DIY Paint-By-Number

Back in the good ol' days of college, during my junior year at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (go Dawgs!) I was the undergraduate assistant to the Advanced Painting professor, Najjar Abdul-Mussawir.  When the students decided they didn't want to keep their work, he would bring them back to the studio and I would prime over them and he would re-use them for his own work.

I expressed an interest in keeping one of the pieces - a large 46" x 46" oil painting of green peppers.  It wasn't particularly good, but it was big, and when you have literally no money to decorate your apartment and can get a big piece like that for free, you take it anyway.

That painting made it from my house in Carbondale, to our apartment in Murphysboro, to our apartment in Huntingburg, Indiana to our house in Jasper, to our apartment in Loveland, Ohio and is now at our current rental house here in Milford.  Knowing that we would be buying a house (and moving yet again!) in a couple of months, I couldn't stand the thought of moving those ugly peppers one more time.

The resurgence of vintage paint by numbers is everywhere.  I had been stalking some animal portraits on Etsy, and finding that none of them would have the big impact of a large painting for the price I wanted to pay, I decided to do one of my own.

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I'm a sucker for anything with an animal on it, and according to Flea Market Style magazine, animals are one of the top trends in collectible items for 2012.  Over on my Pinterest Color Inspiration board, I've had a photo of this Swiss Brown cow pinned for several weeks, because I love the colors in it (and just look at how beautiful she is!)

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So this is the photo I used to create my own paint-by-number inspired work of art.

This is how it turned out.

And here's how I did it:

1.  Print out the photo you want to use at full 8.5" x 11" size.

2.  Print a piece of grid paper to use as a guide.  I did mine with 1" grid squares.  Print the image below at 100% and they should come out to be 1" apart on a full size sheet of paper.  Standard grid paper that you buy is at 1/4" squares, so if you use purchased grid paper, mark every fourth line and you'll have 1".

3.  Lay the grid paper on top of your photo and tape together with tape that you can easily remove, like non-permanent satin gift wrap tape.

4.  Tape both pieces of paper onto a sunny window and trace over the image, ignoring the grid lines.  Follow the lines of the photo where two colors meet to give a rough shape to the image.  Remember, paint-by-numbers are just simple outlines of color boundaries that are painted in with one solid color.  Because your photo may have gradual changes in shades, rather than hard edges, you'll have to take a little bit of artistic liberty so that you have clear lines.  Don't forget to incorporate the highlights in the photo - that's what gives an image its dimension.  You will now have the outline of your photo with the grid going through it, dividing it up into squares.

5.  When you have your photo outlined on the graph paper, you can start to make a corresponding grid on your canvas.  To blow my image up from 8.5" x 11" to 46"x46", I multiplied my dimensions by 5.75, so each 1" square on my paper would correspond to 5 3/4" on my canvas.  Because I started with a rectangular photo and I was putting it onto a square canvas, I knew that I was only going to use 8" x 8" of the original photo, so part of the top and bottom was cut off.

6.  Take a tape measure and a carpentry square or a T square and measure out your new grid on the canvas.  Starting in the upper left corner, use a pencil to make a light mark every 5.75" from left to right along the top edge of the canvas. Repeat along the bottom edge of the canvas, using the square to make sure the lines are perpendicular to the edge.  Connect the marks to create the vertical grid lines.

7.  Repeat this step for the horizontal grid lines, starting at the top left corner of the canvas and marking down the edge, then moving to the right side of the canvas and start measuring from the top, marking every 5.75" down to the bottom corner.  Connect the marks to create the horizontal grid lines.

8.  Now you should have a grid that corresponds to your photo on the canvas.  Starting along the top of the piece of paper, label each horizontal space from left to right with a letter (A, B, C etc).  Label each vertical space along the left edge with a number, going down the canvas.  Do the same on the canvas.

9.  You will now have a way of quickly referencing a particular area of the photo and matching it to where it corresponds on your canvas.

10.  Use a pencil to fill in the squares on the canvas with the lines from the grid paper.  It doesn't have to be perfect, just use the grid as a guide.  The lines should flow from one square to the other, so don't worry about getting each individual square exactly as it is on the paper.

