Marimekko Love

I have a thing for big, bold, flower prints. Not on my body, of course. (Certain parts of mine definitely do not need a big poppy covering them!) And I tend to be fairly understated in my clothing and home decor choices. However, this experiment in mid-century land has me coming out of my shell. Somewhere deep inside an attraction to big flower prints blossoms. Do you think it could perhaps be because I was surrounded by them when I was a child or face down in them as a baby? (On orange and brown shag carpet no less!)

So it’s no surprise that the first house project we tackled, the main bathroom (extensively recorded here, here, here and here and probably in even more posts than I know) was inspired by a color palette from a Marimekko knock-off shower curtain at Target by Dwell Studio for $27. I loved it, the colors, the flowers, everything.

That is until I saw a real Marimekko one today from Crate and Barrel that made me swoon. Similar in many ways, but the Marimekko is darker, bolder, with more flowers. This one is priced at $60, so for half the price, I am pretty happy with what I have. For now.

However, it did get me thinking about Marimekko and the lasting power of a mid-century design. What is it about those vibrant alive colors and the explosive poppies?

Marimekko is a Finnish company that started out applying friends graphic designs to textiles. They created a line of simple dresses made famous by Jacqueline Kennedy during the 1960 presidential campaign, first appearing in a simple pink example on the cover of Sports illustrated. However, the Unikko pattern with the giant poppies became the iconic Marimekko print.

(To read the rest of this post, please visit: http://midcenturymodernlove.com/2011/10/11/flower-power/)