Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » living in: rosemary’s baby

Continuing in the Halloween spirit, Rosemary’s Baby is my favorite kind of scary movie- suspenseful, chilling and eerie without any gore. I’m a big wuss when it comes to horror movies and continually hold my hands over my eyes, so an adorable Mia Farrow makes the whole thing much more manageable.

[image above, clockwise from top left: Arredoluce floor lamp $3600,coat of arms mirror $198, silk dress with lace collar $240, flokati rug $159, wool beret $13, mango radio $198, Thonet bistro chair $361, Kensington pram $1995, pearl earrings $22]

In addition to the well-known fact that Rosemary’s Baby is a bit of cinema heaven, it also contains the most pitch perfect on screen house renovation of any movie I’ve seen. When Rosemary and her husband buy an apartment in the fictionalized upper west side Dakota building, it’s dark, stuffy and terrifyingly creepy. As Rosemary’s pregnancy progresses, she spends her days painting and wallpapering until the house is unrecognizably bright and cheerful. A charming mix of uptown traditional and feminine 1960s mod, she’s inspired me to kick into high gear with my own projects around the house. Spawn of satan not required. -amy m.

[image above, clockwise from top left: vintage wallpaper $57,flight base lamp $88, vintage nightgown, sputnik flower chandelier $2500, shearling throw , vase $40, coat rack $68, diamond necklace $542, tufted bench $1800, Repetto ballet flats $220]

I LOVE that you used Rosemary’s baby as inspiration. The movie had such fabulous kitsch in it, which is well replicated in the items you chose. Mia had an amazing style throughout the movie as well. Thumbs up!

Thank you! I’ve loved that apartment since I first saw that movie! The yellows and greys work great together, and recently I’ve been sort of channeling that look into my kitchen. Spot on Design Sponge.

I’m so happy you did this movie! I can’t even tell you how much I love this movie, the look, the feel, the storyline. It’s just a classic! I also use it countless times to describe how I must have conceived my son as I’m convinced sometimes he’s the devil’s child lol!

I was just watching this movie a couple nights ago and thinking how it would be great for “Living In” since the apartment and Mia Farrow’s outfits are so incredibly cute. I’m a little creeped that it just so happened to be the next “Living In” movie… But still quite pleased. :]

I must say, i’ve been reading d*s for quite sometime now and these ‘living in’ posts are my favorite. :) My husband and I just netflixed Two for the road b/c of one of your previous posts, and we loved it! I think you are right…that’s her best movie. Thanks for the recommendation. ;)

Amy is genius! First Annie Hall, now Rosemary’s Baby — two of my top five movies of all time. I’m so glad you highlighted the renovation aspect, and now I need to watch it again (I think my only copy is VHS, time for an update!)

To be honest, I find the timing of this post a little distasteful, what with Polanski’s recent arrest. Celebrating his excellent taste in interior design doesn’t really chime with me at the moment.

Zoe-

If we judged all artists by the illegal and shameful things they’ve done in their personal lives and not the quality and originality of their work, we’d be hard pressed to find anyone to admire.

I think Rosemary’s Baby is as good a source of inspiration as ever, regardless of the director’s legal troubles (which have been public knowledge for the past 32 years).

His recent arrest doesn’t interfere with the intent of this column, which is to highlight great design in movies.

-amy m,

My mother went through a rosemary baby faze….she loved to movie and she cut her hair just like mia farrow and painted half the walls in our house yellow and wallpapered the other half..

It was adorable for the late 60s, but it all ended when the 70s hit like a hurricane of avocado green appliances and brown copper carpet…wow..why did she ever cover up those wood floors.

I love rosemarys baby, such a good movie especialy for halloween.

Maybe it’s the autumn coming in, but I feel wildly inspired by yellow these days. My front door was not a tremendous success, it must be admitted. It is yellow, but not very neat. I must drag some more yellow into my house now.

I always look forward to these “living in” posts but after every single one i feel a sudden twinge of anger. you guys extract all of these amazing elements of the movie — furniture, clothing, jewelry — but almost ALL of the items are exorbitantly expensive. It would be lovely to see, for instance, ballet flats like those above that cost under a $100. We all know those exist! (http://www.zappos.com/jessica-simpson-leve-black-western-leather).

Amy,
While I agree that we shouldn’t judge art by the moral character of the artist, can we not lump other artists in with Polanski, please? We are certainly not “hard pressed” to find artists who don’t drug and rape underage girls.
That said, this is actually one of my favorite movies and I love your picks! I just find it more than a little ridiculous to excuse Polanski’s crimes as “just another crazy thing artists do”.
-Laura

laura

in the wide world of talented, successful artists, there are a lot of people (many of whom we’ve covered) who’ve done things people wouldn’t approve of. i think amy’s point is that we’re talking about design here, not polanski’s personal behavior. in no way is this post a “we approve of polanksi’s” behavior statement.

grace

I’m surprised you didn’t focus more in the decoration of the kitchen in Rosemary’s Baby. It had to have been in the kitchen where I realized what a beautiful movie I was watching (along with creepy!). Thank you for spotlighting this, I thought I was alone until now.

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