Quebec apartment dwellers wanted to spiff up their homes in the 1980s and 1990s without spending a lot on a place they did not own.So if you lived in the Montreals during that era you definitely ended up at homes in St. Francois, Laval or Greenfield Park and found yourself on a couch amid slim, flimsy metal chairs, melamine wall units housing bulky 27 inch TVs and walls festooned with strategically-placed wallpaper border wall treatments near the ceiling.
The sad thing was that the people who dolled up their homes in these chintzy styles were really trying.
They sought beauty but instead found ceramic dog statues and strangely-shaped frameless mirrors cut into neat shapes, all purchased on Saturday afternoon visits to malls with ample parking.The styles weren't just soulless, they would literally suck the soul out of anybody who had a soul (Not a problem for you, obviously- Chimples)
Walking down memory lane isn't always fun kids, as the decorations promoted by Lynda Tremblay demonstrate.
See the charming Tremblay in all her glory in the video below.
One word: Kétaine. I didn't know any anglos with shit like that! Yes, I had the wallpaper border in my pretty pink teenage room, but it WAS Laura Ashley!
ReplyDeleteOh man that video is great. This is 100% 90's though. The 80's version of the flat pack melamine crap was the shelving units, coffee tables and various other furniture made from thin brass tubes and clear glass panels. I put so much of that crap together when I was in highschool.
ReplyDeleteI have found that somewhere in our 50's, we quit decorating. At that point, your home will become a decorating time capsule for as long as you live there. I'm sure some of Madame Tremblay's clients are happily living in their apartments just as she left them.
FYI, not limited to Quebec. Having also lived in Toronto, and Winnipeg, and house hunted in the latter, must say that the styles there, particularly at homes with ties to the old country (usually Italian, but not always) were indistinguishable from those in the "distinct society".
ReplyDeletehaha tres quétaine.
ReplyDelete