does anyone else remember how your parents decorated their homes when stuff was hard to come by.
I was a young child at this time but I remember my mum painting the walls with what was called distemper, todays equivalent being emultion paint, she used to add something to make the base colour on the walls,and then use another colour to lightly stipple over the walls with a sponge, I remember one of the bedroom walls were pink background with brown stippling,I don't know what she used to colour the paint, probably food colouring, I know for a fact the brown colour was cocoa. I remember it being a family joke for years.

does anyone else remember how your parents decorated their homes when stuff was hard to come by.
I was a young child at this time but I remember my mum painting the walls with what was called distemper, todays equivalent being emultion paint, she used to add something to make the base colour on the walls,and then use another colour to lightly stipple over the walls with a sponge, I remember one of the bedroom walls were pink background with brown stippling,I don't know what she used to colour the paint, probably food colouring, I know for a fact the brown colour was cocoa. I remember it being a family joke for years.



When we lived in a council house the council painted the bathroom and kitchen walls in a pale yellow/cream and used a rubber thingie to dab brown spots over it, now they use sea sponges...so that dabbing thing isn't a new idea. ALso my mom was a big polisher, she polished everything that wasn't nailed down....remember saying "Poli**** behind the door":hihi:

Varnish painted on the doors and an old comb dragged down it to make the squiggely patterns of wood grain.
And we thought it looked posh.:hihi:

I can remember my Mother making wallpaper paste out of flour and water and very good it was too!

My grandad used to send me to Hodkin & Jones on Haverlock Bridge for a bag of Lime to whitewash the outside toilets, but he always told me not to touch it or it would burn my fingers, our doors were always painted the same colour as the steelworks toilets, if you know what I mean.

THIS (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding059.jpg)Is one of the photos I took in the "Castle Museum" In York.

THIS (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding059.jpg)Is one of the photos I took in the "Castle Museum" In York.

Oh yes, that was home. The fireplace was ours, the nick-nacks on top of it were ours, the shape of the room was ours. Everything in that room could have come from ours. All except the dog ornament, that was my Grandmas.
Lovely Viking, gave me a lump in my throat.:)

Wasn't there something called dedo that covered the bottom half of a wall in dark brown or green with the top distempered in cream. I think it stayed on, with a coat of varnish, so did not show marks.
hazel

Anybody remember Mr. Kendrick from Vere Rd off Leppings Lane. His daughter Kay is now in Oz. He was an apprentice trained painter. Bib overalls and tie, etc: He could paint any type of woodgrain pattern on any type of surface. It was fascinating to watch him creating the designs and they looked very real. I remember watching him as a young lad when he painted every front door on Shenstone Rd. His talents were in great demand in the 50's. Sadly he is now deceased.

Wasn't there something called dedo that covered the bottom half of a wall in dark brown or green with the top distempered in cream. I think it stayed on, with a coat of varnish, so did not show marks.
hazel
Yes I remember that as well. Mainly on walls with a lot of through traffic as I recall. ie. passageways, staircases and kitchens. In our kitchen it was a gloss paint so that it could be wiped down easily.:)

Wasn't there something called dedo that covered the bottom half of a wall in dark brown or green with the top distempered in cream. I think it stayed on, with a coat of varnish, so did not show marks.
hazel

Hi Hazel,
there was a newer version of that in the fifties, it was dadolin I think, my mother-in-law had it in her kitchen, it was a tile design with a border on, hers was blue, you could also get it in yellow, grey, and green, and it was made of oilskin type of stuff.

THIS (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding059.jpg)Is one of the photos I took in the "Castle Museum" In York.

oh! Viking that photo brings back memories

Ok.
Try the :
KITCHEN (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding069.jpg)

WASHER (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding063.jpg)
BATHTIME (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding062.jpg)

Lovely photos, i have the exact same biscuit barrel, i bought it in the Sheffield open market 40 years ago, they had some good buys back then, people didn't know what they were chucking out years ago, did they ?

Ok.
Try the :
KITCHEN (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding069.jpg)

WASHER (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding063.jpg)
BATHTIME (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v689/viking99/castle%20museum/wedding062.jpg)

Great photo's, it could easily have been my in-laws kitchen. the kitchen cabinet is identical to one they had. The fire place is similar to one my mum had in the 40's,we were lucky enough to have a house with a bathroom, but I remember the old tin baths being hung up outside terraced houses.