11.  Once the image is sketched in on the canvas, you need to select 6-10 colors that you're going to use to fill in the painting.  I used 8.  The goal of paint-by-numbers is a flat, folk-art look where the paint is consistent from one area to the other, so I used pre-mixed acrylic paints from Hobby Lobby, matching them in the store to my photo as best I could.  You will probably only need one of the little bottles per color, but I bought 2 of each since I had such a big canvas.

12.  Label the areas of the painting with a specific number for each of the colors you're using.  I labeled the tops of all my bottles with the corresponding number so I could look quickly and see which color I needed.

13.  Begin by filling in all the areas that are labeled 1, then 2, then so on.  Pay particular attention to the edges of the color area, and use a fine, tapered tip brush for accuracy.  You can fill the larger areas in with a 1/2 - 1" flat edge brush.

14.  Depending on the color, you may need to go back in and put a second (or a third for white) coat once it's all dry.  Acrylics dry quickly, so you will probably be able to start the second coat on color #1 by time you've worked your way through all the other colors.

I'm going to do another one, not quite as big though.  I'll be sure to photograph the progress as I'm doing it and post everything when it's done.  I think I'm going to do a sheep next time.

Inspiration Board: Master Bath

Woohoo!  I've finished the master bathroom inspiration board.  It turned out to be much more traditional than I was thinking it would, but I'm feeling it.  Bathrooms are the second-biggest expense per room (kitchens are #1) when it comes to remodeling a house, so I wanted to make sure that I kept it a neutral palette and didn't veer too far into any one trend, which is how I ended up with a traditional design.

It will always look good and will never go out of style.  This design is the Little Black Dress of bathrooms.

The sink base and the storage drawers are from Pottery Barn, as well as the shower curtain, the flowers, the light fixture and the faucet.  I'm really in love with that gooseneck faucet.

I relied heavily on PB for this one, and it didn't start out that way.  I was originally thinking that I'd use the Hemnes sink base from Ikea, since the bath adjoins our bedroom and it would just be easy to keep everything coordinated.  But testing it out at the store, it just didn't seem like it would hold up very well over time, and I'm okay with that for dressers, but a sink base is a different story.  So the PB sink is like ten times the price, but it comes with a honed Carrara marble top and those adorable little bun feet.

Speaking of marble, I was originally thinking I wanted vintage-looking hexagon tile flooring like this.

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But I decided that a little luxury goes a long way.  And there isn't much square footage in a bathroom anyway, so you might as well splurge on what you really want.

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These beautiful babies are 10" x 14", so I won't need to buy very many to cover the floor in the bathrooms.  My plan is to do white subway tile from the floor to 4' up the walls and for the tub / shower surround.  I love the look of white-white-white in a bathroom - probably because the color has an inherent association with cleanliness.

For some fun, I can change up the shower curtain and accessories.  It's also an inexpensive way to add some color here and there.  My only rule about bathroom accessories is that I won't ever do colored towels.  I'm a chlorine bleach lovin' girl, and I will only ever have white linens in my house.  That goes for sheets as well.

The mirror is from Home Decorators Collection.  I want a single large mirror with a big, chunky frame, and the ones from PB just weren't cutting it for me.  I also knew I didn't want a medicine cabinet / mirror, which is another reason the Pottery Barn sink base was more appealing - it has a lot of storage for all of the things I wouldn't be putting in a medicine cabinet.

Unfortunately for me (or fortunately for the average buyer), the bathrooms in the houses we've been checking out aren't in dire need of remodeling.  Yes, they're builder-basic medium oak, boring and utilitarian, but they're not an area of immediate concern.  So the bathroom remodels are going to be lower down on the priority list.

Tomorrow is Monday, and I'm really hoping we get good news about the latest house find.  I really want to be able to post about it with the confidence that it will actually be ours!

Quickie Updates

Well the pillows stayed perfectly placed for about 20 minutes.  I came into the bedroom and saw this:

Bob Barker really appreciates the new pillows on the bed.  I try to keep things looking nice, and this is what happens.

I asked Patrick if he was surprised to see them when he came home and what he thought.  He said, "I was just like, 'Huh.  Looks like Karie went shopping.'"  Hmph.

I finished my spraypainting on the two items from the thrift store last Saturday.

