Childhood Obsessions

Jessica Gonacha

"Jessica Gonacha is an artist and pattern designer who believes that our childhood dreams and obsessions are the key to knowing the work we are supposed to do as adults. She remembers creating posters as a wee girl, filling large bubble letters with vibrant, hand-drawn patterns and decorating every surface she could get her hands on.

28 years later, Jessica's childhood fascination with color and pattern continues. She works as an artist and freelance designer, and her bright, quirky style is enjoyed in a variety of ways and places, from paintings in galleries and magazine illustrations to children's nurseries, textile designs, and beyond."

This article was taken from designyourwall.com, which is an excellent source for wallpaper and other fun stuff! This blurb on Jessica Gonacha got me thinking. . .

What childhood obsessions did I have as a kid? What did I love doing to pass the time? How does this reflect on what I grew up to do?

Well, I remember as far back as being seven years old and wanting to 'decorate' my bedroom. I convinced my mom that i had to have this pink bunny wallpaper (anyone out there who grew up in the 80's watching 'Full House'?!?) so finally my mom took the plunge and wallpapered my room for me.

I remember being eight years old and getting a new baby doll, crib and height chair for christmas. I rearranged my furniture in my bedroom so that i could make a 'room within a room' so to speak for the baby doll and all of her things. So a corner of my room was dedicated to being "Alison's" bedroom. I even made a picture with her name on it in bubble letters and taped it above her crib. I have yet to design a real nursery but am looking forward to it some day! So fun!

My obsession with decorating my bedroom grew as I got older. I would get any poster I possibly could out of those book orders I would bring home from school. Soon my room was plastered in cutesy pictures of dogs, cats, horses, dolphins, etc. Once I got everything in just the right place, I would end up taking it all down, rearranging the furniture, and starting all over again, neatly finding a home for all of my possestions. At one point I remember removing my closet doors, and arranging my bed so that it was coming out of the closet, with the inside of the closet housing my nightstand, and taking the balloon valance off of my window and installing it where the closet doors once were. I just wanted something different! Who would of thought a 12 year old would be so in to redesigning her bedroom over, and over, and over again?!

Also around age 12 I started drawing house floor plans. I had left over graph paper from math class, and just sort of imagined that each square represented three feet. I knew my bedroom was 10' x 10' so I sort of proportioned everything off of that. Soon, I started designing my "dream homes" or would see something cool on tv (ie: the Real World houses) and be inspired to design a house incorporating an idea I saw on the show (built in fish tanks, swimming pools with fountains, etc.)

From 12 untill I was 18 I had pretty much made up my mind that I wanted to be an architect. I thought "I love to design houses and buildings so that's what I am destined to do." After a year of architecture courses at the junior college I realized that I am not a "nuts and bolts" type of thinker. Math? Physics? Are you crazy!? That's not for me! I did however enjoy the perspective sketching classes I took.

I quickly realized that my love of designing meant I needed to look into the field of interior design. With the wide spread popularity of Trading Spaces and HGTV, I realized what I wanted to do. So, out with the borning architecture classes, in with the space planning, color theory, and history of interiors classes! I ended up going to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles at age 21. The rest is history. I found my knack. I love what I do, I love the idea of always learning new things, keeping up with trends, and more than anything, I love spending other peoples money to create a space that they love, I get a huge sense of satisfaction out of it!