When I was recently flipping through old albums with a friend (ah, college reminiscing…) I was seriously shocked and majorly grossed out by my grade school, dorm and first-apartment decor (not to mention my taste in clothing). And I’m pretty sure it’ll have you guys reeling too. Especially since most people think I’m the super neat folds-my-underwear type (fyi, I ball ’em up like everyone else). Ok, are you ready? This is my bedroom in 8th grade:
Granted you’ll have to look past my high-waisted airbrushed winking jeans (yes the other cheek featured an eye that was open), tie-dyed shirt and scrunchie. I have no defense. Except that I was born and raised in New Jersey and I got those jeans custom made “down the shore” and thought they were all artsy and cool. Yeah, I might severely regret posting this picture on the internet, huh? But let’s stop hysterically laughing and look at the background for a moment. Growing up I always wanted to be an artist so I guess it’s no surprise that I painted clouds on my closet doors and rejected crisp white trim for something a little more unexpected.
It should also be noted that I did all these DIY projects when my mom was working late so she’d come home to find my masterpieces (she was pretty good at feigning pride instead of horror, I’d give her a C+). So we can tell from the painted trim and closet doors that I’d grow up to love paint (check). But what does the beanbag in the corner and the stuffed animal hammock mean? Well I have floor pillows in the sunroom and a big hammock in the woods behind our house so maybe there’s a loose correlation. And we’re not even going to go into the seal poster. Not Seal the singer, an actual baby seal. Maybe that evolved into my love of white ceramic animals? Hmm.
And then there’s my freshman dorm room at FIT in NYC (holla). I’m super proud of my New York art school resume but I can’t say the same thing about my room. Sheesh.
If you look beyond the Slim Shady poster (again, I have no defense) and the fact that I apparently used to write on photos (hence the “room #1” label in pen above my bed), you’ll see a few interesting items like my denim bedding (yup I sewed a blanket with a bunch of old pairs of jeans that I saved up for years) and my fish shower curtain that I hung on the wall (I thought it was mural-like at the time, and I actually think if it went wall to wall it would have been amazing… for a dorm room). I also created a faux-crown molding effect all around the room with those free postcards you find next to bathrooms in NYC bars. I’m a total weirdo, huh? Maybe it was foreshadowing for this artistic crown molding creation years later…
But at least I was starting to repurpose things (something that definitely still makes me giddy)- and it’s a trend that continued in my very first solo apartment in Brooklyn (can you believe at 20 I was living alone in Brooklyn?):
Can you tell what happened to my beloved denim blanket? Well, when I upgraded to a bona fide duvet I turned it into pillows (see them stacked under my curbside-find chair?). And see that weird little pink lumbar pillow on the chair? I made that from an old pink satin sleep camisole. It was actually pretty cool up close but very strange none the less. This is when I really started to embrace home-related projects and I made those hanging hearts in the window with wax paper that I colored with red and pink crayons and baked in the oven for a stained-glass effect on the cheap (and I’m still pinching pennies almost ten years later, some things never change). Of course there’s the weirdly dark still life that I painted for wall art (how Adams Family of me). Although I’ve certainly lightened up over the years, I’m still making art all the time (from the stuff in our shop to the “Artsy Ideas” category on our How-To page). Maybe there are a few patterns after all.
So what’s the verdict? Are you guys appropriately shocked and skeeved? Are you still stuck on the airbrushed jeans? Yeah, me too. Did you think my dorm room would be all preppy and whitewashed and clean? I bet you did. How about what your rooms looked like back in the day… notice any patterns or trends that are still popping up today in your home? Did anyone else have that baby seal poster? Do tell.
DEFinitely still stuck on the “winking” jeans… absolutely hysterical. Though, if I’m honest, I know where some ‘telling’ pictures can be found of yours truly with her bangs hairsprayed to the nines (not to mention many other late 80s-early 90s atrocities). And sadly… I don’t think my style has evolved quite as nicely as yours.
My 8th grade bedroom and your 8th grade bedroom could have been friends…. although I didn’t have the winking jeans! Those are fantastic.
My dorm room looked like someone threw up leopard everywhere, my best friend was my roommate and we picked out stuff together.
My first apartment was all sorts of hand me down goodness and hand made art!
It is so very interesting to see where your style has been… I should go look through old photo albums.
Wow. I just can’t make it past the jeans. I LOVE that you had them custom-made.
I think we’d all be shocked at our younger version’s style — decorating, fashion, or whatever!
I’m guessing you grew up in a Jersey shore town, then? I grew up on Long Island and then moved to Sussex County when I was 9… you know, the ONLY rural part of NJ.
