Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Truth be known...

My fo' real true taste in furniture/architecture...

...is not Victorian Georgian or Queen Anne.
...is not English Cottage.
...is not Asian Feng-Shui Persuasion.
...is not Mid-Century Moderne.
...is not Cabin-In-The-Woods.
...is not the Eclectic Mix of my actual home.

It IS Cartoon-ish Architecture.
It IS Cartoon-ish Furniture.

Heavy on the whimsy.

The future of decorating Memory #1:
Playland-at-the-Beach, San Francisco. There was a frieze of little fake house fronts atop the rides and concessions that I used to stare at longingly. Concentrating very hard, thinking that if I wished it, those fake fronts would turn into real mini houses. I spent far too many minutes and hours wishing it could be possible to shrink down and enter one of those little doors or open one of those tiny windows and climb into welcoming rooms...

The future of decorating Memory #2:
During the same era (1950's-60's), Children's FairyLand in Oakland had child-size structures built to represent fairy tale dwellings (even the Old Woman In the Shoe's shoe!!). Kids could climb onto, run around, and sometimes even GO INTO these little buildings. The furniture inside was built in/fastened down, of course. Some could be played upon, others visible through open windows, but inaccessible. Such restrictions never took away from the fun I derived from fantasizing about the day (soon) of being able to live in one of these play houses.

Guess what.
It's still possible to indulge my childhood appreciation for the cattywompus, curvy, organic shapes of cartoony architecture. Ain't that sweet?

Case in point: the design of the buildings in Disney's 'Mickey's TuneTown'. Mickey and Minnie's homes sport the same curvilinear lines of fantasy design: windows, doors, chairs, tables, lamps, curtains, kitchen appliances, piano, shelves....all built in disproportionate sizes (to real people) and all slightly askew. Lines that should be straight - are not. Curves are exaggerated. Colors wild.

If you've been on the Pinocchio ride in Disneyland, you might recall the vignette of Gepetto's workshop/home, with all the cuckoo clocks tic-tocking away. Vibrant colors. Warm, inviting curves and arcs. Even the lighting is happy.
Toooooo cute!!!
Every dang time I see that 'cartoon room' - I fight the urge to jump off the ride and LIVE there.

Just when I thought the only possible venues to enjoy playful shapes in 'furnishings' and architecture are to be found at amusement parks (even Vegas offers little to nothing in the way of cartoonish design), I happen upon this website.

Sooooooo cooooool!

Another example of my beloved fantasy aesthetic: fave characters from Disney's 'Fantasia' are (no, not the cute little toadstool-mushrooms, but) the mops and brooms (though they do become a tad nightmarish in the film).

1 comment:

jessierose said...

wha'? Coolest furniture EVER!