when your home is your canvas
I’m so excited to be featured over at Jani Franck’s blog in a fun and unique format – a doodle interview. Jani doodled the questions and I doodled the answers. Totally creative and probably the most fun interview I’ve ever done! Check it out here.
And to those of you visiting from Jani’s blog, thank you for stopping by and…
Welcome! Please poke around the blog and hope enjoy all of my misadventures in decorating!
After living in my current house for 6 1/2 years, I finally opened that one last box. You know, the one that lingers and may actually move from house to house without ever being opened. Well, I figured it had cured quite long enough.
It contained some family photos. In our old house we had lots of places for tchotchkes and framed pics, whereas not so much in the new house. The reason I finally opened it is because I’m working on a picture wall, a project that is currently on hold due a surprising worldwide shortage of small black frames.
Anyway, also in the box were some other pics in frames that I decided to place in what was my ex-husband’s office and is now just an unused room that I’ve been having a bit of trouble making feel like part of my space. Guess it’s the old juju and the manly wood built-in desk and all. But it seems that the addition of the pics and their whimsical frames has finally tipped the scales toward making the room feel more inviting.
The fun blue frame was a handpainted gift from a dear artist friend when my daughter was born and it filled in this space perfectly and added a more funky, personal touch…
Perfect eclectic frame to capture a photo of such a spirited child…
And I love these photo booth shots of my cousin Joan, a fabulous jewelry designer, and I from years ago!
And by sprinkling the whimsical, light-colored frames throughout the wood shelves, it adds the warmth needed to pull all of the other fun elements together…
…like the snow globes and the rubber ducky collection…
A pic of my boy when he was a baby amongst all of my favorite books…
And one of my baby girl who’s not such a baby anymore…
More whimsy…
An ostrich created by my late uncle who was an iron worker by trade, and clearly an artist by avocation…
And a print by artist Janice Taylor over at Our Lady of Weight Loss…
And finally a vintage pic of me, mostly because I like the frame, but to remind me of who I was when I was a kid, a free and easy creative spirit…
Now the room is finally beginning to feel like it’s a reflection of the new me.
Showing off at Funky Junk Interiors.
When I was growing up, fixing my bed was mandatory. Every. single. day.
Being a natural-born slob, I fell out of that habit once I didn’t have anyone telling me what to do. But now that I’m on a quest to beautify my home on a very slim budget, I started thinking about some of the things that I can do on the cheap, or even for free. Like…
…fixing my bed!
For those of you who are naturally tidy, I’m sure you’re sitting there reading this saying, “Duh!” but for some of us this is going to be a huge revelation.
So today I decided to get back into the habit of fixing my bed. I know someone who always says, “It only takes 2 minutes to fix your bed.” But not being the type to believe everything I hear, of course I had to time it.
Two minutes and 24 seconds. And I’m sure that the extra 24 seconds was because I spent a little extra time fixing the pillow cases and fluffing the pillows, which wouldn’t need to be done if the pillows hadn’t been stuffed and piled on the side of the bed for who knows how long.
So basically the two-minute rule is true. Look how much better everything looks! And really, who can’t spare 2 extra minutes out of your morning routine? Even though I’m tempted to say that I can’t, we all know that on most days we can spare the 2 minutes.
Most of all, it will make your room so much more beautiful and your bed so much nicer to retire to every evening.
Francois the sock monkey thinks so…
So where do I begin with the massive undertaking of cleaning up my office/loft/art studio?
The art table?
The front desk?
Or maybe the back desk?
I think we’ve found a winner, folks. The back desk seems to be the least offensive, so I think I’ll begin there.
Just keeping it real, people.
Would you please pour me a cup of tea?
Oh wait. Something’s off. Looks like someone put Sharpies in the teapot.
Oh yeah. That was me. Because I love to use things for purposes other than their original intent. Like Sharpies in a funky Midsummer Night’s Dream teapot.
Clever, too, since I wasn’t serving up tea very often.
It’s cute, don’t you think?
Who have I been kidding?
I’ve said that I haven’t been doing any projects because I’ve been, um, short on funds (ie, broke), but seriously that’s no excuse. Because it doesn’t cost anything to clean. And boy does my office/studio/loft need a good cleaning.
I should really be embarrassed to post a pic of it here, but since I have no shame (in addition to no money), here goes…
OK, this is an old pic, so it’s not quite this bad. But bad enough.
So I decided that until I can scrape up some cashiola for my next project, I will begin the massive undertaking of cleaning my office/studio/loft space.
I started at the entrance of the loft space with Megan’s desk.
Megan’s desk is so named because it was a desk that I trash picked from my former neighbor Megan’s house when I lived in California. Now almost 7 years later, we still call it Megan’s desk. Kind of an endearing name for a desk.
Here is Megan’s desk, in all of her cleaned up glory…
Isn’t she loverly? (The chair I picked up from Target a couple of years back.)
If I recall correctly, the desk was Ethan Allen that Megan dared to paint a creamy white. Also if I remember the story correctly, Megan may have had to revive her mother when she found out that she had painted classic furniture. Of course I adored Megan for that and many other reasons!
At some point, Megan was ready for said desk to move on, and she was living across the street from a trash picker at the time. The rest was history.
Until last weekend, Megan’s desk was loaded up with crap, basically a repository for things that needed to be moved, stored, donated, or thrown. So I cleared it out and here she is.
