Curating a Home

Curating a home, collecting rather than decorating, takes patience and time. But, creating a space that is unique and personal is so worth it. 

What's the difference between curating and decorating? To curate and collect we have to live with unfinished, ever-transitioning spaces. It means using pieces that aren't quite right until the perfect piece is found. We hunt and collect and create items for our homes rather than going to a store and buying a completed, matchy-matchy look that is most likely made in China. Decorated homes tend to be have a theme, whereas curated homes are quirky, unique, personal and ever-changing. A collected home is styled with antiques and vintage pieces that were previously loved by others. Decorted homes are neat and often look like you stepped into a merchandise catalog or furniture store. Collected homes are cozy and feel like visiting a favorite coffee shop or older European home, shop or museum. For me, I feel more at home in a collected space rather than a decorated one. 

With that being said, after painting a redoing my bedroom last fall, I have been looking for just the right nightstand for my husband's side of the bed. I found an antique commode to use for my nightstand last winter (SEE it and more of our primary bedroom HERE). Hubby does not have as much space so I looked for something not too short, with a drawer, and fairly small. I found this vintage (antique) stand at the thrift store this week.

It is sturdy and in very good shape and came with a glass top. The top was a little scratched and the edge on the top is broken off on the corners. I also had to glue the front edge down.

This is the top before--not too bad. I didn't want to sand it so instead I cleaned the whole nightstand with TSP and then Dawn dish soap. I then used Wise Owl Furniture Salve on the entire piece. You can buy it from my friend TINA HERE.

Here is the top afterward--not perfect, but much better. With the NOW clean glass on top it looks much better.

  I like how the top and the drawer are lighter in color.

It fits perfectly and the wood colors match well with my nightstand and our headboard.

The accordion doors slide well and this spot is a great storage area. 

I am so happy with this find and for $7 it was definitely worth waiting for. (Speaking of waiting, still no new baseboard trim as you can see.) There are so many wonderful finds at your local thrift stores. Take the time to find items that work for your unique home.

30 Days Practicing Creativity Days 17-20

I am still here practicing creativity and today I am sharing the last four days worth of practice. Let's start with the word for June 17th, SPACE.

I decided to paint a picture of the face in the moon. Rather than using wood scraps to paint it, I decided to use something new to me--paintbrushes, LOL! I have decided wood scraps are easier. I started with a piece of plywood painted black over a brick red color. I traced a big bowl, mixed up a yellow gold paint color, and went for it.

I splattered and dotted white paint. When I was putting a clear coat on the painting, I was able to scrape off some of the yellow and earth colors with a fingernail, which gave me a lot of control on distressing the art.

The next word for the 18th is TREES. I started with some aluminum cans from the recycle bin.

I was wishing that we drank root beer so I'd have some brown cans, but then I found the Angry Orchard cans with trees on them.

I cut out pieces, using regular household scissors. I pounded the tin flatter with a rubber mallet. I then hot glued the aluminum pieces to a board I had.

This was fun to cut and piece. Next time I will wash and dry the cans first--it was sticky! I used 3 or 4 Angry Orchard cans and a couple Sprite cans. I still need to clean up some bits of hot glue. i will definitely try more aluminum can art in the future.

The next two words were COLOR and HAT. I decided to combine the two words when I found this unfinished knitting at the thrift store (sniff before buying).

I cut a section off, folded up a brim, and used some of the yarn that came with it to stitch it up. I do not knit, but I stitched and knotted the seam up the back twice and it feels secure. I kept the finished edge for the hat height or length and tie the top off too make a colorful, floppy, stocking cap.

I will be easy to spot this winter in the white snow wearing this colorful hat.

Upcoming Words:

June 21: SUMMER SOLTICE

June 22: STONE

June 23: BEACH

June 24: BLACK & WHITE

30 Days Practicing Creativity Day 16 WOOD

Today's word for practicing creativity is WOOD. I struggled for a bit because I create with wood and paint probably more than any other material. I finally decided to play with some wood slats we bought at a garage sale. I am not sure what they were for, but for a dollar for a box of them, I decided I could find a use for them, However, I didn't realize when we bough them that they were all curved, sort of similar to a barrel stave. I picked out twelve of the slats that were the same length and stained them three different colors.

I decided to try to make a modern art wall sculpture piece with them. If you watch Bargain Block on HGTV, I decided to channel my inner Keith.

I didn't have a plan, I just laid out a few boards or slats at a time and screwed them together from the back. 

I knew I wanted something longer rather than square. I hung this in our bedroom, which if you have seen it, the colors of the wood are perfect. 

I hung this modern, wood slat, wall art on the wall that has been blank still. I simply hung it on a few screws.

