Two of Hearts

As many of you know, we go up to Beaver Creek, CO quite often. I love to visit the many art galleries while we are up there. A couple of years ago, while visiting one of the galleries, we learned that the artist Steve Kaufman was going to have an opening later that week. Unfortunately, we would not be able to attend, as we were going to go back home before the opening. The gallery worker, though, was so charmed by our well-behaved children, that she gave each of them one of the many hand painted embellished Steve Kaufman editions that were to be given away the night of the opening. Here are two of them:

I will profile this artist at a later date, but in a quick summary, Steve Kaufman is an artist who was an assistant to Andy Warhol. He has quite a resume of celebrities, corporations, and others he has worked with. He has also helped thousands of people through his charities. In my opinion, the charity work is his greatest accomplishment!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Agapanthus Again

Have I told you lately how I love the Agapanthus flower? :) 

I feel such freedom whenever I experiment with a new style or new technique in painting. This is because I know I am painting for myself (which is the mindset I should always be in).  I usually paint large, and I feel like I'm physically exercising, using large strokes. The adrenaline is running! 

Here is my most recent painting. I've made a departure from all that color, and have had to use such restraint, but in a good way. There is still a lot of texture. 

What do you think? 

Next week I will show you the room I've put it in.

Agapanthus

I love the Agapanthus flower. It is also known as the "Lily of the Nile". I love the Greek translation of the word. It comes from the word agape - which means love, and anthos - meaning flower. The flower of love. How fitting for Valentines day!



The flower is usually in varying shades of blue. Of course, my version is different ( I have that artistic license:) ). My version is purples and pinks. It is now in my Etsy shop.

Morning Coffee

AAARRRGGGHHH! Has this happened to anyone who LOVES coffee? I love to drink coffee. It's not the caffeine, but the taste that I love. I look forward to every morning. This is what I woke up to the other day. Disaster for people like me:

Why do coffee pot manufacturers make the glass so weak? This isn't the first time it has happened to me. Well, not wanting to go through the trouble of getting my french press out, I figured out the next best thing. A canning jar with the lid unscrewed up as high as it would go, with my coffee pot lit on top so the sensor could be pushed in far enough for the coffee maker to let the coffee out. Almost as good as the real thing!

As I sat down at the computer to order a new glass pot, (which by the way, I could've probably bought a cheap coffee maker for the same price) I found some other coffee makers I could get.

The Lamborghini Coffee Maker for $1750:

Here's one that reminds me of chemistry class. The Siphon Bar may take up a bit of space on the kitchen counter though. It only goes for $20,000:

To see a step by step process click here.

Maybe in another life I can afford these coffee makers. In the meantime, I am quite happy with myself for being able to make my coffee until my new pot arrives!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Before and During...the Dining Room

I promised you I would invite you into my home, and I could kick myself for speaking writing before I think. I am quite awed by many of your homes, and am a little embarrassed to be showing you mine.

I am only an amateur home decorator. I have always had a passion for design and decorating. I have had a passion for art I think since I could hold a pencil. I would have loved to have gone to an art and design school for college, but, the left side of my brain (and my parents) won. I have a business degree in accounting and marketing.

I am always redecorating, and making many mistakes along the way. I don't mind though, because I always learn from them. I get tired and bored easily with various looks. I love almost every style there is. I don't know what I would call my style. I loved Tuscan/Old world for a long time. The colors throughout the house go with that warm feeling. It looks fine the way it is; I just want a change. I want less clutter, more neutral walls, and a way to marry my dark woods with the new light feel I'm looking for. I want a fresh look!

I feel like my house is always a before picture. I'm calling my dining room my "during" phase because there are many things left to do. I would love everyone's input, because, like I said, I do not have any expertise in this area. Only my instincts and the things I've learned from books, magazines, and now, wonderful design bloggers!

