Before Zalipie became famous because of its huts painted with colourful flowers, women living in the area were creating patterns with bright patches of clay mixed with wood ash on smoke-stained ceilings and ovens. The art of interior decoration developed here at the beginning of the 20^th century. It was when chimney stoves became popular. Smoke released outside stopped darkening the interiors. People started painting colourful flowers on whitewashed walls (or hanging patterns painted on paper – a unique collection of such patterns from the early 20th century can be seen at the ‘Nieobjęta ziemia’ (Unattainable Earth) exhibition on the 2nd floor. The popularity of such paintings still flourished in the 1930s and after World War II, but no longer in rural houses. Women painters developed textile printing patterns for the Warsaw Institute of Industrial Design and ornaments for faience products in Włocławek, decorated restaurants, cafes and, in 1951, the parlour on the restored transatlantic liner M/S Batory (and the room you are visiting right now , the INTERIOR OF A HOUSE FROM NEAR KRAKOW). In Zalipie and adjacent villages, the tradition to decorate houses with floral patterns is kept alive by the ‘Malowana Chata’ (Painted Hut) contest that have been held for more than sixty years.