You do know Pippi Longstocking, don’t you? She’s that unconventional clever and creative gal whose red braids stand out straight and who lives in a house called Villa Villekulla. You can often see her wearing a short patchwork dress with oversized shoes and missmatched thigh-high stockings. She’s got lots of humour, the strength of ten policemen and a suitcase full of gold coins. She is a treasure-hunter (sak-letare) and vintage-lover who sleeps with her feet on the pillow. Pippi knows all about rule-breaking.
She’s actually the quintessential undecorator.
In fact, one of the houses featured in the book Undecorate looks a lot like Pippi’s house. It has a whismy turret and a bright yellow door set with a patchwork window of coloured glass. More than that: it’s also full of unexpected treasures and mishmashy personal collections inside…
Now what is Pippi Longstocking Decorating, to be exact? Is it the same as Undecorating? Well, both yeah and no. All of the homes presented in the book on Undecorating are clearly Pippi-inspired. Because if anything, Pippi knows what’s best for Pippi. She wouldn’t let anyone else decide. She loves her things and a bit of (or loads of) quirkiness and character. If someone called her hodgepodge style crap decorating she would most certainly say:
“Aren’t we living in a free country? Aren’t we allowed to decorate as we wish?” and maybe she’ll add “…and by the way, I’ll tell you, that in the Isle of Kurrekurredutt, all people decorate this way and they are so downright happy they barely leave home.”
The Pippi Longstocking Decorating Guidelines? The DO’s and DONT’s? Crap, she’d say. And I think we can conclude Pippi has never ever been trendier.
