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“Color Styling” the Bookshelf

by on February 8, 2013

This little bookshelf sits in my living room.

A lover of books, I like having the classics nearby even if I only manage a once-yearly trek through the beauty of Jane Austen.

But this bookshelf wasn’t doing it for me.

It’s a low, dark shadowy spot in an otherwise colorful and lifting room.

NOW, please prepare yourself for the easiest, quickest and cheapest bookshelf transformation of all time.

Do you remember how we used to cover our textbooks in grade school? Well I found some paper and some fabric in the colors of my living room (navy, yellow and gray) and just wrapped the books, holding them secure on the inside flaps with painter’s tape which won’t ruin the books if I ever remove it.

I left the Austen and Grimm’s books uncovered. One, because they’re navy blue and match the color scheme.  Two, because this is a house of children (fairy tales) and the aforementioned lover of Jane Austen.

The yellow and white stripes are single sheets of specialty paper from A.C.Moore and the blue/white quartrefoil was remnant fabric for $4 a yard at JoAnn’s that I’d bought for another project.

These little gourds echo the white/yellow striping.

Well, it was SO cheap and SO easy that I couldn’t just stop there. I wrapped a few more books in the entryway…

It adds a nice punch of color and pattern for, oh, pocket change…

 

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Mixing Turquoise and Tangerine in a Poured Painting

by on November 24, 2012

Marjorie, my dear friend since childhood, bought her first home last year and began decorating it.

Her downstairs is a cozy lounge-type den with a fireplace, bar, and quiet mood lighting. The colors were all soft neutral browns and tans, so she wanted to put some punch in the space — specifically, turquoise and tangerine.

An afternoon’s worth of pillow shopping at Ross and Homegoods turned up this decent assortment for pretty cheap.

But a massive bare wall above the large sofa presented a challenge because the cost for very very large artwork is pretty high. AND, there wasn’t anything we liked that blended turquoise with tangerine.

Did I mention large? We needed 9 feet of artwork.

So we decided to make a poured painting and put these two colors together. (I posted about this technique here a few weeks ago when I created a poured painting for my master bedroom.) Unfortunately I don’t have any “before” shots of the sofa and empty wall, so following is a photo fest of what we did to put color into a cozy but neutral space.

We started with five 18″x24″ white canvases from AC Moore.

Then we picked a shade of turquoise and a shade of tangerine, put each color in a small paper cup to control the pour, and started working. We used indoor latex paint and a quart was plenty. In fact, a “color to go” size from Sherwin-Williams would have been just the right amount. Because you know I aDORE Sherwin-Williams paint.

Here’s Marjorie getting started…

We let the first color dry completely before adding the second one because we didn’t want the colors to mix together. If you wanted to have a color blend you wouldn’t have to wait until that first color dries.

It took overnight to set because we’d poured several layers of varying thicknesses. By morning it was dry and ready to hang.

You can see here that we intentionally separated the canvases by an inch or so to allow dribble in between the canvases. It looks SO good once these are on the wall, to have a wrap-around effect with the paint.

And here it is dry and hanging….

You can see how we pulled in the two accent colors using pillows and textures as well as the painting.

(Please don’t use these photos as a guide for placement of your artwork on the wall. The paintings should actually hang about 6 inches lower — as in closer to the sofa — instead of suspended equidistant between the ceiling and the sofa top. Small distinction yes, but it makes a big difference in visually connecting the painting to the sofa, creating flow, and eliminating that awkward white space that halts your eye on the wall.) 

 

We were so pleased with how this turned out, especially considering that the cost is $5 per canvas (get them on sale!) plus two quarts of paint. Total cost was about $50, and for a 9 foot custom art installation, pretty doggone cheap.

And now Marjorie gets to tell all her friends that she made this her very own self.

Because she did.

I think this would be great fun to do at a crafting party. Yes?

 

 

 

 

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Make Your Own Poured Painting

by on November 5, 2012

As part of our master bedroom makeover I needed a piece of art to go over the bed. The picture doesn’t give you the immensity of this 6-foot wide king bed, but there was a pretty big blank wall above it. I wanted something that would pull together the two main colors of this room — greenish gray with brownish plum. I looked for several weeks and found no fabric or art or anything that could work. So I had to get creative.

I bought four 18″x24″ paint canvases at A.C. Moore on sale for $5 each. Then I took the paint I’d used on the walls of this room (Sherwin-Williams’ Comfort Gray—a fabulous color I must credit my clients the Sacks for turning me on to) and a sample container I’d bought months ago (Sherwin-Williams’ Socialite) and put them together for some poured art.

I arranged the canvases on a drop cloth on my screened porch. (Note: a screened porch is ideal for any of your painting/gluing projects because it allows the airflow without the rain or bugs or pollen or whatever else flies around your yard.)

I poured with the Comfort Gray color first and then let it dry about 2 hours before adding the next color.

I didn’t take any in-process pictures because it’s kind of impossible to be pouring paint in somewhat straight lines and also taking pictures of yourself doing it. I put the paint in a small paper cup so I could control it better, and then just poured on the lines as I liked.

The end result is this abstract piece which reminds me of Aspen trees.

I hung the canvases with two in the middle a little higher than the others because I wanted a headboard-style arrangement. It actually does make you “sink” a little lower in the bed to have them hung this way.

Here’s a shot of the room with the paintings and the DIY painted drapes that integrate the same “Socialite” plum color into the room.

I added a plummy chair we had upstairs previously with a green parrot pillow to connect those two colors a little more intentionally.

Next I’m going to add a pop of plum somewhere in this bedding. I am obSESSed with folding down my sheets and layering the bedding. 

So that’s my $20 + leftover paint project. It is ridiculously easy and you could also do it with different designs like this one I did for my living room.

I’m happy with how this one turned out and I hope you’ll try it and send me a picture! It is SO SO easy and you don’t have to have any artistic skills to do it. And did I mention the $20 total tab?

Okay, now I need to get back to this guy, waiting for me to finish my picture taking…and trying to pull himself up with my drapes.

I know. Tiny ball of gooey, squishy LOVE…this little one.

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Dresser Makeover – Second Time’s a Charm

by on August 3, 2012

Sometimes I get it wrong. R E A L L Y wrong.

A few months ago I was in love with Kelly Green (still am actually) and I painted a pretty French provincial-type dresser a bold green. You can read about it here.

It looked like this originally:

And then came Kelly:

But NOW (and forevermore to remain) here is the newly transformed aqua dresser:

Smitten I am.

SO smitten, in fact, that she has taken up residence in our entryway. The aqua plays beautifully with the new softer shade of gray on the walls. The dresser is painted Sherwin-Williams Raindrop (satin finish) and the walls are Sherwin-Williams Gray Clouds (flat finish). I highly highly recommend this color combination.

Here she is standing serenely in the entryway.

She’s a Guinevere.

The name just came to me when I saw her. And then Dictionary tells me that Guinevere means “fair” and “smooth.”

I melt. We were meant to be.

It’s a sickness people.

I couldn’t resist adding in some bird nests…and the pashmina/scarf that circulates through my decor.

Okay…one last before and after:

Done. and Done.

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