home tour update

Since the nursery is at a bit of a standstill for the next two weeks, I thought it would be fun to post an update on some of the rooms that we've worked on a bit since I last shared photos with you.

Master bedroom 
-since you last saw it: painted, floating shelf hung & filled, curtains & curtain rods hung, and I found the most FABULOUS painting at Garden Ridge for above the bed!! I'm in LOVE! This is such a great space with all the natural lighting, high vaulted ceilings, and extra square footage. We love to relax in here!
-still to do (tomorrow): build headboard
-eventually: find a couch or beautiful chair to put in front of the bay windows

Kids' bathrooms
I've never shown you the bathrooms, but one was tan and one was sage green when we moved in. There really wasn't much to see before, they were pretty plain. Both are now Behr's Southern Breeze, which is a favorite of ours. The bathrooms and laundry room in our first house were this color and we just had to bring it with us. Both bathrooms have the same shower curtain and color scheme, and coordinate well with the colors we've chosen for the rest of the house. It's so hard to get an accurate depiction of the color with the incandescent lighting, but trust me, it's the most beautiful, calming blue/green/grey you've ever seen.
bathroom #1 

In bathroom #2, I took the awkwardly hung towel bar off the wall above the toilet and replaced it with some pretty prints. Right now we don't use the bathroom much, but when it is regularly in use by a kiddo, we will probably put a towel bar on the back of the door.

bathroom #2

-still to do (in both bathrooms): replace linoleum flooring with wood-look ceramic tile, frame out mirrors, replace faucets and light fixtures

Little man's room

This is another room I never showed you, which is pretty much complete (for this stage in his life), except for updating the ceiling fan. The wall color is Neon Mint by Valspar. I'm not much of a "themed bedroom" type person. I like to just pick a modern yet versatile color scheme, focus on that, and see what develops. That keeps me from being tied down to one look, and also keeps options open for changing things out as the kids grow. Our little man has really started to love airplanes, and I kept seeing the cutest airplane decor on Etsy and in random places, so we just kind of went with it. We tried not to go overboard. You may remember the world map mural from this post.
-still to do: replace ceiling fan and finally add more fabric to the bottom of the curtains (I incorrectly remembered the measurements I took when we came to see the house the first time, so I wound up about 6 inches short. I've been saying "I'm going to fix that" since we moved in.)

Entry hall
-since you last saw it: nothing has really changed here, but the last photos I posted of it were pretty crappy, so I thought I'd give it another shot. Changing the living room up has also had a major impact on what you see when you come through the front door.
-still do do: possibly hang another art piece or two somewhere

Note: our special headless cat

The light fixture in here will eventually be updated, hopefully with something a little larger and contemporary like this from west elm:

Living room
-since you last saw it: The only thing that's changed is our seasonal decor and a few lighting pieces. We had an additional eyeball light installed over our new built in shelves to bring some light to the corner and really showcase the contents of the shelves. The opposite corner of the room was pretty dark, so we got a cool floor lamp from Target and now it has the perfect amount of light to balance out the space.

-still to do: this year I'd like to retile the fireplace with something lighter, cleaner, and more modern - like these beautiful marble tile examples:

   

We'll see how hubby feels about that ;)

We had some recessed lighting and a fan installed in the media room, but we haven't yet built or had someone build an entertainment/shelving unit around the TV.

Our kitchen and dining room remain a bit unfinished, so I'll hold off until we make some more progress in there to show you what we've accomplished. 

Some overall/eventual (read: big & expensive) home updates we'd like to do is replace all the tile in the entry, kitchen, and dining room with dark wood flooring. Another rather expensive upgrade will be replacing all the brassy doorknobs & handles throughout the entire house. We are currently focusing some of our time and energy into the exterior of our home, to give it some more color & curb appeal. Oh yeah, and this little thing called Project Nursery. 

When you are creative, it seems like things are always changing in your home. I am still in shock when I look back at all the old photos we have of our house, compared to the look and feel of our home now. It has evolved so much, and continues to do so - seems like - every day! Hubby keeps telling me, "No more projects!!". Pssh. 

What is it like in your home? Are you always working on something like I am??

Thank you for coming over today to see what we've been up to! 

my most asked question

Besides, "How did you do that?!", by far the question I am asked the most is, "Who is your favorite artist?" I have to say, that's a tough one. There are many artists I admire, all for different reasons. My home is full of art by living artists I've either met, taught, gone to school with, found on Etsy or at art festivals. I think that's really important.