In fact, now that she’s all available again, I may have plans for her elsewhere in the house in the future. But first things first. I still need to finish cleaning the rest of this space, even if it takes all winter.
And at the rate I’m going it might. But I’ll share the embarrassing pictures every step of the way!
This is a broken vintage bracelet…
This is a broken vintage bracelet used as art…
Pretty clever, huh?
As much as I would love to wear this bracelet, there was no fixing it, because the metal wasn’t strong enough to repair. But I still love the vibrant colors and beautiful design, so on the wall it went.
Works perfectly next to my print of First Kiss by Bouguereau, which I bought at Target a number of years back for $3.78. Can’t remember what I ate for breakfast today, but can remember how much I paid for something clearance 10 years ago! Go figure.
Yeah, it’s the little things, people…
Showing off this project at Funky Junk Interiors.
Recently I found an awesome and inspiring pin on Pinterest…
While the room and colors are great, I was really moved by the inspirational art work. And of course I thought, “Hey, I can do that!”
In the spirit of daily affirmations and getting my single ladies groove on, I decided to create a similar art piece to hang next to my bathroom mirror, so I can read it and feel the love every day.
My tools were simple. An 8″ x 24″ canvas and a black Sharpie. But you could use any color Sharpie. And you could paint your canvas if you’re not into the black & white scene.
Then I started writing “I love you” repeatedly, being careful to space my wording so that the words didn’t line up perfectly line after line. You can use any phrase or affirmation that’s meaningful to you.
Here’s the awesome result…
This was a super-quick project…it only took about 15 minutes, including hanging the canvas. About halfway down the canvas I threw in an all caps “I love you” just for extra emphasis…
Looks super-cute, and the best part is that every time I step into the bathroom I’m reminded that I’m loved, which makes this single girl feel great.
What are you gonna write on your canvas?
When I was out Christmas shopping. I spotted this awesome clock…
It appealed to all of those things that make me go weak in the knees – my love of letters and numbers, wood and metals, and vintage meets modern.
So, in the spirit of one for you, two for me, I bought it. Let’s say it’s a little Christmas present to myself.
I probably wouldn’t have splurged if I didn’t have an empty wall just begging to be filled…
See? Barren.
I used the toothpaste method to hang it that I learned on Pinterest. Add a dab of toothpaste to the hooks on the back of the piece you’re hanging…
…then place it exactly where you want it on the wall, and it leaves a glob of toothpaste on the wall exactly where your nail should go. Frankly, it worked better than I expected…
Perfect placement and minty fresh!
Doesn’t it fill out the space perfectly?
Love all of that vintage-y goodness! Plus it works perfectly with the two sepia tone pics to the right. And with the cat hiding on the stairs above!
Merry Christmas to me. And to you too!
OK, so I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted a project, and now all of a sudden I’ve had a burst of creativity with 2 projects in 2 days.
Why?
Most likely because I’m avoiding cleaning my house, since I’m hosting Thanksgiving dinner in a mere 4 days. There’s nothing like it to inspire projects!
But mostly, I haven’t been doing much because I haven’t had the funds for new purchases. But then I began to tidy up a bit and found a little frame that I’ve been meaning to use for years.
I wasn’t back in cleaning mode not even for 5 minutes after hanging the little frame when I saw the same gorgeous frame that’s been leaning against my desk for probably several years, also waiting for real home, where it would be loved and cherished as it deserves. (Yes, my office/studio is like the land of the misfit toys.)
Don’t mind the crappy photos…it’s late and my iPhone is tired.
And I thought, “Damn it, after all these years, this frame deserves a real home…where could I put it?” Which sent me on a wild goose chase through my house trying to find a place for this awesome frame, while I conveniently avoided cleaning.
With this crappy quality closeup photo, you may or may not be able to see that the frame has lovely rosettes and a layered look with gold metallic topped with a creamy off-white paint.
I found this bad boy at Michael’s for a mere $13. It was originally all gold metallic, but I spruced it up with an antique white finish. Then I let it cure for a couple of years.
Since the frame is a little bit ornate and a little bit shabby chic (sung to the tune of Donny & Marie’s Little Bit Country, Little Bit Rock ‘N Roll. And yes, you’re welcome for ensuring that tune that will be in your head all day long), I figured I might find a place in my master bedroom, which is full of shabby chic awesomeness.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I got here…
The heavens parted and the angels were singing, until the record scratched when I realized that this spot, while a clever vignette, was missing a little something. Something along the lines of an ornate, yet shabby chic empty frame…
The heavens once again beamed down upon me and the angels resumed their singing. It was the perfect addition to top off this vignette. And because I’m getting comfortable with imperfection, I LOVE the off-center look! It makes it unusual and a bit mod.
(However, don’t ask my 12-year-old-son for his opinion…he walked into my room and shouted, “THAT FRAME IS OFF CENTER. YOU NEED TO FIX THAT!” To which I said, “No, I’m getting comfortable with imperfection.” His response was to turn on his heel and run screaming from my room. If I’d known it would have had that effect, I might have tried it years ago!)
So now that I’ve got that project wrapped up, it’s back to my pre-Thanksgiving attempts at cleaning. Let’s see how many more awesome projects are spawned by my avoidant behaviors.
