How what I watched as a child influenced my style

I’ve written many times about appreciating a wide variety of designs and styles, and I do! I love beautifully dainty pastel cottages, sleek and modern architecture, bold and wildly colourful palettes, but time after time I’m drawn to dark designs. All things strange and unusual. 

So it got me thinking, why do I like what I do? Well, to be honest, because it’s what I’ve always been drawn to.

I grew up loving getting lost in TV shows and movies. My favourite cartoon shows were Beetlejuice and The Real Ghostbusters, and their real life original movies. Both of which predominantly feature creepy topics with dead and / or almost dead people. They were funny, creepy and mysterious. And I liked them. Which may be why I have such a fascination with skulls. Not to mention black and white stripes. Hello! Beetlejuice. It’s all beginning to make sense.

There are parts of certain movies that influenced me the most. Lydia’s burgundy bedroom, Delia’s viridian hallway and asymmetrical fireplace. The Beast’s towering masion, multi-storey library and fascination with cloches. The Sanderson Sister’s house and the widow’s walk above Max’s bedroom. Edward Scissorhands, living alone on top of a hill, perfectly kept gardens, it forever snowing and him living in the attic [although, call me controversial, but I’d prefer a fully intact roof].

I’m forever pinning and daydreaming about old houseswith the same amount of character. Overly ornate exteriors, giant porches, unusual and quirky layouts, huge fireplaces, grand windows, multiple storeys, widows walks and creeky floorboards. There’s nothing more I’d love than to one day have an old house with character. One that hopefully didn’t need to be entirely gutted, rewired and replumbed. A girl can dream.

I find the idea of having an old house with a less than ordinary design really comforting for me. I can’t explain it, and at running the risk of sounding corny; I’m really drawn to it. If I bought a new house [no offense to people buying a new house], I’d feel dead inside. I can feel myself being tugged towards old and abandoned houses. Maybe it’s because I grew up watching and rooting for the underdog. There’s something creepy and romantic and bitter-sweet about it all. 

It was definitely an ‘aha’ moment when I finally made the connection between what I grew up watching and what I’m drawn to now. All I’ve ever liked are strange and unusual things. They’re not necessarily scary things, but whenever I’m not true to what I like, I find I always gravitate back to the beginning. To what I’m familiar with. #MyLifeIsOneBigDarkRoom
So what about you? Are there any TV shows or movies you feel that may have influenced your style while you were growing up? Or partially helped form the way you look at things? Or did they have no effect whatsoever? I’m forever fascinated with how things from our childhood makes us the way we are today.

Also featured – moon paintingskull canencrypted cross stitchhimmeli

p.s. My grandmother on my father’s side had a pet crow, as I only found out recently. My great grandmother on my mother’s side wore black all day every day, so I don’t feel so bad. Unusual seems to run in the family. Goth girls unite. 

Desk lamp update – moar tassels

When I saw Kat von D’s handmade Victorian lampshades back in August, I wanted all of that action to happen in our home. And I wanted it five minutes ago.

I already had quite a collection of black lampshades [case in point, desk lamp], so all I needed was some overly dramatic tassels. I searched Dublin high and low and couldn’t find any. I was becoming desperate. So desperate in fact that one day when I was going through my closet, my eyes stopped on my sheer black summer kimono [kinda like this one]. All I saw was how well the tassels on the bottom of it would look on my lamp. And so I attacked said kimono with a seam ripper and applied it to our lamp. All in the name of DIY. 

I’m really very fond of the moodier feel to my desk lamp alread [you can see it’s original transformation here], and I can’t wait to find some awesome artwork to hang over our new old mahogany desk. Though, I’m thinking I may just have to paint an oversized piece of art myself, as I unfortunately have something very specific in mind, and haven’t been able to find it. We’ll see.

For the day that it is, I would like to wish you a happy Halloween! As it happens, I didn’t style my desk especially for Halloween, I’m afraid it’s just Halloween every day in our home. I hope you enjoy the night. 

xx A

Paper and paint

Have you ever had one of those moments where you see something that completely stops you in your tracks? As I was passing by White Lady Art on the way to my bus stop after work one day, what should I see in the window but this amaze-balls piece of urban art. It was a perfect combination of some of my favourite things – skulls, drippy spray paint, graffiti and my new affection for pink. I kinda had to have it. 

I went straight into the shop. There were loads more pieces of spray can art in the shop, all handmade by the intrinsically talented Irish designer, Eric Davys. His creative process is so beautiful and detailed. It reminded me so much of before I was into interior design and was heavily interested in becoming involved in either comic book artistry or special effects makeup. I’ve contemplated blogging my work from my previous life, but as it doesn’t really fit into design, I kinda don’t think it would be appropriate. But that’s a story for another day! We’ll see. 

For the moment, cansy, that’s what I like to call him, sits on our desk and beautifully matches and juxtaposes against my My Fair Lady print which hangs over our desk. I should have taken a photo of the two together, but I’m a bad blogger and didn’t think of it at the time. Shame on me. 

I did miss my bus that day when I spotted cansy, but it was so worth it.