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My chain of thought post product purchase after seeing the tag “Circo“: Wait a tick, isn’t that a kid’s brand? Certainly this isn’t a bathroom owl rug for kids. Yes, it had been surrounded by circus-y looking stuff, but what kid has their own bathroom? Probably a few, actually. It does have pastel hearts on it. I did it again, didn’t I? (Marge noise.)
And thus continued my unintended obsession with kids’ decor I assume is for adults. And actually, a lot of it probably is intended for adults. Adults like me. Places like Urban Outfitters make bank selling anthropomorphized lamps.
You know, like this one. I saw this in a model home once… in the kid’s bedroom.
Ariel’s urban warm whirling rainbow dream castle/condo
Our home has this weird mix of very urban (condo! modern stuff! bright colors!) and very granola (wood! prayer flags! plants!). And then there's the... Read more
As a woman who has passed the age of 30, I still get giddy over things made of plush. I have a feeling I’m not alone. I recently discovered this stowaway after a trip to a certain boy wizard’s theme park. He resides on my grown-up refrigerator alongside a stein and a wand you can’t see in the picture. But trust me, it is there, calling my adulthood into question.
On the other side of said fridge lives my trusty garden gnome named Gnome Chomsky. He has been a resident for a decade and is probably the only thing that could more likely be owned by old ladies than children. But I’m lumping him in anyway. He, alongside monkeys (particularly of the sock variety) and Domo, have claimed permanent residence of some kind for most of my life. They come and go with popularity, but always have a place in my heart.
Speaking of sock monkeys, this was a recent purchase that has yet to make its way onto a wall:
Wall decals rock and this one from Blik was a no-brainer. I also purchased this. More monkeys, I know. But it will be worth it when they come alive and become part of my traveling circus. Only one animal has so far.
Nothing is crazy different about my junk, and I fall for trends all the time. But I do like my kiddie stuff, and as long as they keep cranking out animal-shaped things, I shall acquire them. Like the mugs above, which were recent finds at a thrift store. Thrift stores don’t judge me on my youthful purchasing because they can’t prove anything! No paper trail… muhahaha.
Who among you will join the ranks to take back what is rightfully ours? Lend me your ears, your animal-shaped pillows, your anime posters, your video game paraphernalia, action figures, World of Warcraft plushie (that I totally have somewhere in storage), and your birds with eye patches and Owl and the Pussycat paintings!
We will take back the night day and feel unashamed of our Spongebob Magic 8 Balls. Who’s with me?
About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
I am with you, sister!
I am unashamed of my Yu-Gi-Oh magnets, finger painted curtains, and Beanie Baby collection!
Finger painted curtains?? That is epic.
Thanks! Some of my paint froze when our heater broke and afterwards was only kinda good, so I used it up on paper curtains I bought at the hardware store. They’re not a permanent curtain but I’m keeping them there as long as I can get away with!
I too will admit loving kids products. I went shopping at IKEA and found the best pink flower lamp in the kids section! I also have a small collection of stuffed animals I could not live with out. Mainly Jovi, my pink hippo and Jag, my pink love dragon.
I’m with you! Our apartment is a weird technicolor dreamland, complete with our old toys (My little ponies/peewee/action figures) and an assortment of mannequins <3
I feel the same way. I’m a total geek and have recently obsessed with purchasing posters off of etsy for my room. I have Batman and Rogue and Gambit prints everywhere, littered between goth-like candelabras and antique cameras, and book shelves filled with comics and graphic novels, scary movies and video games. But I get no end of grief for my stuff from my sisters, because I’m 27. Well, guess what? I like it. I don’t care if goth/steam punk/comic book geekery looks weird together and if it looks like a 13 year old boy decorated my space. It’s what I like.
I’m envious. All my gamer, video game, and graphic novel interests are hidden in closets. I need to check out the selection on Etsy! 🙂
We totally do this too and we’re “grown ups” with a home and everything. So what?! It’s awesome.
I make sock monkeys and crochet animals so they are strewn EVERYWHERE along with our tie-dye wall tapestries and posters, cactus plants, and the crap I bring home from work (a toy importer).
Oh!!! I love that owl and the pussycat painting!!!
I love kids decor when it’s all casually around the house. For instance, we have a ghost soap dispenser in the bathroom. And it makes me laugh every time I wash my hands.
I reallllllly want that owl lamp!
It’s one amazing lamp — I also have it! http://www.flickr.com/photos/megantharpe/5456717509/in/set-72157626021655454
I’m big fan of potterybarnkids.com and other kids’ offshoots of bigger furniture retailers. They’re often cheaper, modern, more colorful versions of the grown-up brand.
