Wallpaper Art

I remember wallpaper, growing up, to be either anaglypta (a thick, embossed wallpaper) large brown and green squares or, sometimes, a very flowery concoction that reminded me of prairie dresses and things that were overly cute. Their role (roll? :-) was to decorate the walls and cover imperfections.

After many years of this, wallpaper was exiled; people were tired of the busyness of it all, they wanted cleaner, more neutral spaces. Thoughts of scraping someone elses glue and paper off the wall sent home owners searching for simpler ways to decorate. Paint became the de rigueur.

Now, like any good fashion trend, wallpaper is back again; gracing the covers of magazines, with the designer elite singing its praises as a beautiful and bold way to accessorize our homes.
It has now become Art.

I am glad; anything that makes decorating easier, and can be put on a wall, makes me very happy. Now, the wallpapers are easier to apply, and, more importantly, easier to remove. As a statement on a wall, or a backdrop for another piece, designs are made to be graphic, but tasteful - adding to what you already have, with just a little bit of star power, rather than stealing the entire spotlight.

Bringing modern freshness to all styles of homes, this old idea may just become your new, favorite piece of paper!

Photograph from http://www.elledecor.com/

A Moment in Time...



The "after"

 Last week I hated my Living Room. Truly hated it. When I looked at it, all I saw was a sea of brown, surrounded by some brightly colored artwork that just seemed to show up the dull "brown-ness". I had become my own worst client, I couldn't see past the ugly.

My Living Room has a big window at the front. Most things fade quite quickly; I have the curtains drawn, widely, and I like to have as much light as possible in my home. As a result, everything fades and the fabrics erode quite quickly from the sun (rather odd when you remember that I live in New Jersey, not exactly the sunshine capital of the world).

The furniture had faded over the last year, and as I re-decorated the room for Spring, I took out most of the plants and colorful blankets that had been the accessories for the last few months. I guess, in my haste to remove the Winter, the room was left feeling colorless and boring, lacking in life. The life and color now being outside, instead of inside.

In my head, it became the worst Living Room that anyone had ever seen. A vintage (old?) golden, brown sofa, an old (vintage?) brown chair, an old, collapsible oak table and a vintage (genuinely old), standing radio sitting alongside a nicely rusted, generously sized, wrought iron chair from outside. The entire combination had morphed into a 1940's sitcom, with all the good bits taken out.

As I panicked in my brown-ness, I mentally scanned my house for replacement pieces of furniture. There were none I could use. There was no hope, I decided I MUST drive to the store right that very second before I was swallowed up by the awfulness of it all.

I drove to the store, really fast (but not over the speed limit) and I found a purple sofa and a lovely, oversized slipper chair with an exaggerated pattern of zinnias bursting with orange and dark green....perfect (!?) I looked at the furniture as I took out my credit card, and I walked out of the store.

A cafe mocha, no whipped cream, and a half hour later reality hit. I was calm as I made the list of what I wanted, needed and didn't want in my Living Room. With list in hand, I went home and began to empty the room. The old, brown chair was the first to go....

Pic-nic (pik-nik) – an outing that is shared, outside, with food…

 

What is nicer than a picnic on a Summer’s day? I imagine sitting in an unmown field filled with daisies, the manicured lawn of a historic castle or a ragged, cliff-top overlooking the Aegean sea. It’s the stuff that dreams are made of; lovingly described in the well-worn pages of my old storybooks.

Picnic's happened a lot when I was little. Mum and Dad would pack sandwiches and drinks, along with old blankets and a few sweet treats for afterwards. We would head to the seaside, a public park or sometimes just to a nearby hill (!) for the afternoon. It always felt like a Holiday – a day off where my sister and I we were playing hookey, allowed to run as far away as we wanted to; coming back when we were tired, for soggy tomato sandwiches and warm fizzy drinks in a shared cup. It was bliss!

Now, as old-fashioned as it may seem, a picnic is still a wonderful way to spend the day together. Go to a local park or beach, and spend the day doing as little as possible! Bring along books, magazines, games and bubbles (leave the technology at home).

Check out the latest picnic accessories that will make your day more comfortable (fully equipped picnic baskets with cutlery, napkins and plates, water-proof blankets to keep your bottoms dry, and even metal spikes to hold your wine glass in between sips!). Pack food that will hold up well and won’t get too soggy – ham, cold fried chicken, cheese, bread, chips and fruit are all easy to pack. Prepare it beforehand, so that you don’t have to worry about knives and forks when you get there – finger food is always best!

Bring lots of napkins,and have fun!

