Decorating in Italy - Asian Style
When we moved to Lecco, we consolidated the contents of our household from Milan with Enrico’s parents’ stuff from their apartment in Rome… [more
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Boy, do some of those pictures evoke memories! After returning from a work assignment in Sumatra, Indonesia in the early 80s, my house was full of batiks and other Sumatran goodies. I have a wayang (shadow) puppet similar to yours, though this one is a “bad guy” (I’ve forgotten his name) that was used morality skits for children.
Over the years, the batiks have been folded away one by one as I’ve “decorated them out”, but they gave me years of pleasure. Now, they’ve been replaced in certain rooms with a parrot theme, which fortunately includes live parrots.
Comment by vangie — January 3, 2008 @ 6:29 pm
EVERYTHING in my house reflects my life. As a survivor of a 30 year career as a designer, I have told people forever that the character of their homes should reflect them, not me. I reserved that right for myself, too. Even the few things I have bought since arriving in Italy are part of that, because they were needed to squeeze me into a house with no flat walls and no closets.
I’ve always loved those puppets, but love them better for someone with a history that relates to them, like you. On the other hand, true love would do for a reason, too.
The one thing I don’t like about middle class Italian style is the ubiquitous white walls. It makes too much contrast and is only historically relevant from the 1700s on. I love instead the colors derived from local earth and of course that Mediterranean blue that comes from faded cheap green.
Comment by Judith in Umbria — January 4, 2008 @ 9:20 am
BTW, congrats on the new comments possibilities!
Comment by Judith in Umbria — January 4, 2008 @ 9:21 am
I should have mentioned that the Javanese puppets have an even older history, though it’s unknown to us: we found them on top of a wardrobe when my parents moved into a rented house in Semarang.
I should get you up here for a consult on what to do with some of our walls - I’m bored with white, but am not adventurous enough to know what else to do!
Comment by webmaster — January 4, 2008 @ 9:32 am