Yes! I always prefer the kids sections or versions of catalogs. They’re just more colorful!
I love pbteen, myself. I can’t get enough of their chandeliers and their pastel accessories.
HA! I love this post. It’s so me. I have a weakness for all things cute. In our apartment you’ll find a plush chibi Cthulhu, a singing cutesy Korean cat clock, a link from Zelda video game decal, a hello kitty toaster among others. And my favorite child item I had to throw away last year, a penguin shower curtain with googly eyes. *sniffles*
That totally reminds me that I forgot to include my Hello Kitty sewing machine! Curses. But yes, all that sounds AWESOME!
I used to have that same Hello Kitty toaster!
Our whole house is filled with toys and action figures and plushies and stuff, because we’re both longtime collectors. But as far as themed decor, one of our bathrooms is decorated with monkeys. I’m sure the stuff was designed for kids but whatever, it’s cute and we like monkeys!
I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say that I love “kid’s decor” because I definitely don’t love most of the mass-produced/overtly gendered stuff I see in stores. However, I love colorful, whimsical, fun decor, and that often comes off having a youthful feel. I also have an unabashed love for Ohdeedoh.com (which isn’t Ohdeedoh anymore…)
Our spare bedroom/craft room is white and black with a turquoise accent wall and yellow and turquoise accessories. It’s also decorated with vintage Disney prints. Now that I’m pregnant, almost every person who visits our house assumes that that room will be converted into the nursery. No way! I love that room just the way it is, and I’m excited to decorate the other room as an awesome nursery!
Agreed! I have stuffed animals and random art projects everywhere – there are stickers on my computer and I sleep on an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pillowcase (used to be my brothers, lol). My cubicle at work is filled with coloring book pages, a My Little Pony, Pound Ponies and play-doh. I think the only reason I haven’t bought much from the kids’ furniture and decor section is because I’ve been scrimping for a while and I’m actually trying to get things OUT of my house rather than bring them in.
Here’s an interesting question though – Is there a line where decorating with things meant for children becomes creepy? I have a male friend in his 40s who has Bob the Builder sheets on his bed (he announced this to me once very proudly in a reference to how he’s in touch with his inner child). He’s a really wonderful person with a beautiful daughter – but I’ll have to admit, that one weirded me out a bit. Of course than I promptly was quizzing myself asking why I was so weirded out and questioning my double standard- why am I allowed to have kids’ stuff but not this guy? I’ve somewhat concluded that my thoughts are perhaps affected by a bit of gender and age bias – but I still feel the same despite that awareness.
Thoughts?
That’s an interesting question. I’m sure there probably is a line where it becomes creepy, no doubt, but I personally haven’t seen it IRL. I imagine most of the youthful stuff around people’s houses centers around pretty normal interests: sci-fi, gaming, nostalgia, kitch, GNOMES, etc.
I have to admit I’ve wondered something similar: why do I go into rage/lecture mode when someone bemoans a friend or family member who hasn’t “grown out of” video games or anime, including stuff that is actually intended for children, and yet I would find it weird if someone still played with Barbies.
Why is electronic entertainment ok in my mind, but physical toys are not? And even then I don’t find it weird if an adult collects toys, just if they were to actually play with them in anything more than a joking sense.
Maybe the fact that it was bedsheets is what squeeged you out? If I heard that someone had a Bob the Builder figurine or collected Bob the Builder toys, I would probably just laugh and think of it as quirky. But bedsheets are in such a personal, intimate area. Maybe it’s that a collection of toys would be on display for all to see, but the sheets could be hidden away? I dunno. Just thinking.
I bought myself a Krtek Mole plush doll when I was in the Czech Republic and I LOVE it. I had never seen Krtek before (as I live in Chicago) but he is the cutest thing! Check him out. How do you not love? http://www.flickr.com/photos/13550550@N08/5688184306/
Krtek is super calming: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=604119588026816292
We have two bedrooms. One is mainly for me and my husband, and is decorated with Star Wars posters and a painting. The other is mainly our son’s room, and is the Miyazaki room with painted murals on the walls. So yeah… kind of childish, but we love it!
ahemI would love to see your houseAHEM
Oh boy! I think it sounds way cooler than it actually is! Usually it’s just a mess that we are constantly trying to organize! Also, I’m really shy about having my home “out there”, like for people to SEE!!
You had me at “painted murals.”
You had me at ‘Miyazaki’. YES PLEASE!
