My Mother’s Design Style Mother’s Day does not always bring joy for many women. There are various reasons for this, but for me today, while I am a mother, I am no longer mothered. This morning I was leafing through some of my old photos and remembering the complicated feelings I had for my mother. She is definitely my inspiration for becoming an interior designer, but like many women of her generation, motherhood was an expectation they did not really want to embrace, but felt they had to. I think this image reflects that. She is the woman in center (my father is to her right). She liked to entertain, well actually party, and I can tell she is very happy. It is New Year’s 1971 and unbeknownst to her, I would come along 9 months later. It is not only her apparent happiness that draws me to the picture, but it is also the interior. It reflects the period in which she was the happiest, the most content. The most daring. The background of home interiors of family picture are usually overlooked because you are most interesting in the people in the pictures, not the stuff in the background. But if you look pass the smiles, pass the action and look at the furniture, the art, and the other decor, what does it tell you about your past, about your family? Does it reflect rebellion or acceptance? What do you learn? Design can tell us so much of the past, that is not just about “design history” but only if you look closely and learn. So wherever my mother is today, I love you and miss you. And for all of the mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day! #happymothersday #mothersday #interiordesignhistory #empoweredinteriors #70shome #interiordesignblog (at Pingree Grove, Illinois)