154 / Inside OutOur Agony Aunt Meg Mason dishes out
somewhat questionable style and decorating
advice to would-be DIY renovatorsStay tuned for more of Meg’s invaluable renovating tips in our next issue.revive the... leather phone book cover A forgotten objet ripe for resurgence
Before there were iPhones, there were landlines – and before iPhone cases, there were tooled leather phone book covers that kept
the Yellow Pages crisp and non-dog-eared for a full year of use. Find it next to the Rolodex.We live in a three-bedroom terrace with our twin daughters.
They’ve always shared a room but, now that they’ve started high
school, they’re asking to separate. The problem is, one is much
bigger than the other and I don’t know how to make a fair call.
Can you help? Caroline, via emailA
fter thinking about it for the best part of my morning
(10.30 until just before 11), I’ve decided to proceed
under the assumption that when you say, “One is much
bigger than the other”, you are referring to the bedrooms
and not the twins.
I wouldn’t like to weigh in if it’s the latter – but if we are
talking about square footage, then I’m happy to say it doesn’t
matter what you decide because, either way, one child is going
to be delighted and the other one so devastated she won’t speak
to you for three days or until she needs $20 and a ride to Forever
21, whichever comes first.
That being inevitable, you might as well leave it to fate, or
rather rock-paper-scissors, coin flipping, inky pinky ponky or
telling them to ask their father. But if you can’t bear door-slammery
and the ‘I didn’t ask to be born-ness’ that will attend the result,why not refuse the request all together and simply divide the
room in half by stringing up a bit of rope and pegging a queen
sheet to it. It did my sister and me very well as teens – at least,
until one of us started having boyfriends and the other one
started having bassoon lessons.
While your daughters will protest, you’ll be able to endure
it knowing that this hated arrangement will encourage them
to leave home well before the current median of 37.5 years.I’m passionate about mid-century furniture and have built up
a collection of good pieces over the last few years. I’m about to
get married to the love of my life, but she recently confessed that
she can’t stand anything from the period. First, I don’t understand
how that’s possible – and second, I’m wondering if she’ll come to
appreciate it after we move into our marital home. Dan, Castlecrag, NSW
When it comes to styling our homes, most of us adhere loosely
to one school or another – Scandinavian Minimalism, Industrial
Vintage, French Provincial, Stuff Mum And Dad Gave Us When
They Downsized – until a change of address or city or partner
leads us in a different aesthetic direction.
But not so for fans of mid-century modern. They are
a singular breed, and their devotion to this one aesthetic tends
more towards the culty end of the spectrum. It is lifelong,
it is above all things and, as an adherent yourself, you’re very
much marrying outside the church – as it were, the Fellowship
of St. Eames, Our Lady of the Sacred Knoll Chair, the
Brotherhood of the Jorgen Credenza.
No doubt you’ve already tried to convert your wife-to-be,
spending many a date night proselytising about the Barcelona
lounge and wondering why she hasn’t seen the light. But design
is a very personal thing, Dan, and it’s not right to force our beliefs,
which is to say our Tulip tables and Sputnik pendants, onto other
people. Besides, it is possible to think that the coat rack with the
colourful knobs looks like a dust trap and still be a good person.
So, until such a time as your wife has a divine epiphany on
your Wegner sofa, you’ll simply have to accept that when it
comes to interiors, there are many roads up the mountain.Q&A
ILLUSTRATION: KAT CHADWICK