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 painting – skull can – encrypted cross stitch – himmeli
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.