Here is my before of my dining room. If I had known that I would be blogging when I took this picture, I would have taken more pictures. While I love red, I was very tired of it. You can see my sample color boards on the wall and on the table:



Here are some during photos:

Here is the painted dining room. After such a drastic change, I almost repainted the walls. I felt like the window treatment and painting clashed with the new wall color (a warm beige/grey). I now rather like the clash, but I'm going to make new window treatments out of 20 yards of white linen. I'm also planning on making some white slipcovers for the chairs, switch out the painting, add some molding to what's existing, and get different end chairs. I'm thinking of painting that chandelier. We will tear out the carpet and put in wood floors like the rest of the first floor at some point. The wood floors are a dark, warm rosewood stain:

Another view. I need to take off the table cloth and re-accessorize the top. You can see the living room off to the side:

This hutch belonged to my in-laws. We inherited it when my mother in law passed away. No one in the family wanted it. It's a high quality piece, but it was that 70's wood stain with the greenish tint. We took it, I painted it, and put in new knobs.


Here is the back wall. I have been planning to paint the chest for a few years. Maybe this summer I will finally get around to it. I need to clear off some of those accessories:

So, in summary, here are my plans:

1. wood floors


2. new window treatments


3. slipcovers


4. end chairs


5. paint the chest : white or black? I'm thinking a distressed white.


6. practice restraint with the accessories


7. anything else?

Any suggestions? By the way, I'm not married to the wall color, either. I should also add that I have mostly dark wood on most of the furniture, as well as dark cherry cabinets in the kitchen. The dark wood will have to stay. The labor in painting all of it will be too intensive. My upholstery is also dark, but I can also make slipcovers for that. So much to change.... maybe I just need a psychologist!

I'm Listening

In a previous post about girlfriends, I attached a link to Transcending Words on Women and Strength by Kelly Corrigan . It inspired me to paint this. Do you have that friend? The friend that is always there for you, the one who stands by you, ready to listen? I think as women, we treasure that relationship, whether it be a mom, sister, other relative, or friend. We need it. We need to relate. If we don't have friendships like that, we long for it so desperately. Are you that kind of friend? I know I want to be that kind of friend. It hard. It takes work. With the busyness of life, we let it slide. But, I know I want those relationships, and I want to be that friend.



"I'm Listening" is now in my Etsy shop.

Cleaning House

I'm cleaning my house, because I'm going to show you a "before and during" of my dining room tomorrow. Make sure to stop by and say hi!

Tissue Holders

Isn't this beautiful? Not! What was the thinking behind these bright brass tissue holders? Or for that matter, bright brass in general? Believe it or not, our house was built in 2003, not the 1990's. This past weekend I did a mini powder room make-over. Along with painting and re-accessorizing, I wanted to replace this fixture. This tissue-holder is recessed into the wall, so I had to find another holder that recesses into the wall. Guess what? The only tissue holder that I could find at our local home improvement center was bright chrome. A little better than the bright brass, but not what I wanted. Not wanting to learn how to drywall and turn an easy make-over into a large drywall project, I did the next best thing. I went to the spray-paint aisle, and...
using spray primer and a hammered texture finish spray paint, my tissue holder got a little make-over! Isn't this so much better? I'll have to see how the paint holds up, but for now, it will work just fine until we get around to remodeling the powder room in a few years.

Here are some whimsical choices I could have made if I didn't have to deal with a hole in the wall:

See no evil...

Butlers...

Frogs...

Gnomes...

For the busy family...

Blue guy...


And, for your listening pleasure... the icarta toilet paper holder with ipod docking station and 4 speakers .

All images from Bathroomfurnituredirect, Comforthouse, and X-tremegeek.


Did I really write a post on toilet paper holders? I guess I did!

Green

Green, the color of Spring. Looks like we'll have to wait. 6 more weeks of Winter! Happy Groundhog Day everyone!

Off the subject, I bought these bananas 5 days ago. Are bananas supposed to be that green?

Stand With Me

Now in Etsy shop.