Monday, April 30, 2012

Gallery Wall

I am a bit frantic 
preparing my home 
to look it's best for 
an upcoming housewalk event.

Good side...It's like having a party
...things get done that have 
been on my list, 
and so that is what is going on 
in my house now.  

Also reminds me of my college days...
sitting up all night 
writing the paper that was
due the following morning 
when it was assigned weeks before.

Anyway...here is the wall I 
decided to tackle on my list...
This is a game table area
 in my living room.



So I took my 4 year old to IKEA, 
 played house in ALL 
the room settings, 
then 2 hours later(for real), 
I got to play with the frames. 

 I like to lay things out on the 
floor to plan my layout.

I actually had no idea 
what I was going to frame, 
but thought I would 
rummage through the house.

Besides, if I was going to 
buy the frames, I was not going 
to spend any more money.
Then I started to dig 
through things and... 

I came up with this pile...

a watercolor form a local artist,
old wallpaper,
scrap book paper, and 
a sketch/painting by a local artist
 I was looking to bring in some 
blue since I have 
so many autumn colors.

The watercolor leaves painting
was the item to connect the 
dots with my colors
since it has the blue I wanted 
and the room's colors.

I started building my gallery wall 
and assessing as I went along.

I started with this 
sweet wallpaper print.
It came from a book 
of discontinued papers.
 ...taped it to the matting and framed it
 Then came this sketch that 
reminds me of coral.
 Put the first two framed items
 next to each other
to assess and was 
happy so I kept going.
 Then my watercolor that I knew 
would look better with a mat so was 
eager to see it done.
 ...loved it so much more framed
 Then I layered two pieces 
of scrapbook paper.
One felt too plain.

 Lastly, I had this piece 
of discontinued wallpaper...
 but had to play with what part 
of the pattern I liked best.






Then it was time for 
the moment of truth...

hammer and nails....





and here is what I ended up with....






Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Flash Card Art


Found these old flash cards 
and had to have them....
Opened them up and started to play.....

 Thought some of the illustrations were so sweet...played some more...

 Then I made a decision and looked around my house for a place to hang my flash card art.
I brought one of the cards to Walmart to play with the frames and settled on these black ones...mostly because they were $2 each and I had already splurged on 75 cents for the box of flash cards.

 Then had to keep playing, 
but got back to the task...

 I hung the word "Family" over 
our closet in our hallway,

 and flanked the word with 
vintage silhouette cut outs.




Monday, April 23, 2012

Always Fussing!

I ended my last post about 
the doilies "under the glass" 
by saying I would leave it 
for a few days and decide if I want 
to keep it that way. 
I loved that all the 
doilies disguised fingerprints, 
but it was too busy for me.

I always tell clients to try 
to "live with things" 
for a bit to see if 
something grows on them or not.  
I try to follow my own 
advice when it comes 
to fussing with things.

I do LOVE the doilies, 
but I started to play 
with less of them 
and overlapped 2 of them...
now it is a perfect fit.

I'll try to get to 
the laundry tomorrow!
No more playing with doilies...
it is addicting!  

What do you think about the change?






Friday, April 20, 2012

Under the Glass





 Just put a fresh coat of gold paint on my kitchen table and put place mats down. Then I put my glass top back over the mats.



 Here is the table with nothing... 
which I also like
 Part of my design business is doing real estate staging, which means I help clients get their homes spruced up to put on the market.

I was hired to help some 
clients that are moving 
out of their home where they 
have lived for over 40 years. 
I started to salivate 
as I toured the home...
felt like I was stepping 
back in time.  

They were getting rid of everything.
 I ended up buying almost 
all their 
furniture and accessories...

garages are not for cars...right?

In the stash of "treasures" 
I bought was a box full of doilies.
   
I find them to be impressive that someone
sewed all of these.... 
seeing that I struggle 
with sewing a button.   

Then I thought it might 
be fun to put some 
under the glass 
and made 
a pile of my favorites 
from the box.
 Then I placed them on the table...
love the ones with the orange rims
 ...put the glass back



 I think I'll leave it for a few days and see if I like it enough to keep it this way.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Tablescape

 My home is going to be featured next month on a house walk here in Riverside,IL, so I have been so busy painting, rearranging things, and planning for the event.   My home will be featured alongside other designers and architects that live in my town. 

I am playing with how I want to "style" 
my home for this event.   

Here is how I plan to dress 
my dining table...want it to feel 
like I am hosting some guests.  
 I am going to add a little 
pie under the cloche 
on the day of 
the housewalk.
I have added some 
vintage table linens, 
utensils, and glassware 
at one end. 
 I clipped off some sprigs from the 
yard and added them 
to a contemporary vase.

The oranges tie into the 
colors in my home...I have all 
greens, golds, 
and oranges through out.
 To separate the clusters of accessories, 
I added the wicker tray, 
all with like items....greenery.  

 Here is a close up of the dining rug.



 Later this evening, I took some 
shots to see how things look with a 
touch of candlelight and a 
few apples under 
the glass dome...always playing.

 At the other end of the grouping, 
the appetizer plates, 
cream pitcher and bowel 
all nestled in together.  
I added a silver cake knife 
found at an antique store.




 The table linens are layered 
for added interest.

I know it was a success when my son 
asked if we were having company.
Now to work on the rest of the house...
It's all in the details!!!!