Girly But Not Cutesy

I certainly don’t consider myself an interior designer, but I sure have fun trying out my hand at it at home. I recently switched the kids’ rooms around. I moved my son into the old guest bedroom and my daughter into my son’s old room. The first order of business was painting. I do enjoy the end product, but, boy, I hate the hassle of preparing a room for painting. But that’s another story - I seem to have a lot of “other stories.”

Anyhow...Ava will be three in a few months and moved out of a crib and into a “big girl” bed this summer. So it was the perfect time to switch rooms and redecorate. Ooh, redecorate! Ava told me that she wanted a princess room. Pretty typical for a two year old. But I just can’t stand the thought of too many frills and Disney princesses. Since I have an obsession with fabric, I figured I could satisfy her taste for girly while keeping it sophisticated for my taste. And since she’s not really old enough to object to my ideas...I win!

I decided that pink walls were OK. Not too pink though. I chose a Benjamin Moore Natura paint (No VOCs) in super light pink (forgive me, I forgot the exact color name). It’s light enough that it almost looks white in bright sunlight which I find to be very nice.

My hubby and I have always like to collect original artwork so when it came to art for the kids’ rooms, I had some great pieces to choose from. I really like the idea of instilling appreciation for art into the kids from an early age.

Side note: I took the kids to the the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts this past summer and was so thrilled when Emerson, who is 6, decided he wanted to spend some of his money on art for his bedroom. Granted, he only had about $15, but he looked around and chose some cards and postcards to buy from artists that he liked. I let him make all the decisions and pay the artists. It was neat to see what art struck him.

So in Ava’s room, I decided to hang a painting we bought back in 1999 in Minneapolis. I think it was at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design student art sale at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. It was a long time ago. But we loved a piece called “oh poo poo” by Kurt Halsey. Who can resist a flying bunny pooing? Again, the bunnies - I just love them! It’s such a great painting. Whenever we show it to someone new, they don’t even notice the trail of rabbit poo until we tell them the painting name. The artist now lives in Portland, Oregon, I just learned. He’s showing some of his work at a place in Portland called Sweetpea Baking Co. - I’m going to have to go check it out.

Another piece I have in Ava’s room is a hand-embroidered wall hanging by a woman I met at the Craft-In in Newberg, Oregon, this past August. She and I were vendor neighbors. Her company is called bo betsy and she makes the cutest hand embroidered art. I was thrilled to get a wall hanging from her, and it looks great in Ava’s room now.

I’ve also tried to put some special knickknacks in her room to counter the plethora of plastic toys and general junk kids accumulate. On the dress, she’s got a wooden Pinocchio we bought in Italy in 2000, an antique book my mom gave her, a pair of wooden Dutch shoes from my great uncle, and a milk glass chicken from my grandmother. And though, the lamp isn’t a family heirloom, my husband picked it up in an antique store many years ago and it definitely goes with the aesthetic I’m going for.

The room’s not quite done yet. I’m waiting for Ava to finish potty training so I can get the huge changing table out and move in a toy chest I got for a steal at a garage sale this past summer (the hubby is anxiously waiting getting the “prime real estate” in the garage back).

I hope you enjoyed my little tour. Have a great weekend!

Minimalist Family Tree

I confess. I’m a home decorating magazine and TV show junkie. Most of the time I see wonderful projects that would look great in my home, but often my actions stop there. I wish I had the time to pull off even a quarter of the projects I see on TV or rip out of magazines. (You should see the “idea files” I have. Think heaping file folders overflowing with inspiration. Sad, really, that they hardly ever get to fulfill their creative destiny!)

Though, if I think about it, I am a bit crafty, at least with simple projects. I think it was in a magazine like Domino or Blueprint (two of my favs that went under) that I came across the idea of creating a “family tree” with small blank canvases, printouts of old

family photos and decoupage.

It’s very minimalist, but I think it’s a great way of highlighting the photos rather than their frames. It’s also minimalist in execution - print photo, glue onto canvas, let dry, and glue over the top.

It really is that simple.

Here’s what you need:

* Blank artist canvases (I use 8” X 10” ones.)

* Decoupage glue (I use Mod Podge but plain white glue works too.)

* Paint brush (I use a small foam brush.)

* Photos (Don’t use originals.)

First, use your computer’s photo editing program to crop and enhance your photos to your liking. I used the “sepia” coloring effect on all my photos for consistency. Some of my originals were black and white and some were color, so using the sepia color made them all look like they came from the same era.

Print out the photos in various shapes and sizes. I made some of the photos square, some horizontal rectangle, some vertical rectangle. Making them each a bit different in size and shape adds interest. Be sure to let the photos dry before cutting them out or handling them, as printer ink has a tendency to smudge onto the canvas if it’s not dry when you glue them on (I learned this the hard way).

Next, paint the decoupage glue onto the entire back of the photo and press photo onto the canvas. I place a paper towel on top of the photo while pressing down so that my fingers do not get glue and printer ink on them and smudge the canvas. If you do get a little ink smudge on the canvas, just use a damp paper towel and wipe it away gently.

Let the photo dry on the canvas before preceding. After the photo is dry, use the foam brush and carefully paint the glue over the top of the photo and onto the entire canvas front and sides. The photo will have a milky look, but once dry, the entire canvas will have a glossy sheen. You’ll see the brush strokes a bit when dry, but I think that adds to the character of the pieces.

Tip: Paint the glue sparingly, but entirely, over the photo. The more brush strokes on the photo, the more likely the ink is to smear.

If you like, once the entire canvas is dry, you can put on another coat of decoupage glue. This will add to the glossiness.

After everything is dry, hang the canvases up. Voila! You have a one-of-a-kind family tree.

Easy peasy. Now go be crafty!