I don't consider myself to be a traditional, nostalgic lady. I've never been one to save movie ticket stubs from fabulous dates or prom tickets or cards from any occasion. I'm not an insensitive jerk, I just don't feel so connected to tangible items that commemorate specific occasions that I must hold onto them.
But, on the flip side, I do keep memories alive and kicking in my mind forever, it seems. It seems as if my mind has preserved some random artifact from a people, events or time periods to symbolize the memory of different occasions. And, a present day experience with this random artifact opens the files of memories associated with person, time or place. (Example: I hadn't thought about the last apartment I lived in during the end of my college career in forever. About a month ago, I went to Bath & Body Works and saw that they had the original scents. I smelled the Country Apple scent and everything about that apartment flooded my mind. My roommates used that and the entire apartment smelled like country apple.)
Anyway, I ran across this paper recently and I had a moment.
When I was little, we would head to Minnesota every few years or so to visit my grandparents on my mom's side (my grandparents on my dad's side lived in Dallas, so we were able to see them often). Going to Minnesota as a kid was great for me because I had cousins there. Kids at school with me in Texas all seemed to have cousins living nearby. So when I got to see mine, it was a really big deal. We seemed to always stay at my grandparent's house. I'm sure it was a house with shiplap walls and all of the fabulous treasures we seek today in decorating a home. She had 2 bedrooms, a toy room (which was really the 3rd bedroom) and a basement. It was amazing to my kid eyes! We kept our luggage and such in the second bedroom. My parents slept there and my brother and I slept on a "hide-a-bed" in the toy room. In the guest bedroom, where my parents slept, one wall was covered in wall paper that looked just like this paper (if my memory serves me correctly). The crimson in the wall paper was velvet. I always remember gazing at it and loving it. I thought it was so rich! Many years later in early adulthood, our family flew to Minnesota to clean out my grandma's house (my grandpa had passed away in the mid 90's) because she was living in an assisted living home. As we were packing boxes to send to family, take home or donate, I sat in that bedroom trying to figure out how to get the wallpaper from the wall so I could take it home with me. For some reason, it has always been the one thing that sticks out in my mind when I think of visiting them in that house. Since that wasn't a possibility, I just took pictures of it.
I have since then lost the photos I took. But when I found this paper, I had a moment of nostalgia, if you will. And, what I just shared with you is all that flooded my mind (well, more, actually, that I can't express in words).
I decided to preserve this paper in a small frame and give it the worn appearance as I imagine the actual wallpaper might look now after so many years. The distress and aging color represents the time that has passed and the evidence of preserving memories from years past.
From this, I have created different variations of framed wallpaper pieces for your home. Not knowing your personal experiences, I try to imagine what different patterns might mean to potential customers. My hope is to spark a happy memory or take you to a place where your mind is content with each framed wallpaper piece I create.
I have displayed my framed piece on the back wall of my bookcase to serve as a reminder of how precious childhood, carefree memories are and to remind myself to allow myself to be carefree in my daily doings.
Here, you can see the Framed Wallpaper collection. Enjoy!
