Ambitious painting project #243

I really wanted to do some accent painting in Emma's room. The boring blue was kind of, well, boring me. Having done some pretty ambitious painting in this old house, I know that I tend to think a bit more grandiose that my time, budget, and abilities can handle (think plaid wall mistake of 2002). My idea was a simple flower on Emma's blue wall with a few curlicues here and there, maybe in white -- not much contrast, just a little feminine touch. But then I thought maybe I should have some contrast since I was going to all the work and didn't want it to blend in making the result less than dramatic. So I procured an over-head projector, made a transparency (.75c at the copy shop) from a couple of pretty clip art pieces I found on Microsoft Office online, and set to work sketching my design on the wall. It looked so cool in the dark room on the over-head projector that I sketched and sketches away until there was art on all 4 walls of her room. I used left over dark blue paint from the stairs and the results are anything but subtle. More grandious, in my opinion.

Emma's room is also the guest room, so she has a double bed. (She gets booted out into the little bed upstairs when we have company and she doesn't mind one bit -- the guests sleeping in a little girl's room have more of an issue). The quilt is a wedding gift from Jeff's aunts. Don't tell anyone, but it doesn't have a single blue dot in the whole thing. I'm no decorating genius, so don't ask me why it works. It just does. Jeff made the head board for me from a picture I found in a magazine. I like it for the cutsie, country theme of her room.

It took a lot of time to fill in the lines I had made on the wall with the dark blue paint. I spent about 8 hours all together, sketching, painting, and touching up. If I were to give any suggestions for other would-be artists, I would say to keep the design even simpler with less area to fill in. I might even do the whole design with a just a sharpie next time and skip filling in the lines. It would be much faster. Next time? Who am I kidding? Give me a week or two.

(Cross stitch art by Hillary. Isn't is beautiful? This is one of my favorite things I've ever received as a gift -- very thoughtful and meaningful).

Here's a good shot of Emma's kitchen. I am so happy that my dad painted it to match Emma's room. Pottery Barn Kids has nothing compared to this. Both Emma and Mandy love playing with the kitchen. For some reason, Mandy microwaves the heck out of everything before she eats it. Nothing like a home cooked meal.

Emma's room is as eclectic as she is. From boots and cow figurines, to elephants and princess dresses, we've got it all covered.