by Jen | Sep 10, 2013 | Art, Fun Style, Interior Decorating
http://youtu.be/dG6A71py9nE
If you are from Detroit and you are a product of the 70’s and 80’s then you know this song. It’s. Classic.
It’s a commercial for the Detroit Institute of Arts. They’ve got art, but do you?
I don’t mean Museum Quality Collector ART. I just mean some scraps of paper mounted on your wall that speak to you. Something that lifts your soul. Something that reminds you of a faraway place or time. Or maybe it doesn’t remind you of a darn thing and that’s why you like it. But you gotta like it. And you gotta have art.
Art is what separates our homes from furniture show rooms. Art is what makes a home look collected over time. Art is what gives our rooms personality.
Remember Ode to a Green Purse? Or Making Art Out of Objects You Love? (I know, who can forget those oldie but goodies.) Art can be ANYTHING as long as YOU like it and it makes YOU feel good to look at it.
So are your walls still blank? Do you have framed pictures you hate shoved in the closet? Rip those bad boys apart and use the frames for something else. Hate the frames? Buy some spray paint. C’mon I’m giving you NO excuses on this.
Have you visited Etsy?? Etsy.com is a handmade marketplace online. To use Etsy’s words…”Etsy is the world’s most vibrant marketplace. Etsy celebrates individual creativity in design and craftsmanship by connecting unique people, stories, and items in a playful and meaningful way. Etsy provides a marketplace for crafters, artists, and collectors to sell their handmade creations, vintage goods and crafting supplies.” You can look for just about anything handmade and you will find it on Etsy.com.
Here are some examples–most of these pieces are available now and almost all that I chose as examples are under $50
Remember those frames full of the ugly art in your closet? Measure the frames first and then order something unframed that will fit into the old frames. I always make sure I can find a store bought frame…meaning I can go to Michael’s and buy the frame off of the shelf and THEN I buy the art. NEVER get art and then get it custom framed. Unless you have a lot of money. Then go ahead.
Aside from Etsy.com there are a gazillion other places online to find inexpensive gorgeous art. My friend from Jenny on the Spot got me hooked on Whatever… aka megduerksen.bigcartel.com. The Globes print is calling to me. Jenny does a spot on (get it? Jenny on the Spot?), anyway, Jenny does a spot on (still laughing about this) blog post which you can check out here. Please do. And check out Jenny’s blog–she’s as fun as Meg’s art.
And just because I alllllllllways like to come full circle on my posts…Remember The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) from above? Well, maybe you heard that Detroit is bankrupt? And maybe you heard about the poor DIA being sacrificed of its art to pay this debt!? Well when Winston Churchill was asked to cut arts funding in favor of the war effort he simply replied, “Then what are we fighting for?”
Save the Art! (Do that! Click on it!)
And save your house from looking like a furniture store.
by Jen | Sep 9, 2013 | Fun Style, Happiness at Home, House Tours, Interior Decorating, Life Reflections
Pockets of Sunshine in the Mud Room.
My Favorite Watercolors.
Hallway love.
His name is Leo (the lion).
Can you find the Starbucks?
Cat.
Some snapshots from my day.
Jen
by Jen | Apr 30, 2013 | Fun Style, Happiness at Home, Organizing
bellahomestaging.net
I just went on a 27 hour “staycation” to Virginia Beach with a dear friend. We stayed 45 minutes from home in a condo on the beach…for 27 hours. It was actually less but we won’t nitpick. And it rained, but that was fine. We read books, had coffee, took a nap, looked at magazines, went out to eat, walked on the boardwalk, watched a movie and slept in. I get up 7 days a week at the same time for kids, jobs, church, baseball games and other random events so sleeping til 8:30 almost made me giddy. Another thing we did was went to a beach souvenir shop. We spent quite a bit of time in there because it was 1) very amusing 2) it was raining. I have a great picture I took in the store for tomorrow. (Wordless Wednesday click here.)
Anyway…this got me thinking about all the bits and pieces one picks up on a vacation. Most people come home and unpack and have this pile of “stuff” they picked up from the trip…the tangible memories. Maps, brochures, ticket stubs, tacky small whatever that makes you laugh when you see it but you really don’t know what to do with, and pictures. I am unable to scrapbook. It is not in my DNA make-up. I do not have the patience or the time. The end results is amazing but it is simply not a realistic endeavor for my life. And what do you do with the three-dimensional stuff anyway?
