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Home / Decorating ideas / decorating misc.

Joan Rivers on painting a room pink: “A little glow on the puss”

pam kueber - Updated: May 12, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

I could not help but notice that, during Joan Rivers’ 1969 talk show episode on decorating, gabbing with Family Circle’s Sally Pepper Adams and actress June Havoc, the queen of comedy spoke… well, glowingly… about the color pink and its flattering effects when used to paint a room. Discussing kitchen decor, she said:

When I was single, my mother painted the whole kitchen pink. Because when we’d bring the guys in afterward for coffee she figured a pink kitchen … pink… would put a little glow on the puss. We didn’t get married, but four maids ran off with the delivery men.

Affirming my notion that pink for a bathroom is “retro botox.” But in the kitchen, too? For sure! Remember Nora and her pink-painted time capsule kitchen? And this one — talk about glowing! And, check out all my other stories about pink kitchens.

CATEGORIES:
Decorating ideas decorating misc. Pink Bathrooms

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3 comments

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  1. Jane / MulchMaid says

    September 7, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    That was a fun little comedic annecdote in the show. I loved Joan Rivers! She’s a bit “different” now (since all the cosmetic surgery) but in her early days she was one of the funniest comediennes out there, and a trail-blazing woman in show business. I have such respect for her.

  2. Kate Fowle Meleney says

    September 7, 2011 at 9:17 am

    My childhood home was built in 1959 – we moved into it when we were transferred from Coronado, California, to Washington, DC. The kitchen – pink fridge, dish washer, wall oven and stovetop. The countertop was pink linen formica. Cabinets were maple. The wall paper had an 1800’s scene with carriages and people in top hats. When I moved my dad out of there in ’03 the countertops were still the pink linen. I wonder what the new owners have done to it!

  3. maryann says

    September 7, 2011 at 7:25 am

    LOL ! Ah – Ya gotta love Joan Rivers!
    Pink looks good “on” everyone!
    M 🙂

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