Lovely image from http://www.bluebellsandseashells.co.uk/news/view/2011/05/Picnic_Northamptonshire

Loving Your Old Kitchen

My kitchen is tiny; I am always dreaming of ways to make it bigger (?) and better. I have done almost everything that a normal person could do to make it what I want it to be, without taking down walls and ripping up floors. I know how I would love it to look, but I am happy to be creative until (if) that time comes.

A kitchen is such a big budget item that many of us wait until we are moving, or get an unexpected windfall, before making changes. In the meantime it sits, getting older and more disappointing as we wait for that elusive, happy day.

I don’t like that idea. While we are waiting to win the lottery our kitchen is still part of our every day life; it has to be used constantly, so why not try to make it better until our package of perfection arrives? All of these things I have done myself, and I know they do make a big difference with very little effort.

• Of course, I have to mention knobs and draw pulls first. Changing the shape, texture or color will always make your room look refreshed. 
• Add a decorative mirror to an empty wall (easy to clean, and brings in light and energy). 
• Paint some of the cabinets. If you have a set of cabinets away from the others, consider painting them a different color and giving them unusual hardware. They will look like a separate piece of furniture. 
• Talking of separate furniture, what about removing an upper and lower cabinet altogether, and replacing it with a buffet, dresser or desk that is even more useful (and decorative)? If you don’t like your kitchen anyway, be bold and give it a try! 
• Take down some upper cabinets (not as hard as you think) and install shelves. Or, remove the doors and “pretend” it is open shelving. Your kitchen will look bigger with open shelves.
• Remove the doors and the central piece of wood off a pair of cabinets to create a nook for cookbooks. I did this, and I know they were oak cabinets, but truly, I love having the books showing and it makes the kitchen far more interesting. (Removing the center piece – with a hacksaw - did not compromise the strength of the cabinet at all). 
• Bring in things that are “un-kitcheny”. Art, curtains, books, lamps and furniture will give your kitchen a personality; it will feel more like a room than just a place that you cook dinner. 
• Grout vintage tiles onto your old countertops to make a more interesting surface that is heat-resistant and looks pretty. If you are not keen on it being permanent idea, then buy a really large marble tile, put rubber feet on it, and place that on the counter. This is perfect for large, hot dishes and for baking on. 
• Remove dated appliques and fancy, wooden doo-dads. Sand and stain (or paint) over any imperfections or, cover it with a picture. 

Wide Open Spaces (inside)

I once worked with a woman who lived in a renovated, industrial loft. It was everything I dreamed that a loft should be -  huge, tall windows, lots of cozy seating areas, and bookshelves lining an old brick wall.

Her favorite thing to do was to have cooking competitions. She would ask us all to bring a version of one dish, and we would vote, and then eat. The winner could choose a plant or a book off her many shelves, but, obviously, the best prize was serious bragging rights until the next year! Sometimes, she would ask an Australian and a New Zealander to cook the same thing, to see which was better! (She was Scottish, which just made it more fun). One of us would use the kitchen in the loft next door, running back and forth to check on our secret recipes, sipping glasses of wine and listening to half-spoken conversations.

Her home was a wonderful lesson in decorating. She embraced what she had, and she loved it. The style suited who she was, exactly. Sections were not divided by paint or partitions, it was left open; a massive room that she allowed to be just what it was, an open space that cared more about friends than function.

I think that sometimes, newer homes are developed by an impatient need to please, rather than an architectural plan. We want the openness, with high ceilings and large spaces, but we want it to feel comfortable as well. What happens, is that builders respond to this with a composite of what they think we want, which often leaves us with a lot of space and a lot of design dilemmas.

Because I have come across this quite often, I thought I would offer some ideas that may help.

• Accept the space. Work with it, rather than against it. 
• If you have an open plan area, treat it that way. Divide living spaces with furniture arrangements, rather than vertical paint lines. This leaves the space visually open, but still creates comfortable areas to live in. 
• Bounce color and scale around the entire space to create a balanced look. Your eye should move around the room, not stay focused on one particular item.  
• If your kitchen is part of the space, don’t forget about it, include it in your decorating plan. Maybe a cabinet color can be repeated on the other side, or a color from a painting can be put in the kitchen? They need to feel connected. 
• Consider your lighting when you have a tall ceiling. Can you change a lightbulb that high up without installing scaffolding? What are the other options available? A large, hanging glass sphere may look pretty or, even, a skylight? Maybe table and floor lamps would be better? Don’t just settle for something that may not suit you.
• Avoid having one area very formal, and the other too casual. This, almost always looks disconnected. Blend them together.
• Painting the ceiling the same color as the wall will make it less obvious, whereas different colors will emphasise the height.
• Artwork should be of a decent size (no floating, tiny pieces on an empty wall). Consider an abstract collage of photographs, a triptych or a wall of words…

 Thanks to http://www.1kindesign.com/ for the photograph.