Artistic Hang-Ups

Here's my opinion on artwork...

I can't count the number of times I have liked a print, bought it, took it home, hung it on the wall and then realized that like 5 gajillion other people did the same thing. Don't believe me?

Okay, admit it. Who had this one hanging somewhere in their house? Show of hands...come on, this is a judgement-free zone. I'll go first...this hung in my bedroom when I was in high school. Whew! It felt good to get that off my chest!

"The Kiss" by Gustav Klmit was standard dorm-room issue when I was in college and yep, I had it. In fact, it's followed me to about seven different houses since then. It went from the living room, to the hallway, to the guest room and then to a pile in the garage. Last year, when it didn't sell in my garage sale, I donated it to the Goodwill.

The first time I ever saw the "Cafe Scene in Paris," I had just moved into my first apartment. I wanted it so bad that I spent my entire week's grocery budget to buy it. Approximately six months later, it was everywhere...and on clearance too.

And what about this one? Do you know someone who has it? I do...my mom has it in her dining room.
And who didn't love the cartoon chef with a plate of spaghetti? I know I did and so did the lady who bought it from my yard sale last year.

I'm joking around, but in all seriousness, it doesn't matter if you like something that a million other people like too. As long as YOU like it and it makes you happy then it deserves a place in your home.

But let's face it, we'd all rather have artwork to hang in our home that is interesting, one-of-kind, affordable, and preferably not bought on clearance at K-mart.

Tall order, right? Well, it's not as difficult as I'm making it sound. I have found several good resources for original (or at least unique) artwork that you should check out for your upcoming projects.

Surface View is a company from the United Kingdom that has the rights to reproduce great works of art from British museums like the the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Maritime Museum. They will print them on canvases of all sizes...even large-scale murals. So even if you like the works of the masters, this presents them in a new and interesting way.

CutArts.com is a great site! Renowned silhouette artist, Karl Johnson, will take a standard photograph of you, your child(ren), even your pets and turn them into unique works of art! Each silhouette is an original, one-of-a-kind work of art, signed by the artist...and it's affordable too, around $25!

Photocrazed.com takes your favorite photographs and gives them the Andy Warhol treatment. It's a fun and unique way to show off your family!

Rtist.com and Etsy.com are both online marketplaces for artists to sell their work. Depending on the artist, you can find original works of art for pretty decent prices and just imagine what could happen if you stumble upon the next Pablo Picasso!! A girl can dream, right?

Art.com is another great website that offers a variety of visual art in just about every medium at very affordable prices. I like this site because it's very well-organized and easy to shop. Check it out!

And please share with us any resources you may have found! The best ideas are shared ideas!

Are you a 90 Percenter?

Well, that depends...what is a 90 Percenter?

A 90 Percenter is someone I define as a person who takes on a home improvement and/or decorating project, gets close to the end of the project and then runs out of steam...leaving the project almost, but not quite, finished.

Ninety Percenters are easily identified by the following tell-tale signs:

Their walls are sporting a fresh coat of paint, but they are devoid of any artwork or life. Let me just say, I get this one. I really do. I mean, after you go to all the work to re-paint a room, it's hard to put a bunch of new holes in the wall in order to hang art work you feel so-so about.

OR...

HALF their walls are sporting a fresh coat of paint and the other half isn't because about midway through the job, they decided the color was all wrong and were too afraid (or pooped!) to try again.

Some 90 Percenters start out with ambitious plans...like tearing down a wall or refinishing a floor only to find that life and it's uncanny ability to get in the way has prohibited them from completing the project, or maybe the job was simply bigger than they thought and they're not sure where to proceed from here.

Maybe it's something as seemingly simple as you've bought the furniture you like, it's paid for and been delivered, but you can't figure out how to place it in your room, or maybe you like the way it looks, but the room just needs something....more?

A lot of 90 Percenters I see have recently undergone an extensive renovation and are now enjoying their hard-earned new floors, new walls, new blinds and new light fixtures, but they're just so tired of home improvements that they want to give it a rest for awhile.

So when you put it like this, you'll see that most of us have been a 90 Percenter at one point or another, so I don't want you to think that I'm picking on 90 Percenters. I'm not. In fact, I live with a 90 Percenter (my beloved husband) and my experience with him tells me that 90 Percenters aren't bad people. They're human beings, just like you and me, so they deserve our love and pity more than our scorn...all they need is that last little bit of inspiration to help them cross the finish line!

