Vivid Atelier

Pristine.

That is the word that comes to mind when I think about home decor photos, displays in store windows, furniture catalogues.  They are perfect.

They don’t have little dolls peeking over the edges of sofa cushions at their fallen toy comrades.

You can actually see the counter tops on a regular basis.

It is possible to locate the cordless phone in a given set up at a glance.

They are a bit like the perfect Christmas trees that charities auction off in late November.  Perfect colour schemes, perfect balance, exactly the right number of 6 inch icicles and little pink santas.  The problem is that I can never love those trees as much as I love our family tree with its fragile paper cup angels and hand turned toy soldiers.

The colours weren’t planned and I’m not sure that they all really go together as individual pieces but in my mind they belong together.

The walls of my home are kind of like that. The address of where I live is the intersection between art gallery and nursery school. All in all not a bad place to be. No one can challenge your creativity on so many levels at once as a two year old.

Don’t believe me, go rent one. (heck – some parents may pay you to take one for the day!)

So all this to say that while I admire the paragons of home staging, and secretly (or not so secretly) love being design critic to most of the shows on HGTV, my home has become a mix of art and family with all its bumps and personality marks.

A home should have your mark on it.

So how do you do it??

• Show your collections – your bears, your figurines, your fridge magnets, your afgans… surround yourself with the things you love.  If you show items in groups the colours that may not be perfect together when shown in pairs of threes tend to blend together.
• Mix it up – hang small pieces of art with large ones, and include your family pictures in the mix. Put your child’s art in re-usable frames so that you can update with new art. (ps. there is almost nothing more encouraging to a young artist than to have someone put value on their work by purchasing a frame for it. ) stay tuned for later posts on how to hang a whole bunch of stuff and have it work – I’m having fun with this idea.
• Create a fridge collage – it will become your kitchen centerpiece – and an object of speculation for your nosier neighbors. Have some fun with them.
• Place inspiration on your walls. Companies like Stampin’ Up! are now selling wall decals that go on easy and peel off when you need something new. Put up a favorite quote or fill a corner with graphic flowers and grasses.
• Hide away your coffe table book- and replace it with your scrapbook or a favourite board game. Change the attitude of a space from formal to family. Or visa versa if that appeals to you more.
• Paint yourself a chalkboard wall (you know you’ve seen people do it on DIY shows!) and invest in some beautiful coloured chalks.

What kind of music do you play??? What kind of atmosphere does it create?

Do you love to cook – what would your stainless or clear measuring cups look like catching the light on your kitchen windowsill? How would your tools look if they were outlined and hung in a main hallway?

Could you create a garden pot sculpture to showcase your hobby in the off season?  What about golf, or baseball or hockey?

Confession Time

i do really like a clean space. And personally I do like a simple, uncluttered aesthetic for a room. They can be really inviting.

but i also like a house you can live in, where there are no rooms that are off limits – except my bedroom/sanctuary and studio for obvious reasons.

i would love to not trip over toys in the middle of the night, and to be able to approach my stairs without fear of toy ambush.

so there is definite room for improvement in my home. i plan to make changes.

eventually my home will say what i want it to say about me, and not air my dirty secrets!