Saturday, August 27, 2016

A Blank Canvas

Being creative in a room is, to put it quite simply, fun. You just have to look at the room as a blank canvas and....GO!!. 

After talking to the room's occupant that is. It is their room after all. 

Years ago, the first bedroom I did was Adrienne's. She was all about the ocean and lighthouses. We had a mix of blues up top and a sand colored bottom half of the wall, separated by a border of lighthouses. We used fish nets for curtain valences and hand-stenciled verses about the ocean all around the top perimeter of the room. Since Adrienne moved out, this has become a stopping place for Amy, who is also semi-out-of-the-house and she's added some of her own flavor to the room and it's now an artsy retreat at the beach. And it's storage for my adult kiddos moving out and on. 





















Excuse me while I sigh deeply, happy and sad and nostalgic. 

If you were wondering why Amy isn't in her own room that we did in a variety of teal blue, brown, green, coral and white, then wonder no more. When she left for college and then Thailand, I may have gravitated my sewing, scrapbooking world into that room.....it's still a work in progress. 

Heather's room, I did blog about once upon a time. Purple, Purple, Purple (Say that 3x fast)

I always had good intentions to do a room for Aaron. I really did. We envisioned a Lord of The Rings feel, with Lothlorien trees painted on the walls with a corner reserved for a hint of Mordor. (His idea, not mine. Not a fan of Mordor where I want to be sleeping.) I blinked, I barely blinked and he was moving out and as my artistic ability for trees is somewhat lacking and it would've taken me as long as it took Frodo to vanquish the Dark Lord, it just never materialized into reality.  He and Lisa-Anna have a new (old and awesome!) house now with lots of blank walls as canvas.....

I still can't draw trees though. 

After Aaron moved, Ryan claimed that room as his own. And it's been about 1 1/2 years and I did his room in an adventure, outer space, kind-of-theme. We papier-mached planets and hung them up, I started a compass rose around his light fixture, using my cell phone to accurately depict N-S-E-W. And he picked the colors and definitely wanted chalkboard paint, which we used as his border and on the old chimney that runs through his room. (I still haven't quite figured out the chimney bit.) I just never blogged about his room because it wasn't quite Pinterest worthy enough yet. 









Yesterday though, we tackled his room with a vengeance, purging the mounds of paper, sorting his clothing, and getting ready for school. It still isn't "Pinterest-perfect", but it is Ryan's and it is his version of perfect. I love that my almost-teenager still has his favorite animals and a few toys about. He's not quite ready to send them to the attic (and neither am I). He was happy to find his old hand-held video game and I was glad he didn't find it until after our 8 hour ride in the car for vacation. The beeping, oh the beeping. He is in his almost-man-cave, and cave's weren't meant for Better Homes & Gardens. 





















Here's after we'd started. It was worse, much worse. Boys. Gotta love them. 

He never liked putting clothes away. He probably never will. I'm apologizing to his future wife now.
But, he does do better with open baskets and as long as they are somewhat put away, I'm happy. And yes, those are his "Ida Maust Monkeys" sitting there on the drawer-made shelf.







Ryan really did help. This was at the end of the day when we were finished and I was trying to inspire him to take a few minutes every day and keep it "this way". I'm sure he is paying close attention and his distracted gaze at his hand-held game is all a ruse.

I'll just keep telling myself that.


Here's to all the blank canvases in the world!

Love, Dianne

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