******************************
Even as a kid, I've always loved setting up and displaying things in my rooms. One of my first home decorating projects was maybe in 4th grade when I recovered an old jewelery box with leftover pieces of the wallpaper border from my room. I didn't know why I felt compelled to do it, but I loved how it looked and how it made me feel about my room. I think that pulling something together from the things that you already have has more appeal to me than just going out and buying something off the shelf. Many of the things in my home have stories; they have sentimental value or I have somehow adapted them to fit how I want them to.
This is the wall in our playroom. The framed letter photographs were a gift from my in-laws. The large piece on the left was a project from my high school art class. Our art teacher had a massive supply of metal tiles that were from a car dealership to show color samples. We cut the tiles to make mosaics. I decided to recreate a favorite Van Gogh painting, Cafe Terrace at Night. (My love of Van Gogh is also seen here in the book, which was a birthday gift when I was a teenager.) I spent almost half a semester working on that project. From all my high school projects, this was my favorite. While I can't imagine anyone would ever want to buy a car in mustard yellow or 70's gold, I loved having so many colors and shades to work with.
On the shelf are some metal stars that I bought when we lived in St. Louis. You'll see them on the sides of the older buildings there and I love the charm of that. The tile on the shelf came off a building in Sevilla, Spain, where I spent a semester in college. In Sevilla, ceramic tiles are an architectural staple and whenever I was walking around the city and saw construction on a building, I'd check the dumpster. I found several patterns of tiles in trash piles but this was my favorite.
Here's a wall from my living room. The poster was from Sevilla and purchased for 3 Euros. It was the first thing my husband and I had framed when we were engaged and even though it's a cheap reproduction poster, I've always valued how it looks in the frame.
The books on the cabinet are a way of showing my love for literature. The books are (top to bottom) Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and some collected works of Shakespeare. The little vintage box was recently rescued from my parents' basement. It was an old lunch box that had been re-purposed into a purse and belonged to my great Grandma. The wooden bowl was turned by my Father-in-law. I love having a crafty family!
This is the landing by our stairwell. I repainted the little wooden bird that came from a thrift store and also painted the pot of the small tree, which you can't really see because of the picture frame. I'm always repainting things, and it blew my mind when I went to visit Karen that she didn't have any paints in her crafty arsenal. A few months later I was looking online at a pattern to sew a small elephant and it needed a yarn tail. I didn't have a single piece in the house. I thought that would amuse Karen in the same way that not having paints was amusing to me, since Karen has bookshelves full of yarn. The flowers were all cut from my yard. Our landscaping is not too spectacular but I love to make little arrangements from what we do grow.
When my son moved out of the nursery, I wanted to make his room feel just as purposeful as his nursery had been. I saw a print of Eric Carle designed alphabet letters at Target, but it had pink and purple and wouldn't work for a boy. I decided to make my own alphabet instead. I'm glad I did because I loved how it turned out. The frame was another South Dakota cast-off. I had bought it on clearance at Target and it held a skiing poster in my husband's office. I used mostly scrapbooking papers for this project. I tried to make choices for my alphabet items that would not feel too babyish in a few years. That's why L for leaf, M for mountain, and S for skis made the cut. I also loved that B, C, and D could all be baseball related. My husband and I were sucked into Cardinal nation when we lived in St. Louis. As Michigan natives, we still have a fondness for the Detroit Tigers so I included the Detroit "D" as well.
On the wall opposite his ABC art, I cut out Henry's name in the same style. My favorite part of this piece was the background paper, which I had painted using the metal caning of his vintage bedframe as a stencil. It's subtle, but I know it's there, and I like that when he outgrows the bed or the room he can still have a piece of it. Kind of like the pink bunny in Full House, but less sad, since no one died.
My daughter Lilly just turned one and I made this for her birthday present. Lillian is a family name but I love that Lilly is also a flower name. (I debated spelling her nickname Lily, so it would be just like the flower spelling, but decided to stick with the traditional form instead.) I originally painted the piece with watercolor but didn't love it. I then decided to outline it all with a magenta permanent marker. That's when I really loved it. I also added small hearts and doodles which made it feel more girly. The frame was an ugly metallic-stickered frame from a garage sale but it had good bones. First I painted it white. Then I became a little Sharpie-happy and marked it up on all the raised portions. I decided it was a little too much and painted over it. The marker kept bleeding through and to me that worked perfectly. I love how the painting and the frame work together now.
******************************
Do you see why I think it is so fun to stay at Emily's house? I hope you enjoyed this fun little tour.
