Making it Lovely

Tag: painting

  • Painting the Stairway

    Painting the Stairway

    Brandon started priming the knotty pine in the stairway last night.

    Painting the Stairway

    My dad was horrified when we said we planned to paint it. “That’s nice wood!” Sorry dad.

    We actually found out from our neighbor that the previous owners had only recently put it up when they decided to sell! The addition was done sometime in the 50s (we think), so what was there before? Bare studs?

    I’m not sure what color to go with now though.

    You can see the stairway when you’re sitting in the living room and it opens up to the library, so obviously I want a color that will look good with both of the other rooms. You can also see into Brandon’s office when you’re in the living room (it’s on the same elevation), so there’s another color to consider. Oh, and the carpet is beige.

    Surrounding Stairway Colors

    The living room has mustard/gold curtains and an orange chair, so I’m looking at those as possible choices. I also like pink (!), but I think the house has a lot of pink already and Brandon’s probably ready for a different color by now.

    I’m going to change the curtains in the library, but I don’t know what I want yet. I have a bunch of Laceworks from Amy Butler that I bought for the room:

    Amy Butler Lacework Fabric

    I’m not so sure about it now, but the fabric would work with the green ceiling in the library (“Flowering Herbs” by Benjamin Moore). I could repaint that if I need to, but I don’t want to. I’ve had enough of painting ceilings! If I go with that fabric, I could use the pink that’s in there… ;)

  • Much Better!

    Much Better!

    I’m much happier with my second attempt.

    So much better!

    It’s still not exactly what I had in mind, but I like it.

    new painting

  • I tried.

    I tried.

    I’ve been sketching a lot lately and feeling very creative. Last night I felt like painting, so I went to buy some canvasses. I returned home and immediately went up to the studio to start. I told my husband (Brandon) I was feeling a little anxious because my paintings never turn out the way I want them too. Well, this time was no exception.

    attempted painting

    I had fun doing it until the very end (when I knew, almost immediately, that I messed up). I’m going to try my hand at another though. Try, try again!

  • eBay + Syroco

    eBay + Syroco

    OK, I must stop bidding on Syroco items now. I had never even heard of “Syroco” until about 2 weeks ago, but apparently Syroco = awesome (but potentially very tacky).

    My first treasure:
    syroco flowers

    That paint just had to go. Glossy orange spray paint to the rescue! It looks so much better in a solid color – much more modern.

    Er, in full disclosure… I had a bit of a mishap with the painting. Eager to get started, I decided to lay out a tarp on my front porch last night and get to work. Wind carries, lesson learned. The porch needs to be repainted, but we weren’t planning on doing so right away. Now we have an orangish porch with a big rectangle outline where the tarp was. Oops!

    My second treasure (just won, hours ago):

    $10 for all four! I kind of like the bronzy color of them, so I don’t know if I’ll repaint. I need to see them in person to decide. I’m quite fond of them. My husband? Not so much.

    Also, I have these en route from day-lab:

    I don’t think they’re by Syroco, but they’re similar, no? I must be stopped! No more carved wall hangings!

    … but first I want this, this, or one of these. Mobiles don’t count, right?

  • "And Brown Loves Pink"

    "And Brown Loves Pink"

    My commissioned Amy Ruppel painting has arrived! (Good timing, eh? I’ve had art on my mind a lot lately!)

    I love Amy Ruppel’s work, so quite a while back I contacted her to commission a larger scale painting. I wanted some pink or orange in it, and then I left the rest up to Amy. The painting is titled “and brown loves pink”, it’s 18″x15″, and it has pink and orange, and I love it! Yippee!

    I know I’ve been looking for a something to go above the sofa, but this isn’t it. I need to choose a more special spot for this one.

  • Studying the Studio

    Studying the Studio

    When I started my business (Pink Loves Brown), I used a second bedroom in the apartment we were renting as my studio. Soon work spilled out into the rest of our home, and areas like the dining room table became the shipping center. After two years, I had finally rented a separate studio space! Hooray! 600 square feet of space!

    Then we decided to buy a house, and I gave up the studio. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, because it is a trade-off I was more than happy to make. Brandon and I both wanted a house so badly, and there is room here for me to make a studio… in a spare bedroom. Just like when I started. ;)

    So now the space has gone from 600 square feet down to about 150. It’s tight, but manageable.

    Studio montage

    A lot of work has been done already. I’ve painted the dragon (YAY), turned the closet into storage for crafty supplies, and setup my shipping center (not on the dining room table, thankyouverymuch). Still to do: rip up the carpet and lay the solid bamboo floors, paint the wood trim white, and change the window treatments.

    Plus it feels a little bland in there. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten rid of the dragon!