I love art.  I love design.  Why not put the two together on the blog?  There was a time in my life when I thought my career path lay ( Thank you, Suzanne Decuir for the grammatical help ) in Interior Design.  I took courses, devoured design and shelter magazines.   As often happens in life,  circumstances got in the way and the path detoured.  But that’s a story for another time.  Let’s focus on the fun stuff today!

One of my absolute favorite things while designing ( OK, it was THE absolute favorite thing ), was creating moodboards.  To begin with an inspiration and build a room or facility around it was thrilling to my color, texture and pattern lovin’ soul.  And for me, it always began with the artwork.  While doing project management/art consulting, I worked with a lot of designers and many ( but by no means all! ) viewed the artwork for a design as an after-thought.  Like adding sprinkles to a cake.  Still a cake without the sprinkles, but oh, if we add them, won’t that be pretty!  But if we don’t have sprinkles, it’s OK.  It’s still a nice cake.  Instead, I think of the artwork as the frosting– not just smoothed across the top, but spread between the layers and all over.  It is what holds the cake together and gives it the extra texture and sweetness that keeps us going back for more.

( Wow, anyone else craving cake now? )

So you’ve purchased this beautiful painting by Christina Foard.  You love it, it speaks to your heart and reflects your style and everything you love about life.  But maybe you live at the beach and are unsure how to design a room around it.  Aren’t all beach houses supposed to be full of palm trees & seashells?

This piece to speak more to the feeling of being on the beach just after a storm, while the skies are still a bit gray but the sun is beginning to peek through, warming up the sand to both the eye and the touch.  So let’s take our cue from that and begin with soft, grayish tones, layering on the warmth of the sun in our accent chair, rug and window coverings.  An important component in Christina’s work is texture, so we’ll make sure there are plenty of interesting surfaces to draw our eyes in, just as Christina’s painterly build up does in her work.

Have you ever designed a room around a piece of artwork?  Or bought a piece of artwork not knowing where exactly to hang it in your home but you couldn’t live without it?  Have a beloved piece of art sitting in a closet somewhere because you don’t think it “goes” or can’t figure out how to incorporate it with your current furnishings?  Um, yeah, me too. 🙂

Sources:  Painting:  Seaside Reflections by Christina Foard; Paint color ( board background color ): Skimming Stone by Farrow & Ball; Sofa: Charlotte Collection by Mitchell Gold Bob Williams; Chair & Ottoman:  Rhys Chair & Ottoman by Anthropologie; Rug:  Festival by Anthropologie; Coffee table:  Monarch Coffee Table by Anthropologie; Lamp:  Malaya Large Coral & Zinc Lamp by Arteriors Home; Round side table: Riveria Side Table by Ralph Lauren Home; Mirror:  Venus Mirror by Anthropologie; Square side table: Duotone Side Door Table by The Painted Cow Furniture Co. on Etsy; Window covering:  Coqo Floral Curtain by Anthropologie;  Bowls:  Tatara Zukuri Bowls by Ashes & Milk