The Retro Decorator - Noughties Christmas

Up to now it hasn't seemed right to touch my own beloved stash of home magazines for the Retro Decorator series; a) because I still have so much of my mum's back catalogue to get through, and b) because I just haven't really considered my lovely LivingEtc magazines to be anything other than current!

The truth of the matter is though, that in only a couple of weeks, even the noughties will be the "last decade" (anyone know what we are supposed to be calling the next decade?). So, you can tell me I'm cheating if you like, but here then are three different looks from the December 2002 take on Seasonal Style:

Happy Christmas!!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

The Retro Decorator - 90s Christmas

I have been a rubbish blogger lately - and yet this time of year is the best time of year for blogging material in some ways. Oh well. Go check out the lovely Christmassy posts of those blogs over there -> for some proper Christmas cheer.

In the meantime, here's this week's Retro Decorator. How magical is this Danish garden from Homes & Gardens from December 1995?

I hope your preparations for Christmas are going better than mine!

The Retro Decorator - 70s Living Room

I know I've shown some of the back covers of German magazine Schoener Wohnen before, but I just couldn't resist this one - maybe it's those wicker chairs (and no - of course I have not done anything about mine yet!), or maybe it's the title - very loosely translated as decorating with sense and charm. What's not to love?

Working Hard

...work is hectic at the moment and doesn't leave much time for blogging. Please imagine that I am currently sitting here:

source

Come on baby, light my fire

We're been toying with the idea of ripping out our gas fire in our living room and replacing it with a wood burning stove for a while. As with everything at the moment, I think it's probably more of a theoretical purchase than anything else, but I've been idly surfing the web looking at fires, and spotted these; some of which are slightly more unusual:

all images via

Wishing you a warm weekend!

The Retro Decorator - 80s Kitchen

This week's Retro Decorator comes from the same book I used previously for children's bedrooms. It is obviously not a bedroom, as you may notice - I think the reason why it was in there was due to the children's furniture, i.e. the Stokke highchair.

Travelling Again...

At the time of this post, I'm working in Dubai. I always like to pretend I'm staying here, although the truth is that it's somewhere much more parochial!:

...Sigh...

The Retro Decorator - 1980s; One Flat, Two Designs

House & Garden again I'm afraid (did my mother buy nothing else?)

February 1989, and a trick popular with magazines- the same space but designed differently. This being House & Garden, they have gone the whole hog and redecorated two different, but identical apartments. The first version is by  Fox Linton Associates: 

The second by George Cooper:

Magic!

"Divaani" Magazine, Finland

My second recent business trip was to Finland. You may or may not know that Finland holds a special place in my heart, as it is where I was born, and where my mother comes from. To go there on business for the first time was therefore a lovely, but somewhat odd experience (odd, as it meant NOT visiting elderly relatives for a change).
Anyway, whilst waiting for my flight back I picked up the latest copy of Divaani magazine.

What do you expect when you think of Finnish design? Design classics, maybe? Scandinavian whites? Yes, there was some of that:

However, there was also this somewhat surprising apartment that I think I have fallen a little bit in love with:

A Tale of Three Hotel Rooms

Continuing with the travel theme for a while (bear with me - I have one more vaguely-related post on the subject, then I'll shut up until at least next week when I have my next business trip - sigh) I thought it might be fun to share with you the three different hotel rooms I have stayed in over the last couple of weeks. In chronological order, therefore, I present:

1) The Hilton Am Park, Munich, Germany:

2) The Howard, Edinburgh, Scotland:

3): Radisson Blu, Espoo, Finland:

All quite different, I'm sure you will agree!

(Forgive some of the photography, which was partially taken on my phone - didn't want to lift "official" pictures of the hotels in question to give a truer flavour!)

Numbers

My youngest is incredibly proud of her counting skills at the moment. Maybe I should help her out with some stairs like this?

via houzz

Elle Decoration Germany, Dec/Jan 2010

My favourite thing about travelling on business is that it is a great excuse for me to buy endless magazines without the disapproving looks of my husband  - after all, a girl needs some reading material!. Since starting this blog it also officially counts as "research" (wonder if cost of magazines is tax deductible?). Interiors magazines are always a great way to find out a little more about the style of a particular country, and I find they can generally even be enjoyed if you do not speak the language!

Whilst in Germany recently, I therefore bought the latest German copy of Elle Decoration. How could this stunning staircase not pull me in?:

Inside, it really is a feast for the senses, with inspirational interiors in all different styles - I especially enjoyed the "Winter Dreams" theme of several different winter-themed interiors, and the different ideas for creating a festive table. Definitely worth a purchase if you get the chance - even if you don't speak German!

The Retro Decorator - 80s Table Settings

Firstly, apologies for last week's Retro Decorator post, the scheduled posting of which appeared to contain a gremlin and lost the accompanying text. For anyone interested, the first Roche Bobois ad was from 1989, and the second is obviously the recent collaboration with Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Anyway, back to this week. We are back in the 1980s - House & Garden, June 1987 to be precise. These pictures all have House & Garden's trademark opulence, even though they are in many ways quite different, as they have been staged by three different designers.Even though they were published in June, the inmages seemed sort of relevant for this time of year.

I take back my comment about hotel bathrooms

...seems I have managed to find one smaller than ours at home!

The Retro Decorator - Then & Now, Roche Bobois

source

I love the fact that...

...no matter where I go, a hotel bathroom is always bigger than my tiny one at home!

Orange Boxes

decorpad

The Fantasy Traveller

So, as I'm going to be away for a while over the next couple of weeks, I thought it would be a good idea to start a fantasy shopping list - to make sure that I can create a home from home wherever I go.

1, 2, 3, 4

What would you take with you?

Test, just ignore

I'll be travelling quite a lot (both work and pleasure) over the next couple of weeks.
As I'm hoping to record some impressions remotely, this is just a post to try things out.

Dreaming of a Lazy Sunday

Lazy Sundays don't really exist in the same way as they once did when you have children. I think I'll be making mine a virtual one today!

Sanctu, via Flickr

source unknown

jsander, via Flickr

Hope you're having a real lazy Sunday!

The Retro Decorator - 90s Country Style

Only a few years earlier than the 1998 house of Charles Worthington in my last post, this one comes from a 1995 copy of Period Living magazine.

The first picture really is a retreat for a man of a certain age  - I can see him now, listening to the cricket on his radio, slouching in the chair with a hat over his eyes.

I seem to remember a lot of rooms being painted yellow in the 1990s - or am I just imagining that? Also, spot that stencilling in this second picture. Very country kitchen.

Total Whiteout

I was leafing through the huge pile of magazines that my mother recently left me, looking for inspiration for my next "Retro Decorator" post, when I came across the images below. Although technically they qualify for retro decorator status, being as they are from 1998, they felt fresh and up-to-date enough to put in a "normal" post.

Here, then, from a 1998 German copy of "Homes & Gardens", is the home of hairdresser Charles Worthington (at least at the time - he may have moved, or redecorated, for all I know!):

Much as I love a white interior, there's something a little impersonal about this one, as though he didn't spend much time there, which is a shame.

Window Dressing

As the nights draw in, and the daylight gets less, this is the time I feel like I get my money's worth from my curtains - at least I spend a while looking at them! It's always interesting to see the different treatments available, and such an easy way to change the look of a room.

Do you like curtains...?

via Houzz

...or do you prefer blinds?...

via housetohome

Maybe you like to layer the two?...

Milla Alftan

...or maybe you favour nothing at all?!

via interiordesign.net