Resolve to Redecorate

Happy New Year! This year, I have resolved to completely redecorate our apartment with the help of some fresh paint and recently acquired art from the holidays. I received a couple prints of my grandma’s artwork: a self-portrait and a gorgeous drawing of a ballerina.

These pieces mean a great deal to me so I need to give them proper attention.

My special man-friend gave me a custom Mexican-inspired mosaic piece from local artist Leann Wooten, which I want to display with a few prints I got when I was in Mexico to remind me of warmth and sunshine. To top it off, my sister gave us a photo collage from a camping trip and my boyfriend received a couple classic black-and-white prints from his parents. Where to begin?

 

 

 

 

First, I plan to grab a couple paint swatches and decide on a color for our living room area. My mother advised me to pull a few pillows and accents to make sure the color will compliment the items that we already have — she’s pretty smart. The next step is to clean, organize and declutter. This will involve a much needed apartment purge followed by a trip to Goodwill.

Once the apartment feels tidy and manageable, I plan to take EVERYTHING off the walls and begin to lay out arrangements on the floor and test different areas of the apartment. Stripping the walls will help me visualize change by creating a blank slate. When I test arrangements, I’m going to try and group similar pieces for a greater effect. And remember, if you live in a small space, larger accents and wall hangings will work much better than smaller items. I look forward to making our home feel new again (but still the same, in a good way).

I’m most excited to hang our new art because I got a power drill for Christmas. Look out walls, I’m mad. I’m real mad. I’m not really mad, I just get a rush at the thought of power tools. No, you’re weird.

During this redecorating process, I recommend using your favorite design websites to get ideas for unique layouts, color palates and to simply find out what you really love. My favorites are Design Sponge and Pinterest, although I still can’t figure out how to get invited to join. Pinterest, your exclusivity is testing my patience. I will turn my back on you if you continue to ignore me. Anywho, I’ll keep you posted on the design process, if you do the same with yours. If there’s any decorating projects you’re currently working on or particularly proud of, send them in, either via email through the links below or in the comment section. I’ll try to include them in a future column.

Until then, how about a quick project to keep us busy in the meantime? Button Coasters!

I’ve been wanting to make coasters for some time now and have been experimenting with a few different techniques. I had some scraps of cork board lying around and more buttons than I know what to do with, so Ka-blamo! I combined the two and made my very own button coasters. This process requires some patience as you have to stitch each button on securely, but you could really have fun with patterns and colors.

There’s not much of a how-to for this one. I start by laying out the buttons to see what patterns I like and then I get to stitching. One trick: I made sure to keep the flattest side of the buttons face-up to ensure a more even surface. Try it out!