My dad is a funny sort of chap (no, I'm
not British but Chap is such a great word.) He has always had a deep
affinity for outdoors-y stuff and over the years has delved deep into
his hobbies. Some of his hobbies have included water-skiing,
golfing, hunting, fishing, and dressing really snazzy. Actually, I
would have to say that dressing snazzy is a 'lifestyle commitment'
for him and not a hobby. The man is truly committed to looking sharp
all the time (I think he might even iron his Pjs!) and has been his
entire life!
Anyway, when I was in middle school
some time during the 80s (gasp!) I remember one of my dad's favorite
stores. The store carried what I now remember as, Elephant
killing-mosquito swatting-palm tree chopping-everything in here is
canvas and twill and brown - Safari Wear. But, I was still a kid and
the store had a Jeep parked right in the middle of it and they had
these little wooden bridges you could walk across to get to the
various areas of the store and those parts alone were AWESOME even if
the clothes looked to me like they had been made out of softened
cardboard boxes. It was like walking into a store in the middle of
an African jungle!
The store was Banana Republic and this
is what it sometimes looked like:
Crazy Safari Drivers!
And the clothes looked like this:
Clothes Made from Softened Cardboard Boxes
It's a far cry from today's storefront
and clothing:
Where's the Jeep?
Men in Pink Pants? Hmmmmm...
(By the way – all of the photos above
I found on Google images – don't want to get sued for using photos
without telling people where I got them.)
I share these photos of Banana
Republic's early days because it reminds me of my own decorating
journey. Like many others when I began decorating my first home I
had many missteps including trying to 'theme out' my entire house and
choosing some pretty awful paint colors. I painted my rooms so many
different times my husband said we lost square footage in that house
because the wall paint got so thick.
Like me, my house is always a work in
progress and constantly changing (hopefully improving.) I often have
to work with items I acquired during my dark days of early
decorating. My living room furniture is a prime example of this. I
bought it from a mass retailer as a set. It was quite exciting – I
got a sofa, loveseat, two side tables, a coffee table and lamps and
it was all pre-coordinated for me so I didn't have to think or be
creative at all! AND...it was all brown so it was completely kid
friendly which was the prime goal after the 'White sofa and chocolate
pudding incident' with daughter #1! Yay...brown...how wonderfully
exciting. Yawn
My Brown Living Room
10 years later I still have (most of)
that matchy-matchy set and I hate it. I change out the throw pillows
and try to decorate around it but I have come to realize that it's
just not me and it really needs to go. Like Banana Republic, I have
grown up and prefer a space that is more grown up and modern and have
ditched my animal slaughtering safari days (although I do really love
my unknown African animal rug in my living room and , I assure you,
I played no part in its demise!)
I wanted to share with you some rooms
that I find beautiful and inspiring as I continually try to update my
own living room:
Photo above from PeppermintBliss.com
(The owner of this site, Bailey, has amazing and colorful rooms!)
Don't you just want to rub your cheek all over that green velvet sofa?
I LOVE almost every room in her portfolio!
It took Banana Republic millions of dollars and several years to shed its original Safari image. I certainly don't have millions of dollars budgeted for my living room so it may take me several decades to make it as stylish as I envision. But as I sit next to my family on my brown sofa under the light of my brown lamps and set my wine glass on my brown table, I will see my animal rug under my coffee table, and hopefully be reminded of Banana Republic and their long journey to where they are today.
À la vie et à
l'amour
-Cortney
