Domestic Goddess -- not!

One of the mums from my toddler group came in some time with a box full of popular magazines she rescued from the bin at her office. There was quite a scramble as mums tried to pick a magazine either for themselves or for their children.

I got myself one on home decor. Me, home decor? Ha! Before we got married I made it quite clear to my husband-to-be I am not the proud house-owner type (ie: don't expect me to keep the house spotless, etc, etc.)

Thankfully he was of the view that it is no fun living in a showroom. We can boast of living in a very 'lived in' house. Toys everywhere? That's only because my son had not tidied up. I do not go tidying up after him.

Anyway, I spotted this section on covering up an 'open cupboard' (ie open shelves) with a patchwork curtain:

"Sew together fabrics until you have a piece one and a half times the length of your worktop. Stitch a narrow casing at the top and hem the bottom. Thread curtain wire through the casing and fix hooks and eyes at each end."

Guess what? My late mum used to do EXACTLY that when we had open shelves that needed covering. But she did not spend £26 per metre on "Lollipop 6065 and 6068" fabric, or £28 per metre on "Rodeo Check" fabric, etc. She just used whatever scraps of cloth she could find.

What I found most surprising is that while I used to consider what my mum did as being most 'primitive', a reflection of the poverty we lived in, this glossy magazine has converted the same idea into the very height of sophistication.

I wonder what mum would have made of this. Tsk, tsk.

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Comments

Layla said…
lol I love it how some 'old-time' frugal tips have become 'high fashion' now too!! :)

like the cloth hankies - for a long time I thought they were too 'oldfashioned' & 'not hygienic enough' to use - only to realize they are much more FUN & PLEASANT to use!! :)
And even MORE HYGIENIC & HEALTHY actually!!

lol we are silly sometimes!! :)
/& by 'we' I mean the society as a whole!!/
Thursday, 4 June 2009 at 15:18:00 BST
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