician, one landscaping crew, one painting crew, one rather lengthy visit to the appliance store, one cleaning service and several days at the Home Depot, things are looking good. But not quite as good as this beautiful room created by the wildly talented Cecil Beaton, featured in a 195o's House & Garden (the real HG). It's really amazing how modern it looks today.

I also won these 1960s and 1940s House & Gardens on eBay last week, so I'm excited to see if there will be any good photos to post.


For a little Monday funny relative to my title, here is a Chinese rap group whose name cracks me up: Notorious MSG. They perform rap music about girls and Chinese food. Click here for the video Dim Sum Girl.

Now, I have some catching up to do. . .