I can’t help my love for the whimsical either. I have those giant leaves from IKEA that are meant to be a canopy over children’s beds, over my own bed.
I think that is the best way to put it: “whimsical.”
Another Ikea kid-purchase: In our old apartment, there was a narrow exposed pipe running from floor to ceiling. We bought Ikea’s plush dragon and wrapped it around the pipe as a sort of guardian.
Our house is decorated with a lot of kids stuff. Partially because my husband isn’t really into decorative items and I haven’t had a lot of money as an adult, but mostly because we love it.
I still have most of my cuddly toys. At the moment they’re packed up but I fully intend to ‘display’ them on a spare sofa when I can get rid of the old TV that’s currently ‘stored’ there. Our walls are covered with about 50/50 music and video game posters, including a full-wall display of my Guild Wars posters and a lot of my knicknacks and ornaments are stuff I was given as a kid.
Come to think of it the fish shaped bath mat we inherited from my parents was probably intended for kids too.
THIS! I love so much of kid’s decor. I, too, have several collectibles from a certain boy wizard’s theme park – as well as Disney princess figurines (some adult-oriented because they are ceramic, but plenty in plastic too), plush toys, and animal-shaped items. It helps that I love anything cute (a-la Cute Overload or Daily Squee). I don’t set out looking for kiddie decor and I am able to shop like a good grown-up in the “adult section,” but sometimes there are such cute things in the kids’ aisles that I find it difficult to resist. Obey the siren song of cuteness!
Even my husband is complicit, purchasing me a toy Batman (which is cute and not menacing), Adipose (from Doctor Who), and My Little Pony (“Look! I bought you a pony like every girl wants!”)
We don’t have any kid decor, but that’s only because we are dirt broke and only have what other people bought for us or handed down to us. HOWEVER, my roommate was wonderful enough to put her small assortment of stuffed animals in the living room.
My favorite has to be the Mew plushie that sits in a basket on the wall beside the door. He always brings a smile to our first-time guests, and I honestly think he helps them relax a little more.
I can’t wait until i get into a better place to display stuff, because i’ve got some hella cool zombie posters and toys i need to display. I collect Living Dead Dolls which aren’t really meant for kids anyway, but some people still look at me weird when they see i have a doll collection. then they realize one of the dolls is in a straightjacket…
I don’t think i’m even friends with many people who wouldn’t have some kids stuff, somewhere. a few of us have recently gotten back into Lego, so you’ll find a big lego dragon in one friends’ kitchen, next to the TARDIS ice bucket and the seventy million hidden Domo figures.
I like looking at “adult” houses but i don’t think i could ever live in one. Nerdery/kids stuff makes my house feel like my home!
You bet I’m with you! Children get the bestest watches designed for them. Check out this beauty I got my hands on last year.
I buy most of my gym t-shirts in the boy’s department of Target, because they don’t make too many super-hero t-shirts for women.
My collection of porcelain dolls is the first thing to go up when I move. I still have the majority of my stuffed animals, and sleep with one (a giant stuffed cat named Chudley). I unabashedly collect Beauty and the Beast paraphernalia. One of my life ambitions is to have a couch that looks like Totoro.
I identify with this post. <3
Gotta love Beauty and the Beast! My fiance has taken me to see it in 3D twice and he said we could see it at least once more! YAY!!!
I always get upset that the really awesome bed sheets are only for twin sized beds
there are dinosaur and rocketship sheets at target (full and twin size). DINOSAURS AND ROCKETSHIPS! just sayin’.
http://www.target.com/p/Circo-Blast-Off-Sheet-Set/-/A-11222865
I wish I had taken photos of my apartment (more like a dorm) when it was in full pony-swing. I’m currently living with Mom, waiting for the hubby to get back from deployment so we can get our first place together!
AND THERE WILL BE PONIES. (He said I could!) AND PLUSHIES EVERYWHEEERE. And Metal/Anime/Star Wars/Video game posters. I will somehow pull it all together, and PICTURES WILL BE HAAADDD.
PONIIIIEEESSSSS. I always get judged for my ponies ;__; But then why are they so damned cute? And why is that new show CLEARLY made for adults? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOVDu7etQlc
Because media creators finally realize that adults also love cartoons. YAY!
Everyone has to love the ponies!!! I also had my room in total pony swing! My niece’s eyes popped out when they saw it.
YES, I’m with you! (You’ve got great taste, by the way.)
I always buy my bedding in the kids section, so I have these awesome Toy Story, Lord of the Rings and Lego bed sheets. I love them.
Lord of the Rings bedsheets, you say? I shall be investigating.