So out of laziness and out of compulsion for like things being together and out of a desire to remind my family of all of our fun trips I started doing this—I cull the pile, get one of my handy dandy vases (Walmart, Michaels, Garden Ridge) and pretty much shove it all in making sure the pretty stuff is on the outside.
Here is one of the jars/glass cannisters that I put together in 5 minutes from our recent trip to Quebec.
Snow from Quebec. Love this.
Voila!
Some of our Joy in Jars.
bellahomestaging.net
bellahomestaging.net
bellahomestaging.net
Along the way I have discovered others that do this. Young House Love is one of my favorite blogs. They have a great post about doing this very thing that you can read here.
Young House Love
Young House Love
So here’s to remembering our travel memories, defining clutter, and making art out of the everyday. Joy in a Jar.
by Jen | Apr 19, 2013 | Fun Style, Happiness at Home, Inspired Style, Interior Decorating
I wrote What Door Do You Use? and did some hard soul searching. What I discovered was not pretty. Alas, our family’s main point of entrance was through our garage. I surveyed the situation and decided that my best course of action was “Distraction”. Smoke and Mirrors my friend, smoke and mirrors. There is only so much that can actually happen for our garage to look good. It has been organized, painted, cleaned, purged and sadly, it is still holding on for dear life in a pathetic confused state of disorder. I decided I needed something to fix my eyes upon, a beacon of hope, if you will. Something beautiful. Something elegant amongst the jumble.
It took 10 minutes total. I googled. I found vinyl-decals.com. I ordered my house number in “2 1/2 inch Hancock font permanent glossy black” . It arrived 2 days later. I eyeballed the door and stuck it on gingerly. I eyeballed the door again. Looked good. I smoothed that decal out and called it a day. Now this siren will call to me as I wade through the debris of life.
by Jen | Apr 15, 2013 | Fun Style, Inspired Style, Life Reflections
Sex and City
This actually isn’t about sex, but I am inspired by the HBO show in writing this post. Today I had coffee with my girlfriends, 3 girlfriends. The 4 of us sat at a table and talked, ranted, comforted, and vented. (Did you know rant means to speak or shout in an impassioned way?) I know that life is approximately 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to that 10%. I want to shout in an impassioned way BLAH BLAH BLAH to that last statement. Ok I won’t, but I kind of already did. Sometimes you have to keep on keeping on in spite of the 10%. Sometimes you have to find a little comedy and a little inspiration to help get some clarity.
Friends can help you get through. Coffee can help too. Pretty spaces don’t hurt either. So just for a moment let’s look at this:
Sex and City 2
Sex and the City
Sex and City Courtesy of HookedOnHouses.net
Sex and the City
Sex and City
Sex and the City 2 Courtesy of HookedOnHouses.net
Sex and City 2 Courtesy of HookedOnHouses.net
Sex and City 2 Courtesy of HookedOnHouses.net
Oh gosh, I’m about to do it again (read yesterday’s post???)—Life is “Big”. I challenge you today to think of things that inspire you and that make you laugh when you have to “keep on keeping on”.
Picture of a two sided poster. The words are backwards because this is the back. It’s also the end of the post.
by Jen | Apr 11, 2013 | Fun Style, Interior Decorating
I love walking into someone’s house and seeing something unexpected–and I mean that in regards to repurposing objects into art–not the visiting Aunt Matilda straight out of the shower. I love hearing the story behind the why too. AND I LOVE THIS FIRE LADDER as a coat hook. I have had this picture from a magazine for years and years. I don’t know who to give credit to for it–it is so PERFECT. I will have one someday. Thank you to whoever came up with this idea. Know any Firemen who have a ladder I can have?
This is thinking outside the box too. The picture above and below are from this month’s Redbook (May 2013) featuring Designer Cortney Novogratz about showing off one’s collections.
If you like her ideas she has a design book, Home by Novogratz and an HGTV show of the same name.
Fun idea. How about favorite tee shirts from concerts, camps, races, or?
Beautiful.
It’s from a book…see the binding?
Grandma’s attic or flea market finds, garage sales, architectual artifacts…
And lastly, I would be remiss to not mention children’s artwork. It’s not just for refrigerators! This is my house. The caption of the picture on left reads, “Small Robot Dancing”. Love that.