In college, we did an exercise where my professor asked us to write down the names of ten artists. Then she asked us to cross off the names of those who were dead. Then cross off the names of those who were men. THEN cross off the names of those who were white. How many names were left on our list?

That was really a challenge to me, and opened my eyes to the fact that most, if not all of the names on my list were those of dead white guys. I loved this exercise so much I did it with my students every single semester I taught high school art. I wanted them to realize that there's so. much. more. to what art is and means and who can be called an "artist". This is one of the many reasons I have chosen pieces for my home from a variety of living artists.

I am therefore ashamed to admit that my favorite artist is, in fact, a dead white guy. He died 13 years before I was born. Insert laughter here. Ok, I know. Gimme a break, it's hard enough to "pick one".

My absolute favorite is Mark Rothko, and has always been. I'm obsessed with his work and the response his use of color stirs in me every. time.

It has been said that Mark Rothko began his career in painting after just wandering into an art class to meet a friend. He was so impressed with what was going on in that classroom that life completely changed direction for this Yale student. Insert comment about the awe-inspiring power of art teachers here.

One of the coolest things I've read about Rothko, is that once his work became more abstract in the late 40's, he started just numbering his paintings or just calling them by the colors in them. He did this because he said, "silence is so accurate", and held the position that giving the paintings names would sway or confuse the viewer and "paralyze their imagination". He wanted his work to be open for interpretation and each viewer's personal connection. I'm pretty sure every artist in the history of time would have been a tad more successful if they had only followed suit.

His work is simple yet moving. Did you know that color is THE single-most powerful component used in design, fashion, advertising... you name it? It's because color triggers an emotional response from us. Some colors are aggressive, some are happy, some are somber, some are calm. We relate to them in ways we do not relate to music, images, or anything else. Think about it!

I could go on and on about color, but I'll stop here and just give you a nice little sampling of Rothko's work. I promise you'll love it, too. Also, his paintings are HUGE.

from our trip to San Fransisco's MoMA,  June 2011

Somewhere there exists a photo of me in front of a Rothko at the DMA from way back when, taking it all in. The art guards had to ask me to step back a bit, because I wanted to soak in every brush stroke!

Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas

Each one makes me feel a little different. These are just a few I found when I googled "Mark Rothko paintings". I encourage you do get out there and see a little more for yourself! What do you think of Rothko's work?

the studio "puzzle"

Piece by piece this space is taking on a shape and life of its own. I have one MAJOR project left to do, and then a few more items to put on the walls including a little mural. I could just cry.

the death of three pallets - after demo Friday

Here's a little peek of where we're at right now. Not finished, not perfect, but definitely close.

My little bulletin board received a facelift with some linen and painted gold polka dots. It's now going to serve as my "inspiration board".

Now it's hanging in its new home, over the round chair.

Friday night I finally found the courage to put up my bird vinyl decals I bought for-e-ver ago from Target.

I'm just a little obsessed with the energy and movement they bring to the room. The best part is, if I ever get tired of it, all I have do to is just pull them off the wall. BOOM.

Across from the round chair is a repurposed entertainment unit (see here) that I painted teal and distressed. It now holds small canvases, papers, random craft supplies, and some stationery & shipping goods. And a pile on top of things that don't have a home yet.

Next to the round chair is my desk and a mess on the floor thanks to a certain 2 year-old who likes to drag everything out. See that blank space on the wall? It won't be there for long. 

Not many other things have changed in the room, but I love giving you little updates as I complete new projects. When the room is all said and done, I'm going to give you a nice before/after story with images of the whole process. It really has changed quite a bit!

Your saw-zall loving friend,

a work in progress

Sorry for the lack of posts since last Wednesday! I hope you enjoyed reading a little about my new ink :)

Being a homeowner means there are, inevitably, always projects and "honey-dos". I have been a little sporadic when it comes to home decor, but for the last week or two I've been making myself just focus on one space, instead of things here and there in every room. The sense of calm when I realize I'm just doing "one thing at a time" - decor wise - is awesome, and honestly, a little new to me. I've realized it's kind of fun to take your time on a project and build from ideas over time, though this requires a lot of patience on my part. 

Right now my "focus space" is our master bedroom.  It started out the same beige the rest of our house began with. I knew the color family I wanted to work with, but picking paint colors is a life-altering decision that cannot be taken lightly. I started with charcoal on the wall behind our bed, to add some contrast to our light grey bedding. 

