Monday night, during commercial breaks from The Bachelor I added two coats of Whitestone (the same color as our front room) to cover those beige walls. And then yesterday morning, I decided to add some art work to the space. Often times people neglect their hallways (us included) and leave the walls in the common area lifeless. I took it upon myself to be NOT one of those people anymore, and we are on our way to a very spunky hall.
The idea actually sparked when my mom was in town and we went to Ikea. She bought me this piece of art (that was marked down to $5.99!) when she saw how I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it. And I’m sure all of my “Wow, this would look so good in the hallway!” may have given her a clue, too. We brought it home and I love it. I knew I wanted to pair it with something because it is a very clean, realistic, and crisp piece and a lot of our other art is a little more impressionistic. Plus, while it is a medium sized canvas, it wasn’t large enough to hold the hallway itself.
I found a very VERY old painting of a shark I did that I definitely didn’t want anymore. Wouldn’t you know it, it was the same size as our new pretty flower:
So, I just painted over it. I actually do this quite a bit. Whether I paint over thrift store paintings or old canvases that were my own, I love the idea of recycling the canvases or boards and making them something beautiful again. I always start with a good coat of primer. I like Kilz oil-based primer. You can just get this right off the shelf. It blocks color, stains, and odors (which can actually come in handy with some of those thrift finds) and dries in about an hour.
To make the space a little more personal, I decided to go with our silhouette–the same one that is in our blog header. The picture is derived from one of our engagments, in case you are curious:
I knew I would be pairing it with the flower, so I wanted to connect them with a big splash of yellow. Once I got them next to each other, they really didn’t feel that connected. More like devil and angel, right? So, if I just added a little more light to the silhouette they would probably feel more like a couple (okay, the ikea pretty is playing third wheel here, but still).
Yup, that did it. I also added a little more warm oranges into my painting and called it done. Chris approves and is surprisingly ecstatic to have these two pieces in our hallway. I love the pairing myself. It feels personal and beautiful and colorful. From a distance, we still need at least one more thing, but my treasure find yesterday may be just the thing. Anyone else decorating their halls with DIY art?
Our wood grain Shaker cabinet fronts were designed for busy, high-traffic homes like ours. Clad with durable textured thermofoils, this line is compatible with Sektion, Akurum, Godmorgon, and Besta cabinets from IKEA. It's the perfect, practical way to add the warmth of wood to all the rooms of your home.
We have teamed up with Loloi to create a line of rugs that are as affordable as they are beautiful. This collection houses a great mix of traditional and modern rugs, in cottage-y colorways, as well as vintage-inspired beauties that you’ll want to roll out in every room.
We partnered with Stuga on a line of hardwood floors — The Ingrid is really livable, and the color is very neutral. It doesn’t lean warm or cool, it’s that just right in-between. We have really loved putting it everywhere in our house. It’s the best jumping-off point for design, no matter your interior style. In addition to being beautiful, Ingrid is really durable — we have three kids, and we always have a home construction project going on. Ingrid stands up to it all.
SHop all
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Befores, afters, mood boards, plans, failures, wins. We’ve done a lot of projects, and they’re all here.
We have a long-standing relationship with DIY, and love rolling our sleeves up and making it happen.
Even when you don’t want to rip down a wall, you can make that space in your home better. Right now.
A reader recently asked me if I’m starting to fully embrace traditional style and whether we still consider our house to be a “modern Colonial” and why. It was a really great question and so timely — I had really just been thinking about my approach to this home and how my style has changed […]
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Get Around
Make yourself right at home
Portfolio
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Casual Friday
Projects
Lifestyle
Gift Guides
All Posts
Shop
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you are incredibly talented darling!
S’coming along Jules! S’comin along.
Hmmm. 3 words.
Inventive.
Gorgeous.
Jealous.
(Juano’s gone-o.)
Your skills AMAZE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously. You need to sell some of your art work.
Is another giveaway in session??? lol