Kitchen Nook Art & Chalkboard Wall - Ready For Use

When I saw this latest painting by Max I was excited, knowing it was just right for the kitchen nook wall. I asked him if I could hang it here. Can you believe he looked at me and said, "No, it's for sale."

Oh. Can I buy it?

After giving it some serious thought he replied, "Hum...okay. It's $5.99."

Wow, really? And off I went to get my wallet. I was actually relieved I could afford it because it had to be hung on this wall!




I have a plan to add simple frames around these canvases, though with the holidays here I probably won't get around to that DIY project until the first of the year. There are probably a dozen canvases in our home that will look even better once a thin slice of trim is added around the edges. Of course I'll be sure to post a tutorial.


The stripe running up the wall really works here, visually anchoring the corner and relating to the bands of brown accenting the drape edges. The brown chalkboard paint color, Strong Addiction from Hudson Paint, coordinates beautifully with the roman shade and drapery fabrics.

This may be my last project for awhile, with Thanksgiving next week, though the fabric for the master bedroom duvet just arrived! Shoot. Perhaps the following week I'll get to it. With the completion of the duvet and a couple additional pillows that project will be done, I really can hardly wait.

Also, look for my latest Houzz Ideabook tomorrow, which interestingly features kitchen nooks. You may spot a nook I got a bit of inspiration from!

Kitchen Nook Art & Chalkboard Wall

I still love the result of the chalkboard art wall in my husband's home office! It's an interesting mix of these two approaches to dressing up a wall. And while I have been thinking of hanging art on the wall behind the kitchen nook table, it wasn't until I got the idea to paint a chalkboard stripe to frame the art did I get inspired to move the project forward.


I began by ordering a can of Strong Addiction from Hudson Paint. What a great name, referring to the color of a strong cup of coffee! And how fitting, as the one piece of artwork I knew I wanted to hang here was the I Love You Blogs and Coffee print by Jen Ramos.

After testing a spot of color on the wall, which looked so strong I had second thoughts, I taped out the stripe. I have to tell you, my husband had his doubts as well, but I reminded him (and myself!) that the chalk rubbed over the surface would soften the color significantly.


Next the wall was painted. I had thought about just painting a rectangle underneath the window, rather than running the paint all the way up from the baseboard to the window casing and up to the ceiling. However, I thought the tall sweep of color would feel less "chopped up" and help unify the window and future artwork.


Ah...much better, it is already less harsh.



A bit of rubbing followed by wiping and then deciding what art to hang. It's still a work in progress...I'll show you where it lands tomorrow.

Bedroom Art Wall ~ Done!

I knew this wall needed something. It's a large portion of what is seen when walking into the Master Bedroom, so how boring to leave it plain! To remedy this situation I decided to create an art wall, but was unsure about what to hang. I looked through all our art and photos, but apart from realizing there would be no need to purchase any new frames, I was not feeling inspired.

Then, while writing the Ideabook Bedroom Art Walls for Houzz, I saw one example that had placed an architectural letter alongside the various images. Ah ha, I like this idea! So I found paper mache letters and painted them to look as if they are made from metal. (To make your own, see the tutorial here.)


The letters turned out great and I love how their "metal" finish relates well to the DIY Canvas & Nail Head Trim project, hanging above the settee.


When designing a room it can be very effective to think about pulling elements from one part of the room to another, helping the various areas in a space feel connected to one another. This can result in a design that feels cohesive. Taking this into consideration, and not finding any images or artwork I just had to include on the art wall (apart from a wedding photo!) I decided to create "art" by framing fabrics used in the room. The headboard, drapery and pillow fabrics, as well as two other remnants which looked great in the mix and repeated the color palette of the room, were placed in frames.



A section of fabric used to make the Upholstered Headboard Wall was put in an unused frame.


A small piece of fabric and trim used to make pillows for the settee fit in an old frame, painted to fit the color scheme of the room.


Using a piece of fabric leftover from adding panels to the drapes, the back of a shadow box was lined. Then a pin, which was a gift from a special client and friend years ago, was attached to the fabric. I had also thought about including part of a note, but in the end I couldn't really make it look right...another time.


I was tempted to start hanging the frames without a real plan, hoping I liked the outcome. But I've had success in the past making a paper template, so instead I pulled out kraft paper and arranged the frames on the paper until I was happy with the composition. Afterwards outlines of the frames were traced, using a square to help with the placement.


