Ways to Fly a Flag When It’s Not July 4
Wondering why you see flags and red-white-and-blue in retailers everywhere as soon as the Easter decorations come down? Well, folks, we are just one big patriot-palooza from May till July 4, that’s why!
There’s Armed Forces Day the third Saturday in May and Memorial Day the last Monday of May. AND Flag Day on June 14, which (did you know this?) begins Honor America Days, a 21-day period through July 4 to “affirm faith in liberty and the nation’s unity”. Whoa! Break out the flags, America–let’s party! Bring on that patriotic home decor!
I do love to display our flag, and actually, not just on our flagpole. How about you?
Our young son Abe’s room in our current home “keeps it wild” with the vintage flag, stuffed toy trophy moose, and pieces of my plaid picnicware collection. The field blanket and trunk add just the right touch of camp feel to the room. Isn’t it a room any young boy would love?
Several of these pieces actually started their life with us in Abe’s nursery in our previous home. True to type, when decorating his nursery, I opted out of pastels and baby blue and instead chose a tot’s take on an outdoorsy theme: that vintage flag, and the field blanket draped over the crib, along with some picket fence for wainscoting. See some ideas here you’d like to steal? Help yourself!
I hung some other vintage American flag art on my nursery gallery wall, but not surprisingly, there are also tributes to our home state in the decor. (We’re taught at an early age to have Texas pride. I’m not sure if they teach it in school or slip it into our sweet iced tea. So yeah, the Texas flag had to get in there, too!
Even his “a” for Abe got the flag treatment!
In big brother Judah’s bedroom at our former home, we compromised on his desire for a blue and black Dallas Cowboys room and went with a “vintage sports” approach instead. He got a sports theme, and I got to indulge my love for classic sports memorabilia (and incorporate family mementos) in a more, um, toned-down color palette. But, naturally, those team pennants weren’t the only flags flying…
…Since football is the all-American sport, we had to have an American flag pillow!
At the risk of offending the Daughters of the American Revolution, I confess that my love for flags in decor is not confined to our beloved Stars and Stripes. As a nod to my husband’s love of British rock and to inject a colorful note into the boys’ bathroom, I couldn’t resist this bold Union Jack shower curtain and pouf. But with all due respect to the mother country, we really are true Yanks, as you can see by the “American” sign, Federal style eagle-topped mirror, and red and white flag-striped bins! (BTW, this photo was from my home’s spread in Better Homes and Gardens’ Best of Flea Market Style magazine!)
Does this inspire you to use patriot colors in ways that aren’t cheesy?
Need some help with, say, that lake house that could use a summery refresh and you’re thinking maybe flags and nauticals? Let’s talk!
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Email me to book a call time–and let’s start making design fun!