As a kid, I used to spend many hours flicking through the household encyclopedias. The ones with the vaguely Edwardian line drawings kept me entertained but I really loved the late 50s guide to decorating (aka "the orange book"). The colour plates had that awesome acid palette of lemon and lime, and the food was bizarrely coloured. I've since collected a small shelf of such books, such as the Conran 'House Book' of the 70s (all murky orange and brown) or a recent 1950s 'Guide to Modern Marriage' (right - click through for the full glory of that cover).

As part of the whole M-process, I'm trying to declutter my attic enough that the chap can fill it with his junkbelongings. Today, I started following unclutterer's advice and scanning papers I no longer need. The scanned images will go to flickr or be burnt to a CD and the paper will got to recycling (via the shredder if necessary). The first thing I found to scan was this clipping from 1995 (left). It rather neatly indicates that the things that you read as a child will dictate your tastes as an adult. I grew up absorbing the wonders of late 50s futurism, and now I love Mad Men, spend too much time on design*sponge, buy retro and am having a 1958 wedding suit made. When I opened that Sunday Times clipping, I instantly thought "I'd still love that room".

I did the initial paperwork at the registrar's today, which was surprisingly painless. Bored Exeter readers will be able to see the notice pinned up for the next fortnight.

Labels: design, eep