Evolution of Design
Even when I was a little girl, any time I went into the hardware store with my dad, I always came out with a handful of paint swatches. There was something about combing through endless possibilities and coming out with my favorite hues.
I can’t remember which ones I typically brought home by the fistfuls—probably pinks or blues. But upon recalling my first bouts with color and design, I can probably venture a guess that they were bold.
While I only recall my bedroom being painted over once during my childhood, for whatever reason, my mother gave me full reign over my bathroom. Now, as a mother myself and reviewing my past choices, I have no earthly clue how she let that happen and tolerated it in her house.
To this day, I love to paint. Some see it as a chore; I see it as cathartic. The first iteration of my tiny bathroom makeover was some sort of sponge painting technique in a vibrant cobalt blue. I later decided that I needed to try another painting technique in yet another rich shade of emerald green.
My design aesthetic quickly softened, praise be, and my bathroom ended up a soothing, pale aqua color, where it stayed until we sold my childhood home.
Maybe it was my mother’s way of letting me work it out for myself—knowing, more like hoping, my eye for design would improve a bit with time. And, I’d leave the world of sponge painting techniques in the 1980s and 90s where they belong.
“Maybe it was my mother’s way of letting me work it out for myself—knowing, more like hoping, my eye for design would improve a bit with time.”