It stayed like this for a few weeks due to some indecision on our part. The dilemma was, do we do the rest of the bedroom in the same charcoal, or keep this as a focal wall and do something lighter on the other walls? While I wanted to make the space dark & dramatic, hubby did not agree, and voters on my Facebook page also helped encourage the decision to go lighter. So we went with a light blue/grey, that coordinates well with the paint color we kept in the bathroom and some of the pattern on our sheets. 

The room is SO unfinished and disheveled, but we love the way the paint turned out. It's calming and makes me want to stay in there all the time. 

From this photo, you also have a glimpse at the new mercury glass lamps I found at Garden Ridge, some wall decor waiting to be hung, and a side table DIY project in the works. I found the red-orange silk pillow at Home Goods. It's nice and wide, so it works well with the size of our king bed. I also made the covers for the three Euro pillows in the back with Ikea's NUMMER fabric. If you've never considered looking at the fabric at Ikea, I recommend you do so. I made curtains for our playroom using fabric from there as well.

What's next?

DIY side table

Hang decor on the walls

Figure out what on earth is going to go on the wall above our bed

DIY headboard

Curtains & curtain rods (a rather pricey decision)

Adding some more furnishings

We're going nice and steady with adding everything else in. I feel like paint is the biggest (and quickest AND cheapest) way to transform a room. Once we have that done, the room basically feels finished, it's just adding in all the details to pull the space together that need to happen. And they're happening, one by one. I trying to stay focused and not get motivated and excited about planning another room while this one is coming to life. 

Oh! Don't you just love this free printable from eighteen25 ??

It's going somewhere in here, too. The colors were too perfect and it was free. Get one for yourself! She's got tons of colors to choose from that will coordinate with your decor.

Patiently decorating,

Playroom reveal and Print Giveaway!

I'm thrilled to share with you a little piece of our home today as I take you on a tour through our playroom. This room was one of the very first to tackle as soon as we got the keys, because I wanted little man to have a nice space to call his own, where he could play and make a mess without being "in the way" of the work going on throughout the rest of the house. Please be warned, there's a ridiculous amount of photos in this post.

Here are a few before/during shots, some from the MLS listing & some from me. It was a totally beautiful formal dining room. Since we have a large dining table and area in the kitchen, we decided this would be the perfect spot for the playroom, because it is open to the rest of the house and connects to the kitchen by way of the butler's pantry.

after painting the chair rail LIME GREEN!

...and here it is NOW! I'll give you some details along the way and list major sources in a separate post, since this one is already ridiculously long.

These curtains were made from a fabulous print I happened upon at Ikea and fell in love with!

The bunting I made with some fabric scraps and ribbon. It looks so cute strung across the window! Also, check out our mcm-inspired pendant light! So in love :)

You may recognize this little table from a previous DIY post. It's already being put to good use :)

These EXPEDIT shelves from Ikea were perfect for this space and are safely anchored to the wall.

C is for COLOR from Apple Blossom Prints - which you have a chance to WIN in the giveaway at the end of this post!

I had fun finding some more vintage toys to display in this space (and sometimes play with). This alphabet toy was found at a consignment sale and the Russian nesting dolls - shown below - are actually mine from my childhood. My uncle used to live and travel all over Europe and bring us the most unique Christmas gifts!

Little man's "reading corner"

This big blank space? We have plans.

YES, I painted the chair rail molding. It had to be done because it wasn't coming down, so it gives this formerly-formal space a nice, modern twist and a pop of color! 

This corner of the playroom leads through the butler's pantry and into the kitchen where I am usually working/chilling.

One of the walls is a giant open arch that leads into the media room and the front entry way, which are both total messes right now. We're working on it.

This rocking chair was my mother's chair she rocked her babies in. When it was passed down to me, it turned from oak to bright gloss red.

NOW for the give away! Today through Friday at midnight you can enter to win a fabulous 11x14 "C is for COLOR" print from Apple Blossom Prints, a $30 value. Apple Blossom Prints are professionally made on thick archival matte paper with fade resistant inks. It will be shipped first class to you {from me} in a mailer tube, carefully wrapped in a cello back and tissue, and will arrive within 3-5 business days. It's completely gorgeous and featured here in my playroom. I just KNOW you will love yours, too! Thank you, Rachel at Apple Blossom, for this generous donation! To see more of her work, check out her etsy shop here.

A few reminders about the giveaway:

*The contest will run for 48 hours through midnight Friday, June 28th, central standard time.

*Only fans of Painterly Passion on Facebook are eligible to enter. 

*"Liking" my page on Facebook does NOT automatically enter you into the contest.

*One winner will be chosen at random and will be announced on my Facebook page Saturday, June 29th.

Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway