New Year New Colors

When I feel the need to change things up a bit my default move is to alter the color that surrounds me.  You know, like deciding I am no longer a "pink" lipstick kinda gal but a "red" one.  I may decide that purple workout clothes are a mood lifter or I will try painting with an entirely foreign (to me) palette.  Color does interesting things for me.

If you read this blog from your email box you never really see the colors involved on the webpage layout.  But if you click on the blog title or go here you will see what I mean.  For many years I have embraced a non-offensive range of beige for the design.  But feeling the need for change recently I hit a few buttons and voila! bright new colors for the new year.  Check it out.  I also updated the art on the page and have every intention of doing the same to my website (will alert you).

But we got into a deep color commitment recently when we decided to totally change up the concept of our home.  (It's a long story but downsizing plans didn't work out so we designed a cottage en situ!)

Isn't this gorgeous?  (artist signature illegible or I would give credit) We've loved this bowl for several years and it struck us that it would make the perfect (happy) color palette for a totally new look.  We stripped our walls of art and furniture and set about using the turquoises, oranges and yellows for a change.  And here is something important I want to share:

I was convinced that we would have to part with many old favorite paintings and quite a bit of furniture to make the look work.  But the interesting thing is that we found that when one tends to enjoy certain colors, they have a way of appearing and reappearing in many things that you own.  Perhaps not in the same saturation but definitely in the hue.

Total new look of the dining room based on the bowl colors....but look, see that painting in the background?  A beautiful landscape by Barbara Millford.  Doesn't it look as if we planned the room around it?  Nope, Luck.  We had the table in another room and a little yellow paint made a huge difference.

Now check out a corner of the kitchen...I had bought that wonderful painting several years ago because I loved it (not because I had a place to put it!)  Fritz van Eeden always makes me smile and even without framing it I couldn't wait to introduce it to the room.  Again, we did not plan the kitchen around the piece, it was a happy coincidence.

Finally I will share our little corner for "Hour of Charm."  We fell in love with the smaller chair one rainy day in Boston and made a crazy rash decision to purchase and ship.  Who knew it was destined to fit right in?  See the big blank wall behind the chair?  We still have not finished curating our currently owned art so who knows what will get this place of honor?  And you note the bowl on the floor...not where it belongs but where it ended up in the Christmas-pack-up process when I took the photo.  

My point is: Don't be afraid of color.  Our rooms will not qualify for Architectural Digest but they make us happy.  AND, the good news is that we did not have to divest ourselves of any well-loved pieces in our collection.  Against new walls the art sings a new tune; many have asked if the pieces are recently acquired and the answer is no, but they look beautifully different.

We're still painting...our bedroom, his office and my studio are works-in-progress but you can bet that the color change up will be continued.  Do you have a favorite object that may provide inspiration for your next re-decoration project?  Do you see a color trend among the objects you have collected over the years?  If you were to cull your "things" what would the connecting thread be between the items you keep?

Let me know.

Color FULLY yours,
Cindy

Let's Be Unique

You R Unique

7 x 5 watercolor on paper and matted in white

for a standard 8 x 10 sized frame

$40 buy here

I know by blog-standards it appears that I have abandoned painting!  Our travels left me with a bad cold and my right shoulder is still not 100% so progress has been a little slow lately.  But I have many interesting pieces on the easel and I look forward to sharing them....they are huge by my standards.  Meanwhile I practiced a bit of drawing using some on-line photos posted specifically for artists to use.  The giraffe was only 8 days old when he had his photo made in an Australian zoo.  I decided to outfit him a la Lilly Pulitzer and had fun doing it.  Perfect for a little girl's room as a reminder that we are wonderful because of our differences...statement art, huh?

Need your input...

We are doing a bit of remodel/redecorating right now and have walls of art that will be reconfigured.  Some of these beautiful pieces will not make the cut.  Our tastes have changed, our spaces have changed, our interests have morphed.  None of these facts take away from the beauty of these original pieces we have collected over the years (I am not talking about art by me).  When you begin to curate your collection exactly what do you do with those you no longer wish to hang in your living space?

If you look at things with a financial eye I have no problem justifying that we got way more than $xxx amount of pleasure from these pieces, afterall, you don't love the same sofa for 25 years do you?  And we never buy art hoping to make money on it, altho several pieces have definitely increased in market value.  I am happy to gift pieces if I knew who wanted them; we are happy to donate pieces if we knew where they would be best utilized; and of course we would have no problem selling them if only we knew the best way to do so.

Have you ever dealt with this dilemma personally or helped someone who has?  Furniture is easy for me to part with, I take books to the library and things in between get recycled via a thrift store but art feels more personal to me; like I am responsible for finding it a "good home" where it will continue to be loved and respected.

If you have thoughts or suggestions please feel free to share them...I am ready to roll.

Promising art next week, I remain
Colorfully yours,
Cindy