So depending on where you fall on the Unfinished Project Spectrum (the 'ole UPS), I have some suggestions designed to help you go from tired, frustrated Ninety Percenter to triumphant, proud, and you can say it...a little bit cocky, 100 Percenter!

Which of these statements best reflects you and your 90% Situation:

"I like the changes I've made so far, but I don't want to mess up our newly patched and painted walls with artwork that we've had forever and I don't really care about."

This one is simple...it's time to go shopping for artwork that inspires you and makes you happy! The thing about art is it doesn't have to be trendy (in fact, it shouldn't be), expensive or one-of-a-kind...it just has to stir something in your soul when you look at it. Maybe it's a family photograph framed and hung over the mantle or a hand-me-down painting that used to hang in your grandmother's house and reminds you of fun visits to her house as a child. It's amazing what a new frame and a matte will do for something you cherish!

And remember, it's art because YOU say it is. Andy Warhol's "32 Cans of Campbell's Soup" sold for $11.7 million dollars and it was literally an image of 32 cans of Campbell's soup!

"I didn't like the paint I selected so now I'm afraid to try again."

Seriously...don't beat yourself up. Even the most knowledgable designers make mistakes in this area. As a matter of fact, my husband and I are planning to re-paint our bedroom this weekend in order to eradicate an ill-advised blue that instead of making our room feel cool and serene like I intended, makes our room feel dark and depressing.

In this area, the best advice I can give is the old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try try again...and get one of those tester samples first." Okay, I added that last part, but the tester samples offered by most paint stores now can be a real life and wallet saver. I recommend painting a test patch in your room and living with it for a few days in order to see how it looks at every hour of the day.

"After watching HGTV one Sunday morning, I got inspired and knocked down the wall between our den and kitchen, but that's as far as I got. It's been six months and I still have a big hole in my wall."

In a situation like this, I like to quote the great Chinese militarian Sun Tzu who said, "Sometimes it's better to lose a battle so you can win the war."

Okay, I don't know if he really said that or not, but my point is that it's important to recognize when you've gotten in over your head and when it's time to call in a professional. The fact is, you can't live indefinitely with a hole in your wall, so you've either got to set aside a long weekend and fix it yourself or call in a professional and pay them to fix it. But hey, it happens. Don't beat yourself up, just pull out the Yellow Pages and make the call!

"I bought some furniture that I like, but I just can't figure out how to place it in my living room."

You can either call a professional (like me) for a couple hours of work, or there are some websites that can help you map out placement taking into account traffic flow, furniture size, etc. Just google "Furniture Arrangement" and see what comes up.

"The hard work is done. I just need help with the finishing touches. "

Again, a professional can do this in a couple of hours and nine times out of ten, use a lot of the things you already have.

OR...

One thing I recommend to hesitant homeowners is going out to a major discout retailer (like Target, HomeGoods, Garden Ridge Pottery, etc.) and just buy up whatever looks good to you, put it on your credit card and take it home. Then just fix yourself a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, put on some inspiring music and spend the afternoon moving stuff around until you like it. Once you get everything in a place that's pleasing to you, take the rest back and get your money back. Designers do it all the time!

One last tip that covers everything...

Make a list of everything that needs to happen in your room before you are ready to declare it "Done." For whatever reason, the act of breaking down a big project into an itemized list seems to make big goals feel more attainable...and let's face it. There are few things in this world more satisfying than marking something off of a "To Do" list.

Then tell yourself, "Whatever happens this weekend, I'm going to get #1 and #2 marked off my list." Build in a little motivation, but keep your goals reasonable and before you know it, you'll be kickin' back in your newly finished, perfectly appointed new room!

Good luck!

Recession Style: Living Room "BEFORE"

Meet our new room! This brave homeowner has agreed to let me re-decorate her living room using primarily hand-me-downs, yard sale finds, and items bought off of Craig's List!

I invite you to follow along with us as we undertake this challenge, and of course, your comments, suggestions and questions are always welcome!

Things to Keep in Mind:

This room is the primary living space for our homeowner and her family. They have two small children and a couple of cats so everything we do will have to take into consideration their needs.

They would like the furnishings in this room to be comfortable, durable and made of a fabric that can be cleaned easily.

This is a long, skinny room with a fireplace on one end and a picture window on the other. This limits our options for sofa and television placement and the homeowner has expressed some frustration with this.