The paper was then taped to the wall in the desired position...


...and after measuring the placement of the hooks on the back of each frame, the corresponding spot was marked on the paper, indicating where to nail the hanging hardware.


Then the hanging began. I must be strange, I think this process is so much fun...seeing each image being hung, watching the arrangement come together on the wall!


I am really pleased with the result! The art wall is simple and has subtle meaning with the "M", "I" and a wedding photo of my husband and I included in the group. The colors, finishes and fabrics used are very effective in helping create a very cohesive look throughout the room, with nearly all the elements of the room represented in this small collection. The style of the art wall is also fairly masculine. In a master bedroom shared by both genders, balancing feminine and masculine design styles throughout the room help both occupants feel at home...and in this case went a long way in my getting away with placing the feminine settee in this room!

Just When You Thought The Art Wall Was Done...

This framed chalkboard was the inspiration behind creating a chalkboard on the entire wall where I planned to hang a collection of art. Initially the plan was to hang the small chalkboard alongside the other frames. But then it occurred to me that this was kind of odd...hang a framed chalkboard on a chalkboard wall? Hum. Wouldn't that kind of defeat the whole purpose?


Then I got the idea to hang it on the adjacent wall. The slight irony of placing a framed chalkboard next to a chalkboard wall appealed to me. A tiny bit of the surreal. I recently watched the Thomas Crown Affair again, have you seen it? The scene with the endless number of men in bowler hats, inspired by the Magritte painting The Son Of Man, has apparently got me thinking about surrealism.


The small anniversary date frame was painted a golden yellow to bring a small pop of color to the art wall, and it is one of my favorite elements here. But it does get slightly lost. So I decided to refinished the frame of the chalkboard to be hung in a similar color.




Not only does this help the framed chalkboard make sense hanging here, but it also ends up highlighting the small frame.


So now the art wall is done. I think.

"Tell Me, Why Are You So Good To Me?" Art Wall: Done!

Once the frames were hung on the chalkboard wall and the paper template removed, all that was left to do was hand a stick of chalk to my husband.

Tell me, why are you so good to me?
~Roger Thornhill~


Do you recognize this quote?

Prior to painting a chalkboard wall to hang the art on, other solutions were considered for this feature wall. One was to hang wallpaper, another was to cover it with fabric. In the end I decided to go with chalkboard paint, mainly because this part of the Home Office Redesign needed to be inexpensive. There were also several pieces of art that could have been hung, some with much more color. But as all the images were laid out to edit through the options, it became clear that a limited color palette was needed to flow with the other elements in the room.



I'm very happy with the final look! Next...on to shelving, refinishing the cabinet and several other small details.

p.s. subway, typewriter and buddha photographs compliments of Mrs. Limestone. Thank you.

A Small Valentine's Day Gesture

With Valentine's Day approaching, I decided to frame numbers of the date my husband and I met to hang alongside the other images on the art wall in his office.


The project started out just fine. I lightly sanded the frame and painted it with a tinted primer.


Afterwards I mixed a few paint colors to get a yellow ochre with green undertones.


On its own this color looks questionable, I know! However, I thought one strong colored frame among all the black frames on the art wall as an accent would be unexpected and interesting. The color was inspired by the aged golden tones in the photos by Mrs. Limestone, and you have to admit, it does look striking once hung on the chalkboard wall alongside the more muted colors.


All was going well until I laid the frame on the paper with the other frames to work out the layout. After walking away, I heard a chewing sound...Roscoe!


It was repainted, not exactly fixed but salvaged.




I then stamped the date we met on a silver gray paper. After a few tries I had a stamped date that looked nice and placed it in the frame.


I returned it to the paper layout to see how it looked, and mistakenly left it there...


Yes, the dog got the other corner. I certainly should have known better. Another repair...this frame is getting more than its fair share of character rather fast I'd say.


The other corner was repaired while painting another frame for the project. Then it was ready to be hung, finally out of the dog's reach.

Happy Valentine's Day, I'm so happy we met!

And the art wall is nearly done. All the paper has been removed. The only remaining task is to have my husband break in the chalkboard by writing on it. He was on a trip, but now that he is back I'm handing him some chalk. Let's see what he writes, check back on Monday!