#elsie larson

A Beautiful Mess: Happy Handmade Home: Painting, Crafting, and Decorating a Cheerful, More Inspiring Space By Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman Potter Style, New York. 2014.

This book certainly is happy! You will find lots of colors, patterns, and textures on every page. Happy Homemade Home is exuberant and encouraging. This interior design book wins points for it’s low-budget decor ideas and emphasis on creativity. Additionally it is well laid out and easy to read with lots of pictures.

Rating: I award 5 plump geese out of a possible 6 to a book that finds the beauty in the mess.

The best audience for this book is not afraid to try their own hand at something. Two-page DIY projects are spread all throughout the room-based chapters. The majority of the projects do not require tools, although specific materials like yarn or electrical tape are incorporated. The ideas are definitely oriented to include a wide survey of readers in terms of economic accessibility. It’s not a stretch to say that most people have tin cans or markers in their homes. The DIY projects do require a little pocket change, but ultimately make use of base materials one would already have in their home. Authors and sisters Elsie and Emma encourage readers to transform objects they already have mostly on the surface, through perhaps new paint, sponge-stamped geometric design, or added tassels. Most of the projects accessorize what you already have, often in a very crafty way. Some examples include a curtain made of patchworked silk scarves, ‘drawing’ with electrical tape on your fridge, and --perhaps my favorite-- using rubber dinosaur toys for book ends!!

Though not always the most refined, the approach works with what you already have, which I can appreciate for those starting out or who don’t have the time or resources to scour endless flea markets and antique stores. It’s also sustainable and anti-capitalist, which is always great. Elsie and Emma present readers with very realistic ways to brighten up or personalize items in their space, from a picnic table to a wall clock. Readers can take inspiration from any combination of the approach, the material, or the design. Furthermore, the styling can often be undone on more permanent features of a home, like walls, cabinets, even the fridge, which considers readers who rent, another plus. The most sustainable option is always second-hand, but there are many ways to get the job done, and re-styling what you have is definitely more sustainable and anti-capitalist than buying new.

One recurring section is called 9 Ways. Here, in one example, showcases coffee mugs and a variety of ways to decorate: washi tape stripes, drawn polka dots (baked in the oven to seal for food safety), wrapping twine around the handle, etc. Again, these are projects you can do with children, or if you’re not super artistic. These DIY projects don’t require complicated woodworking tools, cement mixes, or expensive fabrics. So, the trade off for economic accessibility is pieces that aren’t always the most durable or sophisticated. But they can be plenty cute, not to mention satisfying because you created it! The other items presented with multiple personalization possibilities are cloth napkins, vases, supply baskets, toothbrush holders, terra cotta pots and throw pillows. The 9 Ways part of the book offers possibilities without insisting on any color, application, or design, showing you finished products that can be taken in any direction or style you choose. The subtitle “painting, crafting, and decorating a cheerful, more inspiring space” accurately signals what readers will find beneath the cover.

The language in Happy Handmade Home transparently explains that readers should embody their own individual styles. Elsie and Emma never mandate that stripes should be ½” thick, or that ribbon should be tied counter-clockwise. The book avoids positioning itself as a rule book. The voice is non-authoritarian. The sisters dedicate the book to their father who instilled in them to be actively handy. The introduction sets the scene as a journey with three important messages: 

1) don’t be afraid to mess up 2) our ideas are only starting points, and 3) if you love it, love it.

Their welcome continues with prompts for some reflection, which is another reason for points in this review. There is an acknowledgment of one’s lived relationship with their space, that the solutions (though often physically surface level as per their ideas) engage deeply with one’s personality, desires, and sources of joy. I definitely plan on journaling through the lists they suggest. One teaser example is a list of colors you have a strong reaction to, positive, negative or mixed. Then you list what you’re reminded of with each color, then where you’ve seen positive examples of those colors in rooms or even movies and artwork.

Now for the not so good qualities: low-key white-washing and narrow assumptions on lifestyle. Most of the images come from Elsie and Emma’s own homes, and the two authors are young-ish American white women. So of course when showing their own spaces, the images will show a happy white lady in her home. However, even images in the Celebrate sections, which feature a different party-themed recipe and decorations, are close to celebrating only white kids, grandmas, girlfriends, etc. I appreciated the Celebrate sections because it’s another way of portraying decor as connected to how we actually live. Unfortunately, it’s really not diverse. Nothing varies outside of a traditional American concept of family. I cringed when I saw the Mr. & Mrs. mugs, you know, the kind of images where he has the bow tie and she has the red lipstick: it’s such a narrow and controlled expression of gender roles in a family. This limitation doesn’t present interior design as a meaningful means of self-care and personal expression for anyone, but rather as a way for white women to feel special. Which in itself isn’t problematic. Everyone deserves to feel special and to have a positive relationship between their mental and emotional self-concept and the material objects around them. But while I think Elsie and Emma’s decor is presented with a lot of possibility (‘do this in YOUR own way’), the majority of the images presented cater to a life lived by a narrow group of people. Most likely, most readers live this lifestyle, and so in a supply-and-demand mindset, the job was done well. However, if we truly consider interior design as empowering, cathartic, and simply a happy thing to do, these books need to do better.  

The ideas presented in this book are true DIY opportunities to engage with the material space around you and express your personality. Although the authors’ styles show clearly throughout the book, Happy Handmade Home presents itself as an example instead of an aspiration. I personally wouldn’t incorporate a lot of Elsie or Emma’s style choices into my home, but that’s a just taste thing! I definitely recommend some of the DIY treatments for those who want to get started or have limited resources. I’m sure readers can find at least a few ideas that they could do immediately without leaving home. I appreciate this book’s commitment to an interior design approach that avoids simply buying a thing, but instead cheers people on: you can actually do it yourself. You’re more powerful than you know.

Again, 5 precious geese out of a possible 6. Truly happy. Very hands on. Small budgets welcome. Let’s invite more people to the party.

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