I like it by itself, but it becomes a little more personal and works well as a photo or postcard holder. I tucked postcards from our daughter's spring semester in Italy in it.

  I love this vintage one she sent. She found it at a flea market--she knows her mama well.

I enjoyed creating this wood wall art, something I probably would not had made if I wasn't challenging myself to be creative. 

Upcoming Words:

June 17: SPACE

June 18: TREES

June 19: COLOR

June 20: HAT

30 Days Practicing Creativity Days 14 & 15

Woot, woot, I am caught up and half way through my 30 days of Practicing Creativity. Today I am sharing my creative practice projects for the words MOUNTAINS and HOME.

For MOUNTAINS I looked in my craft stash and spied sitting near each other a thrift store floating frame and some peel and stick wallpaper.

I decided to try and create something with them and a little cutting and sticking and I came up with this art piece.

I left a little white on the top for snow. I like the white "heart" on the mountain in the middle.

I like the shadow on the wall that the mountain art creates.

For the word HOME I kept thinking of so many words that I think say home to me. I decided to write them in a simple home shape. I put this in a shadow box frame and used some foam tape behind the home so it stands out a little. 

It is a simple project with meaning. I am aware that the word HOME doesn't bring up positive words like these for all and that made me appreciate this project even more. I am blessed to have so many wonderful feelings about the word. 

Are you playing along or practicing creativity? I have learned that for me I am never at a lack for ideas, but rather have to work at reining in my ideas and narrowing my focus. I am trying lots of new techniques and ways of creating which I love.

Upcoming Words:
June 16: WOOD
June 17: SPACE
June 18: TREES

30 Days Practicing Creativity Days 12 and 13

I am still playing catch-up with my creativity challenge, but hoping to be caught up by tomorrow. Today I am sharing my FABRIC and INSECT projects.

For fabric I knew I didn't want to sew anything because my I sew often and my daughter borrowed my machine. I headed to the thrift store to see if I could find any inspiration. I looked for alternative fabric sources and found a bright, sunny yellow scarf.

I decided it would make a great and unique plant hanger. I found the middle of the scarf and wrapped wire around it, making a wire loop to hang it from a hook in my library window.

I then simply tied a knot in it and placed one of my lighter plants in a basket in it, wrapping the scarf up around it to hold it.

I like the fringed end and the yellow color with the window light on it. It holds the plant well and is a fun alternative to a traditional macrame plant hanger.

I don't love to or often use food for art projects because there are folks in the world starving and using food for art shows a lack of concern for food scarcity. But, this was a lone potato that wasn't going to get eaten. It did go into my compost bin after the project.

Kindergarten art or mod art project?? It's a fine line, but I played and did something new. I cut the potato in half and stamped it first, making the last ladybug extra colorful.

I used a ruler to help line things out. 

I then washed the potato and cut a head and middle stripe. I also used a small potato piece for the antennae and for the spots.

It is not perfect and is a little messy, but it is a fun pop art piece.

Upcoming Words:

June 14: HOME

June 15: MOUNTAINS

June 16: WOOD

June 17: SPACE

June 18: TREES

30 Days Practicing Creativity Days 9-11

I am behind on my creative practice days. I have company and have been spending lots of hours in the garden. Because I am behind I decide to combine days nine and ten, ice cream and pattern. And while I certainly practiced being creative, my final project was a fail and landed in the trash.

I gathered bits of nature and painted a canvas and glued the nature to the canvas. I then dumped a bunch of Mod Podge glue on it--which never dried. The pattern I painted smeared and I was not pleased with the end result. BUT, I had fun looking for items to make the cone (dead lilacs) and the strawberry and mint ice cream. I played with things that I haven't before and learned some dos and don'ts.

The word for the 11th was BOOKS. I used an outdated airline book

and made updated, dimensional art.

This book was published in 1975 and was quite outdated in terms of airline careers. The men were the pilots and the mechanics and the baggage handlers and the women were the stewardesses and food preparers. 

Some books are simply too outdated to be of importance anymore. I was inspired to make this book all about female empowerment. I started by folding the pages, alternating the direction that I folded so that photos and words would both be visible. 

After folding the pages, I wrote quotes about women's rights with pastel markers on the inside book covers.

I wadded up some double stick carpet take and stuck it between the pages that would be on top when hanging so that they would remain evenly spaced. 

I hung this with a command adhesive strip in my library under the album art I made last week. 

I might end up printing out the quotes in colorful fonts and gluing that on the book covers to hide my sloppy writing. But, the upcycled book fits well on my library shelves and is a good reminder that women can do anything they set their minds to do!

Today's word is FABRIC and I have my project done, but won't have time today to post about it.

Upcoming Creative Practice words are:

June 13: INSECTS

June 14: HOME

June 15: MOUNTAINS

June 16: WOOD