How much is too much?
Thu, 5 Nov 2009I found this warehouse conversion on Location Partnership the other day and it had me cracking up. I wasn't sure whether to run away screaming or gasp in delight (although leaning much closer to running away). The site says this home is a testament to the wonderful world of kitsch. I don't even know if I'd call this kitsch - it's more just a collection of completely random vintage pieces. But maybe that's the definition of kitsch. So I goggled "kitsch" and Wikipedia says "Contemporaneously, kitsch also (loosely) denotes art that is aesthetically pretentious to the degree of being in poor taste, as well as, applying to industrially-produced art-items that are considered trite and crass." So maybe it is kitsch. :) What do you think? Love it or hate it? Would living here make you insane?
Reader Comments (65)
i love it :) i tend to have my own flat like this in lisbon... i love the mixing of things without being concerned if they match or not... just liking them is enough.... then they certainly will work all together...xx margarida
Looks like an old man who never leaves the house lives there
Most of these I could do without but the first room looks like FUN!
I think I'd be sneezing. It all seems a bit dusty and musty to me.
Oh wow... definitely a place I would want to visit, but couldn't live with that much stuff personally. I'd love to shop here if it were a flea market though! :)
It appears that they didn't get the memo that a photo shoot would be taking place. Dirty, untidy, and lack of styling do not equal kitsch. This is no more interesting than my hoarding grandmother or underachieving cousin. This is the product of too many trips dumpster diving and not enough polished touches. Sorry, just not buying that throwing a ton of stuff together and calling it boho-chic is gonna fly. We don't have to be design snobs... but we do need to have some standards here.
Blech! I'm eclectic, but I couldn't HATE that more. Even just the pictures made my eyes bleed and my chest compress. I can't imagine being there in person. No thanks. (But thanks for sharing, that was a wild experience!)
I think this is too deliberate to be strictly kitsch, which is usually less self-conscious. This is an ironic use of kitsch. But where do you draw the line? The question is, does this ironic use of kitsch fail and itself just descend into kitsch! That's always a danger, especially at this level of excess. One or two kitsch items is probably the limit for an ironic adoption of kitsch, I'd say. The whole place alternately gives me a toothache and then makes me want to sneeze.
PS Your new blog layout looks fantastic.
Thanks Lindsay! (too funny = toothache and sneeze)
Wow! There is some of this that I love, and the rest looks like all the university houses I've lived in. A bit OTT I think.
Well.........the dining room is just plain dirty and not styled. The rest would drive me mad though. It's to missmatched.
Just too random for me. If there was a thought pattern to it - I just don't follow. Interesting choices.
This disturbs me, as it reminds me way too much of my grandma's house. Except smaller. And with more rosaries. And cats. Lots and lots of cats.
It's just pure camp, I don't believe for a minute it takes itself at all seriously - I love it - thanks for posting.