Sunday, June 22, 2008

I will fight the Tyranny of Pink

(by Liz)


















On the threshold of motherhood, my thoughts have turned to... decorating.

Those of you who know me well aren't surprised, are you? And in the same vein you won't be surprised that I aim to "buck the trend" of submersing my little lady in pink... like many hopes I have for parenthood (such as the hope to avoid drowning in large garish plastic lawn toys...which is already fading) I imagine this one will also be short-lived in the face of the realities of the retail options and the feminine imperative that seems to drive all us gals to pink. I do admit that even at 38, the Pavlovian thrill of Barbie pink has only subdued slightly.

So, after putting together a "concept board" for the baby's room and then having my hopes dashed by the all-knowing baby designers at Babies-R-Us, I plow forth alone with my decorating dreams... sewing bold red trim onto yellow gingham, painting antique dry sinks rich red for a changing table, decking the rocking chair out in turquoise blue and landing on "Mondragon Orange" for the walls...a rosy, warm, coral orange... with a force of personality that I think may just keep the neighbors up. Dan's hoping that I can work the angle to get some sponsorship dollars from Home Depot.

Already I've purchase a back-up gallon of responsibly pale "indian summer" with the thought of confining Mondragon to merely an accent wall. And I know that as soon as she gets her language skills up and running, her first words will be; "Can't I have pink walls, Mama?" (Luckily I don't think they have baby sign language for that phrase so I'll be able to put it off at least a half year or so).

So, orange it is. With yellow gingham, red and turquoise... to "tone it down." Perhaps I can even summon a trip to Ikea for the adorable, and even better, tonally perfect oversized hippo stuffed animal which would be great for the photoshoots (yes, the Art Director has those planned too).



And yes, I do have deeper thoughts than color palettes keeping me up at night (and all day long while scraping ceiling popcorn down inch by painful inch)... and I will summon some good pearls for you at some point... but now, with the countdown ticking loudly... I'm back to my paintbrush and my concept board...(yes... for a baby's room... I'm a designer... I can't help myself)... for your amusement...

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