What's We're Keeping:

The homeowner likes the rug in the middle of the room and likes the colors in it, so we're going to take our color scheme from it. They also recently bought this television stand which she said is indicative of the style of furniture she and her husband like.

To save money, we're also going to keep the window treatments which came with the house.




Right now, the homeowner says she feels so-so about the window treatments, but we've decided to keep them because the color closely matches the green in her area rug; they were custom-made for the windows and are on a good scale for the room so we're going to keep them and divert that money to other parts of our budget.

AND, just to make it interesting and to prove that it can be done, we're keeping the husband's comfy TV-watching recliner. I know...I know! I'm a miracle-worker. What can I say? :o)

What We're Losing:

Pretty much the rest of the furniture. The homeowners are ready for something new!

Our Budget? $1,500

Style Goal? This homeowner knows what she likes and has told me her tastes lean toward the traditional. My goal is to give her a traditional room that is still comfortable and durable enough to meet the needs of her young family.

Well, that's it for now. It looks like I have my marching orders, my budget and my color scheme, so I'm heading out to do some shopping. Don't forget to check back and follow our progress!

Greeting Cards = Great Artwork!

Do you have an expanse of wall or a smaller space that's just crying out for artwork? If so, here are two inexpensive options to consider using greeting cards.

Idea #1:

This is a young girl's bathroom but it also occasionally serves as a guest bathroom. The homeowner wanted artwork that was appropriate to her young daughter's age, but not too "cartooney", "cutesy" or "theme-y." I took that to mean, No Disney and No Dora the Explorer, but still something child-friendly yet adult-appropriate.

We had two identical towel bars on either side of a vanity with double sinks so the artwork needed to be small in scale to fit on the narrow walls and over the towel bars.

We decided that the best option would be four coordinating images in 5x7 frames. When we found these greeting cards, we knew we'd hit the jackpot.


The bathroom was painted a soft blue and the accent colors were yellow and green. These cards contained all of those colors and the brown-haired fairies even looked remarkably similar to the homeowner's little girl. The images were sweet without being too "cartoonish."

To frame the cards, we bought inexpensive 5x7 frames from Wal-Mart.


We painted them white and then lightly sanded down the edges to give the frames an "antiqued" appearance.

We had to have the mattes custom-cut for the cards so they would fit into the frames. We chose a soft yellow to match the guest towels in the bathroom.

We had two of the guest towels monogrammed with the homeowner's daughter's initial and VOILA! We have sweet and girly, yet not too cutesy or cartooney artwork without spending a lot of money. It was just what the homeowner requested!

Cost for this Project: I spent $1.5o per card for each of the greeting cards. The frames were $3.00 a piece and I used leftover white paint from a previous project. The mattes were custom-cut for $3.00 a piece. In total, this project cost $28.00...but the best part is that it's original and one-of-a-kind!

Estimated Completion Time: A little over two hours, counting the trip to Hobby Lobby to have the mattes cut.

Degree of Difficulty: On a scale from 1 to 10, I would give this a 1. The hardest part was finding greeting cards with an appropriate subject for our project and that only took an afternoon.

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Idea #2:
Usually, I go shopping with my project already in mind, but in this case, I did it backward. I found this birthday card one day and bought it without any idea of how I would use it, I just knew I would so I put it away. Little did I know then, that I would end up using it in my own daughter's bedroom.

After we moved my daughter into her big-girl room, we had some empty space on either side of the dresser and it made the wall look kind of bare.


Remembering the paper doll birthday card I had bought months before, I decided to use it to create one-of-a-kind artwork for my daughter's room.

Here's the breakdown:

I bought four shadow boxes at Hobby Lobby. They were $3.99 a piece, but on sale that day for 40% off...


The frames were made with unfinished wood, so I had to paint them.

TIP: With unfinished wood, it's a good idea to sand it down with 220-grit sandpaper before you paint. Otherwise, the wood will rise with the paint and make it appear scratchy and rough.


And don't forget..."Take the time to prime!" Memorize it...Know it...Live it. If there is any tip I can give you that will help you give your painting projects a more professional outcome, it is primer. I never paint anything without priming the wood first.

To save money, I used the leftover paint we used to paint my daughter's furniture. The color is Cream Delight by Valspar.

