Guide to Traditional Decorating, 1962 style

The March 1962 Family Circle magazine offered ideas for decorating in the 'traditional' style that the women in my family favored. I think that the cover of this magazine influenced Mom's decoration of the dining room of the house we moved into in 1963.

Mom chose a blue and white wall paper with a repeated eagle motif  and outfitted the hutch with blue flow plates from her great-grandparents. She had Dad install a chair rail and painted the wall beneath it blue. Mom had a braided rug too, just like in this picture.

 I loved that room.

Mom's hutch with the blue flow in my home.

Another dining room idea offered in the article was more elegant and traditional and less colonial.

 Living room ideas included this wild gingham check motif! Love those toile' fabrics.

The couch and chair and even the tables look similar to what I grew up with. We even had a white painted fireplace for a while.

This more elegant room has drapes similar to ones Mom had in the later 60s, a Jacobean influence. I always loved the camel back rolled arms sofas and owned one for many years.

 We have had wing chairs for many years. Again red and blue but with a deeper red, paler blue and creamy beige.

Bedroom ideas in red, white and blue

My mom bought Family Circle and Women's Day at the grocery store, and would get me a Golden Book. She once said that had she had her health and worked she thought she would like to have been an interior decorator.