How did you cope going from NY/NJ to the south?? I’m still trying to cope with now living in Indiana… what a change!! I bet you miss the pizza, I sure do. :)
Hey Rebekah,
I actually grew up in Parsippany (right near Morristown in Morris County) so it was central-northern Jersey but we drove “down the shore” to Wildwood every summer. Oh those were the days. The adjustment to Richmond has actually been pretty easy because when we left bustling Manhattan we really wanted a big change (a house, a yard, a dog) and as long as there was good sushi (check) and a few fun places to walk and shop (check) we were happy campers. Plus having a huge river to sun and swim all summer long is a total bonus. But I do still miss the pizza, and those NY bagels. Thankfully my mom still lives in NY so we’re back there pretty regularly.
xo,
s
My high school boyfriend had a baby seal poster in his room. No lie.
Love the flashback!
LOVE the 8th grade room!! I have such fond memories of the same sort of thing. I had the same stuffed animal net thing in the corner of my room and MANY posters of cute animals. I even painted some orange flowers pink on my canopy bed, desk and dresser because I didn’t like the color orange. My mom still has all the pieces and I just admired my work recently before I painted pink over everything to use it in my daughter’s room….some things never change. :) Thanks for sharing that!!
BTW, I would have sooo loved those jeans!
Nope, I’m not shocked. I actually like the pink clouds.
Those were the days. I remember the bad fashion and scrunchies all too well.
I didnt have a baby seal poster, but I did have a bunch of postcards with baby animals on them that I used to frame my closet…
I had one of those stuffed animal hammocks too, and a papazan chair. And a bunch of mis-matched furniture. Good times.
Sherry-
I grew up in NJ and have been “down the shore” A LOT – where in NJ?????
Nicole- Scroll up for info about where in NJ I’m from. And I’m so flattered to hear that FIT is your dream school, so many people don’t even know what it is, so it’s always nice when someone knows and loves it! It really was an amazing experience.
Teesha- Thanks for the bagel tip! I’m all over that. For now we’ve been getting by with Einstein Bagel at Stonypoint which isn’t bad. As for the big hair, I missed that by a few years. I was born in 1982 so I was in the wave of crimped hair during adolescence more than the big bangs (yes, I owned a crimper).
Erin- We had no idea our living room was in that article on The Nest! We’ll have to drop over and check it out. Thanks for the heads up!
xo,
s
Go NJ, Sherry! I’m from Exit 10…HA….near Piscataway in Middlesex Cty. Not too far from where you grew up. I love the transition of room decorating. I also had the hammock of stuffed animals….and the bean bag chair. Loved that chair – LOL But I have a question….where’s the BIG HAIR? Did you not wear the big bang or big hairdo in 8th grade?????
Yes, I miss the pizza and bagels too…I have managed to find pork roll (if you know what that is) in Ukrops. But for those “Yankees” here in Richmond, there is a bagel place in the West End where the owners are from NY – it’s called NY Bagel & Deli – good bagels!!! http://cupertinobagels.com/default.aspx
You went to FIT – my dream school……….
Remember those blow-up chairs that everyone had? I had at least two… they weren’t even comfortable. I don’t remember ever sitting on them.
Rad. Just rad. I had one of those stuffed animal hammocks, too, and instead of the freebie postcards I made a border out of my road-race/track/cross country bib numbers. Wow. Too cool!
Too funny! I def painted clouds in my bedroom growing up. Except I didn’t limit myself to the closet doors…oh no, I painted those things ALL OVER the walls–huge, puffy white clouds on a BRIGHT blue background. I thought it was fantastic. I’m sure my mother was horrified.
You’re making me feel much better…there is hope for my previous decorating indiscretions!
P.S.-Did you guys know a picture of your living room is on The Nest in their “5 Secrets to a Fab Living Room” article?
Hilarious! Everyone’s tastes completely change from high school to adulthood so I can’t say I’m surprised by your rooms (after all you first painted your living room mint green!).
It was 1986. My room was decorated like something out of Prince’s Purple Rain. Kid you not. College was a bit better…Laura Ashley. But in a Laura Ashley threw up here kinda way. Everything matched, from bed linens, curtains, lamp shade covers, floor rugs, tissue box holder, toothbrush holder, soap dish, towels. Oh my.
I also rocked the “pet net” for my stuffed animals and beenie babies.
Wildwood!!! Oh how I love the Wildwood boardwalk…airbrush shirts, mixed tapes, Curley fries..I wanna go right now! It’s only an hour and a half away!
My decorating history includes a mural of Absolut ads in high school..I was so cool…then at my first house, I sewed quilters fabric (because it was cheap) onto the cushions of my grandmom’s old sofa and stapeled a huge piece of it onto the rest of the sofa…Klassy!
I love you all the more now that it has been revealed that you are from Jersey! That first photo just took me back to my own NJ childhood (Sayreville), recalling my own room and those of my friends. I would have killed for those jeans!
Thanks for this post — it made my morning!
Oh those pants….
Oh man, I was ALL about the: inflatable furniture, bean bag chairs, posters of my favorite ’90s boy bands, those door beads, lava lamp, glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, and incense.
Yup, totally had that seal poster too!
Haha! My room looked almost exactly like yours did when I was in 8th grade..I had that exact stuffed animal hammock, and my walls were very pastel and were covered in animal posters :)
I’m coming out of the lurking woodwork to say…you are so brave. Those jeans are cracking me up! This was so good for a laugh. I grew up going to Wildwood, so it’s extra funny to me. :) Keep up the good work!
I am cracking up at those jeans, thank you for posting that picture! I was born in Ridgewood (Bergen County), moved to Pennsylvania for most of my life and am now back living in Springfield (Union County). The state’s not as bad as everyone thinks, although the fact that we basically invented “mall hair” makes me want to hide.
The pants are pretty good, but what really had me rolling was the animal hammock. I totally forgot I had one of those until I saw yours. Why is it that they were always overflowing… and each animal was so precious it had to be stacked just right? Wow… animal hammock… good times!
I did a similar border in my first dorm room. We used playing cards instead of postcards and wrapping paper from dollar store instead of the shower curtain… but same basic concept.
YAY! another FIT grad :-D
How hilarious Sherry! We all have those memories (and pictures)! I can remember being in middle school and deciding I was going to “refinish” my desk and chair (with Mom’s permission). Painted it all white- no sanding, priming, nada- just get at it with the white paint. The best part is that I then decided I would do freehand art, and I’m no artist! So, I proceeded to pull out Mom’s little bottles of craft paint in colors such as lilac, light pink, green, yellow, and blue, and paint large butterflies and flowers all over the furniture, paint all the spindles and edges around drawers in different colors…. Sheesh… what the heck was I thinking? Again, maybe some foreshadowing? Glad I moved on past that stage to some more grown up projects (still on the cheap)!
Loving the jeans!! Nice glimpse into your past and heck Sherry you were styling at the time. We all have pics like this!!
hey my sis in law just graduated from FIT NYC last month!
I am rolling on the floor laughing – you are a brave woman to share those photos – I think I burned mine a while back. To think that we were so darn cool with our high waisted jeans but you got me beat with the airbrushing.
totally had the same seal poster. probably from one of those book fairs…
:) well done.
Please, oh please stop being NJ-apologists! Not all people who live in NJ say “axe” instead of “ask” or “idear” instead of “idea” – or wear wife beaters and acid washed jeans. It’s not NJ — it’s adolescence. Middle-schoolers across the land be-dazzled their clothing, used extra hold hairspray and had ugly jeans (acid washed, pleated, high waisters — there was something I’m sure, and you probably wore it too!). And don’t forget that Target wasn’t in NJ in the 80’s, no Crate & Barrel & the internet wasn’t a considered shopping source until the late 90’s/early 2000’s.
Hey Sami,
Perhaps you confused my Jersey born & raised pride with something else (an apology?). I love my home state and poke fun more at myself than my former location- although I’m still pretty confident that the Jersey shore was the only place you could get jeans like that… which is what made them so brag-worthy at the time! Seriously, can you believe my mom let me wear those to school?!
You’re totally right that everyone had bad fashion across the nation, and I’m pretty sure I never insinuated that people say axe and idear there… I definitely never talked like that. There are tons of fellow Jerseyans who are digging this post so I sure hope you’re not taking offense to something meant to be silly and fun!
xo,
s
I think your fans need to know if the eyelashes were 3D, or just airbrushed on. Seriously — 3D would be AMAZING.
As to trends, then and now? How about messiness? ‘Cause I was messy in 8th grade, in college, and still today! I fight it a little harder today, but left to my own devices, well ….
But, again, back to those jeans….
Those JEANS! I love that you posted this. The animal hammock brings back such memories! Love your denim quilt too. What a fun post.
Those jeans are going to have me giggling all day. I’m a few years younger (I’m 24 now), so while the styles were a little different, I can definitely relate to your creative spaces. I dreamed of a cloud mural on the bottom of the loft that held my bed (I had a TEENY room growing up and building a lofted bed was a great way to create space for the desk and dresser!). I too went through a fuzzy animal poster phase. And later, Moulin Rouge, and yes, a Titanic poster. For years when I was a preteen I had a giant poster of Einstein hanging that I stole from my sister when she went to college. Wanted to be cool and intellectual like her :) Hmm, I wonder if I have any pictures…
Eek, those jeans are terrifying. I’m glad your sense of style has evolved.
My highschool room was totally inherited from my older sister, who graduated HS in 1980. It had orange and yellow supergraphics on the wall (large curvy double lines), orange furniture (including the orange box frame for the groovy waterbed), a yellow framed floor mirror, a yellow telephone, and awesomely awesome dark olive green carpet. I loved it in there.
My first dorm room was decorated in my mother’s style. She picked out my bedding, which was definitely in the country-dorky style; some rows of ducks wearing blue bows around their necks were involved. Speaking of eek!
My taste has certainly changed over the years. Everything is much plainer, simpler and more classic these days. Classic with a twist that is. You have to have a bit of a sense of humor in your home.
All I have to say is your Slim Shady poster is making me feel sooooo old!
How Rad! Heh, too funny. Yeah, I’m definitely one who sported the animal hammock in her room, along with the large poster of NKOTB and Jonathan Brandis from Sea Quest…I too was a 1982 baby but I have to say that I didn’t miss the big hair stuff, at least “mall bangs”, they were really big in DC when I lived there in the early 90’s. Absolutely love the jeans! And go FIT!
Cracks me up. I am surprised though by your previous decor….
Don’t be too hard on yourself about your 8th grade room, or even your freshman dorm. I think with the internet available to almost everyone now, we’re all more informed about what’s trendy, what’s tacky, etc.
And..oh..sweetie. That’s not faux crown molding…that’s a faux wallpaper border!
Eeeeeks Chelsea, you’re right! It’s totally wallpaper border-esque. Yikes!
xo,
s
Haha, your post made me laugh so hard, Sherry, because my room was just as awful in the 8th grade (’97/’98). I had the same corner stuffed animal hammock, but with a papasan (sp?) chair below instead of bean bag. My weird art projects included a sticker-covered door with mirror surrounded in flames I painted myself. And I, too, experimented with my own version of crown molding by cutting out magazine art/photos and creating a collage about three inches wide that spanned around my entire room where the walls met the ceiling.
This is a hilarious post! Sherry, I’m glad to see that you are actually human and weren’t always such a home decor genius. It gives me hope for myself. :)
Sherry, was just wondering, do you ever wear your hair down? (literally, not figuratively :o). In all the pics I’ve seen posted on your blog, including the fun photoshopped ones and even your 8th grade photo, you always have your hair back in a pony tail. Do you ever wear your hair loose? Ever thought about going blonde?
Good question Amy! There is one and only one pic of me with my hair down on the site (it was actually requested quite regularly and I finally gave in and shared one from the morning of our photoshoot with The Nest):
https://www.younghouselove.com/a-behind-the-scenes-look-with-the-nest-magazine/
I’m just an on the go girl and I hate when my long crazy hair is in my face so I’ve been pulling it back for years and years (it helps me paint faster, what can I say?). It’s kind of like my affinity for black shirts and tanks- I stick with what I like if you know what I mean. It actually relates to how I decorate as well- I have a never-ending love of white paint, jute rugs, capiz anything, etc. There are just “staples” that can always be found in my house and in my closet (and on my head apparently). But I do like to switch it up and rock a braid sometimes. Oh yeah, I’m a wild one.
As for the blond thing, I was actually bleach-blond for a few years in high school. It worked surprisingly well thanks to my pale skin and light eyes but alas it was too much maintenance. Plus I’ve always felt more like a brunette anyway. Here’s a pic of my blondest moment (crazy!) from a timeline of photos that John and I hung on a clothesline at our wedding to document our parallel lives that led up to the big day. It’s pretty funny…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnpetersik/2335399533/in/set-72157604123575522/
xo,
s
I also wanted to say re: The Nest featuring your living room…isn’t it totally awesome to be surprised when your stuff is featured without your knowing it!? The only downside is you start to wonder “what else is out there being published that I don’t even know about??” Haha. Magazine editor here. Sometimes we forget to e-mail people when we feature them. And it happens to me too, with my writing. I’m like, Ooo, my article was picked up by the Washington Post, thanks GRANDMA for telling me. Haha.
Love this post! I just went through every place I’ve lived on my blog, documenting with horrible pictures, so I totally know how you feel! It was embarrassing to post all those poor attempts online, but hey, I’ve come a long way. :)
Ah… scrunchies! :) I’ll have to say though, those jeans are too much. And, I thought everybody folded their undies – they don’t??? I teach high school and once and a while we talk about things like laundry… I can’t believe that most of them don’t even fold their socks together, they just shove them all in their drawer together!
You look great, both as a brunette and a blonde!
Thanks Amy! You’re sweet. Someday there will be another hair-down pic when you least expect it I’m sure. The excitement never ends over at Young House Love…
xo,
s