Wherein enjoying design is all fun and games
Thursday, September 21, 2006

In any household, especially one such as Mamakaze’s which is filled with Tauruses, there is bound to be some clashing of both opinions and aesthetics. While Papakaze has thankfully limited his design input to mere veto power, let us not underestimate the little ones.

Although they don’t know Herman Miller from Hermione Granger, they do know one thing — that the house should be carpeted from wall to wall in toys. Which means our “carpet” is garish, to say the very least. We don’t mind (too much) that their playthings are hideous to behold, because after all, they enjoy them. But recently during a game of memory with Kidakaze, Mamakaze found ourself thinking, if we have to look at that stupid clownfish one more time, we are going to flush ourself down the toilet.

Since the point of playing memory is to enjoy family-friendly fun with one’s kids — and not to fixate on our irrational hatred of overmerchandised animated characters — the solution is purchasing a game that kids will enjoy, but with an aesthetic that adults can appreciate.

Mamakaze recommends the Maharam memory game, which features for your matching pleasure an array of 36 famous 20th-century textile patterns. None of which, we might add, features clownfish, wizards, tiny map-wielding Latinas, or chubby technicolor bears that defy gravity. Even in our home full of clashing decor preferences, a design-friendly game is one thing that’s bound to harmoniously tie all the elements together.

Mamakaze found the fun (and fashionable) Maharam memory game online for $36.