A few weeks back, before things were blooming outside, my friend Suzanne at Inspire; to breathe posed the question: have florals hit your home? She has all kinds of cool flowery items with a vintage feel around her house: framed wallpaper, sweet paintings, and funky little boxes. Check them out here.
I looked around our home and said, nope, nothing with flowers. But that first inventory was wrong. In fact, we have the above Marushka silk screen blooming in our guest room.
I got this several years ago for one dollar at my favorite thrift store, the Ridgefield Thriftshop in Ridgefield, Connecticut. I was drawn to its bold colors and simple lines…it has been cheering up all my various living spaces ever since.
I didn’t know anything about Marushka back then, but have recently done a little research. Turns out Murushka was founded in 1971 in Michigan by an art teacher named Richard L. Sweet. The company was named after his wife Mary, which is Marushka in Polish.
Marushkas became such a hit and were so common in the 80’s that its estimated they produced 1.68 million silk screens. The last of them were made in 1989, but lots of fantastic ones can still be found on ebay (and probably in many thrift stores, as long as I don’t get my hands on them first).
I stumbled upon a great blog someone was keeping from 2008-2009, Marushka Prints. The wonderful images on this site convinced me that Rob and I need to track down all of what is left of those 1.68 million Marushkas (or maybe we could find just a few more…) All of the following images are from this site.
For example, I love this lone tree:
I could look at these butterflies all day:
This sunflower would surely brighten any room:
Wouldn’t this shell look perfect in the theoretical living room of our theoretical Cape Cod Cottage?
The next ski lodge we buy in Telluride would feature this wintery scene:
And, finally, I’d be happy to wake up to this sunrise any day of the week:
Just saying: if you have any Marushkas laying around that you don’t want anymore (and I find that latter part hard to believe), I’d be happy to take them off your hands.
And now I’ll pass along Suzanne’s inquiry: do you have any florals in your home?
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Categories: Design
Love these! Yes, I love floral/botanicals and they’re all over my house, from a close up poster sized photo of my hydrangeas to subtle gray giant hyacinths I stenciled on a bedroom wall.
Woah, those sound cool. Hydrangeas at their peak remind me of ponpoms, like they’re cheering on the rest of the garden (or I guess inside your house they’re probably cheering you on – Goooooo…BSC!) Haven’t tried any stencils yet, but I could see it happening…thanks for sharing! 🙂
You’re welcome! I appreciate the cheer! The hydrangeas are spectacular. I don’t like those 1980s sorts of vine stencils, but I love the big over-sized ones (great ones at http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com).
Those stencils are great. Bookmarked those.
Really cool. I especially like the tree.
I know – that one would look good in certain new living room decorated with blue, white, and brown tones, me thinks…
Dude – very trippy, I dig Marushka too. Put on some Purple Haze and let’s groove.
There are other ones – ducks, light houses, boats. Just imagine if every inch of your walls were covered in them! I fear that’s where I’m headed : talk about trippy.
The last sun print needs to get in my house ASAP. Beautiful!
I know: constant sunrise. That’s a good place to be. And congratulations newlywed: you’re in a pretty good place already.
So cool! I didn’t know Marushkas could be so stylish. We have a couple in our basement, and by that I mean JOSH has a couple.. They’re not exactly as pretty as these ones here. Picture lots of chocolate brown with some orange & tan mixed in.
Thanks for the education! 🙂 And for including my flower post.
Ha! yup, some of them can show the downside of the 70s design…
My pleasure – love your blog!
They really are cool and beautiful to look at, not your grandmother’s flowers, that’s for sure.
Seems like something your mom would have stumbled upon a lot in all of her thriftstore travels…
Ah, the sunflower one makes me smile. They’re all so happiness-inducing!
I agree – and because the are/were so common they aren’t very pricey – that makes me smile too!