A few months ago I posted about my entryway project and at the time I mentioned I'd highlight the prints that lined my hallway in an upcoming post. Then time passed and obviously my slippery attention span moved on. However, since I posted about my wordy walls last week I suppose it could once again be considered timely to share, since this is where the 'walls of wisdom' movement all started to begin with.
I had so much fun shopping on Etsy to decorate the walls. I basically stocked myself up on super cheap black frames whenever I found them on clearance (most I bought for $2 or cheaper), and set out to fill them with typography prints that I make or buy. Often the prints didn't fit the prefab frames and in those cases I just filled the background of the frame with coordinated scrapbook paper and mounted the print on top. I know that I just made anyone who's ever worked in a frame shop shudder. I know, since I spent a few years working in a frameshop myself. But honestly? Buying so much art all at once was really pushing my budget, so dollar frames and scrapbook paper was all I could muster for framing. And I think it works for my hodge podge little artsy hallway. I like how the scrapbook paper 'matting' goes with the art and the scrapbook tiles on the stairs.
Etsy is crazy hard for me to resist on any given day, but going on there with every intention on buying several prints... Madness! I gave myself a spending limit but it was still rather hard to not get too carried away. I am very happy with the prints I bought and there were several more I would have loved to own, but will need to wait until I have funds built up for such sport.
I'll link to the shops where I bought each print. I'd buy from any one of them again. I think every transaction was smooth, professional and perfect. I know I'm sounding like a commercial, but mostly just showing love to artists I like enough to line my walls with. I know I stumble onto blogs all the time and wish they'd post links to where they bought the art on their walls.
Piles of pictures on my table waiting for me to hang in the hall.
The happy little hooks I bought from our local healthfood store.
Home to my kids' dance bags and my shopping bags.
A puppy looking out and a puppy wanting in. :)
This picture captures the dark purple color of this wall the best. This also is another example of my bizarre affinity for pantry shelves. Here it works as a catchall for hats, gloves, sunglasses, etc. I'm always finding a new use for these shelves. I'm oddly obsessed. They hold so much but take up such little space. Stuffed animal storage is one of my favorite uses for them! I also have one in my bedroom that holds my yarn and one behind each kids' door to control dress up accessories.
A sun catcher my daughter made with a bead charm attached.
This photo captures the light purple/gray of the outer walls.
The random frog/turtle collection I've somehow acquired over the years.
One of the biggest prints in my hall. Love this!
I never fail to 'see' this one. It never becomes background noise.
It is always a message I need too.
Oh, one of my favorites! To Be Brave by Mae Chevrette
I think this was the first print I purchased. Because it is awesome. Duh.
We Need Quiet Time print by Alli Coate
My attempt to fill a small frame in an artsy way. I don't really like this one and planned to change it right away. However, it does in fact, still hang in my hallway. The likelihood of it hanging in my hallway for a long while is very high. So I include it here. And you can't go wrong with "Joy" as a message. Right?
This is the favorite one I made. I had some credits left over from an online vector graphics store, Vectorstock. I used graphics from there for this print and a little coffee one and included some good words and mounted it on scrapbook paper. This is from one of my favorite ee cumming poems.
Filling another small frame with a card I liked and saved. The quote on it says:
Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others,
cannot keep it from themselves. J.M. Barrie
I've always loved otters and my husband and I had this poster mounted in our early days. I can't remember why. I think we liked the quirkiness of it and the colors. Quirky and colorful would be a fitting theme title for my hallway, so it fits in well.
I just want to make beautiful things print by Brooke at EeeBee.
I love her whole shop. If I had unlimited wall space and funds, I'd buy it all.
Wall placement detail.
The other simple print I made using a vectorstock image. It is actually cuter than this picture seems. The coffee image is made up of smaller images, like coffee beans and such in a nice chocolate brown.
Have you seen the toxic melted bead suncatcher tutorials going around Pinterest? I followed it and came up with this. Not exactly a Pinterest fail, but it is a Pinterest tale of caution. Other than losing a few thousand brain cells due to melted plastic fumes, I'm very happy with this project. It is a very fun way to make a colorful something for a window. I recommend using an outdoor grill instead of an indoor oven if you've never tried it before. However, make sure your grill isn't upwind to your neighbors, because they will hate you once they realize the industrial chemical fumes that are invading their house is due to you grilling plastic. I may or may not know this from personal experience. Hey! I had already melted my brain from trying it inside the first time, so I wasn't really thinking when I moved the operation outside and away from my own house. Oops! Sorry neighbors! Still... Pretty!
Cluttery landing picture. World meet my plants, Charlie and Lola. Charlie and Lola, the world. Right this second, Lola is gasping out to me. Water! Water! I need water! I am a bad plant mommy.
My sad and narrow entryway. The skinny doorway represents one of the only 'real' closet type storage areas in my house. Old homes are full of fun little storage challenges, no? This is kind of an ugly photo but it shows the two purples against each other.
So at long last, the end of my entry makeover. Very likely not everyone's cup of tea, but it continues to make me happy to this day. Every time I come home and see the color and the happy messages, and I smile. Sure beats the plain white, bare walls that we lived with for over a decade. A vast improvement over entering my home and wincing or feeling down due to my surroundings. Now as I leave or return, I'm uplifted, reminded to find my smile. I like that it does the same for my family. Like a little hug from me as they walk out the door.
At this point I can't change the fact that I live in a small home with old plaster walls, weird curvy stairs, a severe lack of storage and random old house quirks, but I can change how I view living in such a place. Now that I am using my space as a sort of way to express how I feel inside, I feel more at home than ever before. It may not be perfect. But certainly, at this point, it is definitely home.
Wishing everyone a week full of color and uplifting words! :)