Blooming Hallways

Several years ago, Anna Schuleit created an installation of 28000 potted flowers in the Massachusetts Mental Health Center just a week before the facility closed its doors after 91 years of operation. She chose flowers in bloom as psychiatric patients do not receive flowers often during their hospital stay. It's her interpretation of offering and transition. What I love about this project is that she filled the whole building that generally gives the feel of sadness, pain and loneliness with tons of beautiful, lively and happy flowers. A great contrast, don’t you think? For some strange reason I can't stop looking at those images - very reflective. xo

P.S: The heartbreaking soldier's story and this heartwarming love ever after series.

(via Wilder Quarterly)

No Screw Loose

Crikey, Californiabased Andrew Myers is a modern-day sculptor with an incredible talent. He spends countless hours creating portraits of people from screws. It’s a multi-step process involving a plywood panel as the base, pre-sketch, pre-drilling up to 10 000 holes by hand and the most challenging part, painting over each screw head in a way that the end result is an actual portrait of a person he knows. The brilliant thing is that he doesn’t use any type of computer software to guide him. He simply approaches his type of art with the traditional sculpturing technique.

This is what he said about the people he chooses for his projects: "Most people are drawn to the portraits because they have something different about them (from a distance especially). Seeing them in person is a whole different feel than seeing the photograph. They have a sense of depth that the photo can't capture."

As for me, Andrew is a genius and those sculptures are mind-blowing. Oh boy, wish I could see them in person. Don’t you? Aren’t they captivating? xo

P.S: Also, this page turner and the breathtaking floating sculptures!

P.P.S: Remember this underwater art museum?

(via Anne Pesata)

Vintage ads

Oh my goodness, these vintage ads are jawdropping. (One ad actually says, "Men are better than women!") Can you believe these are from just a few decades ago? Our grandparents might have considered them normal!

More below...
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Vintage ads

Oh my goodness, these vintage ads are jawdropping. (One ad actually says, "Men are better than women!") Can you believe these are from just a few decades ago? Our grandparents might have considered them normal!

More below...
Read more »

RedBall Project

For the past six years, artist Kurt Perschke has squeezed a huge red ball into cracks, gaps and alleys all around the world. The red ball has visited cities like Barcelona, Chicago, Toronto and Sydney, and it's now heading to England for the summer! (Reminds me of this children's story, do you remember it?)

(Via Apartment Therapy)

RedBall Project

For the past six years, artist Kurt Perschke has squeezed a huge red ball into cracks, gaps and alleys all around the world. The red ball has visited cities like Barcelona, Chicago, Toronto and Sydney, and it's now heading to England for the summer! (Reminds me of this children's story, do you remember it?)

(Via Apartment Therapy)

5 Ways to Update a Nursery without Painting it

My friend Rebecca is expecting her second child - a baby girl! - later this summer. I'm so excited for her and secretly/not so secretly jealous that she gets to indulge in all the cute, ruffly pink goodness that is preparing for a little lady.  She's facing the all too common challenge that many second time moms deal with - transitioning the existing nursery from its current not-so-girly state AND simultaneously getting soon-to-be older brother's big boy room set up.  That's a lot to handle for anyone but especially for a hormone fueled pregnant woman!

So here's the challenge - transform a baby boy's nursery into a baby girl's nursery WITHOUT changing the furniture OR wall color.  Yup, with a to-do list a mile long, she and her husband have decided painting the nursery is just not going to happen.  Rebecca wants the room to look different of course.  She doesn't want to walk in an feel like she's in her son's old nursery.  She wants to personalize it for the arrival of her daughter! 

Certainly things like new curtains, accessories and lighting can completely transform a room but when it comes to playing down an existing wall color, I think the best course of action is to create something else to focus on.  Something so bold and interesting that you don't even care what color the walls are.  They become the supporting cast of the room's overall look. 

Here are 5 ways to minimize a room's wall color:

 

I would recommend something that works with the green but has some other, more feminine colors as well.  You can mount wallpaper on foam core and trim it with some inexpensive molding to create an instant focal point.  It's like a huge piece of art really.  

 

  

 

 

 

Speaking of art...

What color are the walls in this room?  Who cares?  You're to drawn in by the vibrant colors on that enormous piece of art to pay any attention to the wall color!  A large piece of art makes a statement...you can't NOT look at it. 

  

 

 Re-positionable and removable decals are a great way to change the look of a room.  They are super appropriate for a nursery which is perhaps the most temporary room in a home.  They come in a ton of playful designs and colors.  Some all over designs can even look like wallpaper.  Google "repositionable wall decals" and you'll get a plethora of options.  Etsy has some great options as well. 

 

 

 

I'm using the term "art" loosely here.  Create a bold collection of something big to focus your attention on.  

 

It doesn't get much more neutral than tan walls but this nursery is still sweet and girly as can be with the infusion of pink in this framed ABC art wall.  A can of spray paint could quickly unify any collection of orphan frames (y'know the ones you've had stacked at the back of your closet for years!)  A few sheets of pretty scrapbook paper + some of your favorite fonts and you're on your way.

A meandering trail of paper flowers would instantly add some femininity to the room.  I love the idea of doing a bunch in various shades of pink or purple, both of which would look fantastic and preppy when paired the existing green walls. 

 

 

Don't want to focus on the walls?  Draw your eye upward with something so interesting, you won't even care what's going on with the walls!  I particularly love this solution for a nursery because babies spend so much time on their backs.  A creative ceiling treatment can act as one enormous mobile!

I  recognize that this last photo is completely cheating in the "no paint" category but since I'm on a total pink ceiling kick I HAD to include it.  I can't stop thinking about Rebecca's green walls with a pink striped ceiling.  So Lily Pulitzer girly and preppy!