I thought it would be cute to use a coordinating paper behind each of the dolls to give each box an individual look and make it just a little more interesting to look at. It's scrapbook paper and I bought it at Hobby Lobby too. (Just a note to the CEO of Hobby Lobby..."You're welcome.")

Now with any shadow box, the key is the shadow. I used a foam board. I went with a 10mm depth which is the thickest size. I did it because this particular shadow box was kind of deep and I wanted the doll to really stand out. I cut the board lengthwise, long enough where it would give a strong foundation to the paper doll and widthwise, I cut it thin enough where you wouldn't be able to see it from the side.

I attached it to the back of the doll with double-sided mounting tape. I used mounting tape because I wanted the bond to be stronger than probably regular Scotch tape could provide.

After that, I put the lids on each box and called it a day! This was a fun project and I love the idea that my daughter now has totally original artwork for her room that's cute and girly, but says nothing about her being a "diva," "princess," or "drama queen." Because she's none of those things...at least not every day. ;o)









I'd never done this project before, and although it seems pretty straight-forward, I'd like to share a couple of lessons I learned...

I'm almost too embarrassed to tell you this, but I suppose if I didn't think to do it, someone else might not either. The shadow boxes come with the hanging hardware already attached. When you go to glue the doll inside the box, make sure you check the back first so you don't accidentally glue the doll upside down. I did it on, not one box, but two before I realized what I'd done.

Take the time to tape off the frame with painter's tape to protect the glass. I didn't and it was a real chore to get all the paint to come off when the project was done.

To do this project, you will need:
4 Shadow Boxes - $9.40
4 Pieces of Scrapbook Paper - $1.16
Spray Adhesive
Paint and Primer
Double-sided Mounting Tape - $4.99
10mm foamboard - 4.99
Birthday Card - 4.99

Total Cost: Approximately $26.00
Timeframe to Complete: Approximately 4 hours
Degree of Difficulty: On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 3.

Beautiful Ballerinas

The Challenge:

It's really hard to find original children's artwork these days that doesn't say "Drama Queen" or "Diva" on it. If you're anything like me, you'd probably prefer your child NOT behave like a diva or drama queen (at least not in front of company) and therefore find it very frustrating to find just the right artwork that is unique to your child and his or her interests.

Recently, my husband and I moved our daughter into her big-girl room and I started looking for artwork that would be age-appropriate for a three-year-old, yet grow with her for at least a few more years. Right now she's really into ballerinas and that's the motif I wanted to go with for her new big-girl room. However, anyone with children knows that her interest could change tomorrow, so I didn't want to make a huge investment in case I have to change it all to soccer balls next month.

I didn't want my artwork to look overly precious, and ballerina posters seemed too generic. What I really liked was some watercolors of ballerinas that I saw in a flea market once. They had a neat kind of retro look about them, but of course, I didn't buy when I had the chance. (Reverse Buyer's Remorse! I'm still kicking myself for that one.) So, what was my Plan B?

The Solution:

Clipart! Can I just say? I love Clipart. It's copyright free (emphasis on the word, "FREE") and there's an image out there for just about anything you want to search for...including photography and other color images.

Because I was going for a sort of retro 1950's artwork, I used the Clips Online application and downloaded two black and white images of ballerinas. I enlarged them to fit onto an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of paper designed especially for watercolors.

After that, it was as simple as filling in the images with the colors I wanted. It was easy and very inexpensive. I didn't even use artist-quality watercolors. I used my daughter's Barbie paints.

To frame, I bought standard picture frames, painted them to be the color I wanted and had mattes cut to fit. (All artwork looks more expensive with a matte around it. I don't know why...it just does.) In this case, I thought at oval cut-out framing the picture seemed more feminine which was exactly what I was going for, but you can have mattes cut anyway you want.

Here is the finished product...





The Breakdown:

The frames are from Hobby Lobby. They cost approximately $15 a piece. They were originally brownish-gold, but I painted them white then lightly added a touch of pink paint to the swirls for added femininity.

The mattes were custom cut at Hobby Lobby: $6 a piece

The ballerinas are printed on paper specifically for watercolors. You can buy a tablet at either Hobby Lobby or Michael's.

Paint: Barbie. Seriously.

Total Cost for Original Artwork: Less than $25 a piece.

Estimated Completion Time: Approximately 3-1/2 hours. (Includes painting the frames)
Degree of Difficulty: On a scale of 1 to 5--one being very easy and five being think about this one before you try it--I'd give it a two-and-a-half.