The cow painting reflected in the mirror is one I did a couple of weeks ago.  I'll do a post on that sometime, even though I didn't photograph my progress along the way, but I can still explain the process I used.  Super simple.

It's here for now, just because our little rental house is so small there's not a good spot for it here.  I'm not sure how Bob Barker feels about this one.  (I think he likes the pillows a lot better.)  It needs to be on a smaller wall - I'm thinking at the end of a hallway - with a nice deep paint color behind it.  I'm really loving this color from Sherwin-Williams.

The owl is done too.

Well that's it for today.  Like I said, just a couple of quickie updates.  I'm *really* hoping I have some stellar news on the house search for you on Monday.  I haven't blogged about it because I don't want to jinx us.

Have a fabulous weekend!

New Pillows, New Color

Let me just say that I love Home Depot.

It is by far my home improvement store of choice, and even though the Big Blue Store is closer to our house, I will drive further just for some Big Orange love.

I went in today because I'm out of white spray paint and I'm only halfway through transforming my mirror and owl (see previous post - Weekend Thrifting).  I already finished checking out and I saw clearance indoor / outdoor pillows on my way out.

I immediately loved the sky blue ones, because this cheery blue is the perfect shade and will go with a lot of other colors -bright yellow, kelley green, orange or coral.  They had coordinating coral ones that tied in the blue in their patterns, but they only had one left of the one I wanted.  I bought it anyway.  Because you know what? They were $5 a pop.  At that price, I should have bought all of them.

I started with just the 3 from Home Depot, but it looked a little sparse, and I needed a solid color to break up the patterns.

I've been really wanting to tie in grass green with the new house decor and loved the idea of having these blue and white pillows as an accent.  So I stopped by Big Lots on the way home and picked up two grass green pillows for $10 apiece.

I started with them all lined up in a row, with the colors / patterns working their way toward the middle.  But it ended up looking like a pillow parade, or like we were living in a pillow showroom.  Good for a furniture store, but not for my life.

So then I tried them this way.

And I decided that's how they're going to stay.

When using accessories, odd numbers always work best in groupings.  Here, I have an odd number of total pillows (5) and an odd number of colors / patterns (3).  Plus, I've broken up the two different patterns with a solid in between them, so you don't have pattern on pattern.

Not that there's anything wrong with pattern on pattern.  The best way to mix patterns is to have one be a smaller scale than the other.  In this case, the blue and white pattern is on a much smaller scale than the single coral pillow's pattern, which is why mixing them works.  Always go bigger or smaller.

Also, I know it's hard to tell in this photo, but there is actually a small amount of the light blue color in the coral pillow.

You can see here that the patterns are different scales, yet go together well.

I'm happy with my pillow purchases today, and at just $35 total for all five of them, I think it was a great buy!  I'll be able to use them again at the new house, either out on the deck, in the living room, or maybe they'll just stay in the bedroom!

Labor Day Weekend Thrifting

This weekend is proving to be a lazy one.  With an extra day thrown in.

Saturday morning we were in Loveland checking out a house, and on our way back to Milford, we passed a shop that I have seen but never had the chance to go in and poke around.  So immediately after passing it and seeing their OPEN sign illuminated, I yelled at my lovely husband Patrick to turn around so we could check it out.

I'm so glad we did!

This place is a gem.  It's called Vintage Market & Thrift  and their sales go to a good cause.  They have a huge selection of antiques and thrift items, with a ton of furniture and home goods.  I started a pile of things I wanted just a few minutes after getting in the door, and had to ask the nice guy at the counter if they had shopping carts.  They do.

I exercised a bit of restraint and came away with a few goodies, all for just $22.

I grabbed this mirror for $10.

It's a nice size and shape - I love the enlongated oval.  Not so nice is the 35+ or so years of junk that has collected in all the decorative nooks and crannies.

But I love all the detail in it.  It's going to get cleaned up and spraypainted (white gloss, of course).  It's not very big, so I need to find a suitable spot for it - maybe at the end of the hallway.

I also picked up this little guy for $5:

I'm not loving the retro gold and black finish, so it's also gonna get some sprayin' love.

He does have a tiny crack where his ear broke off at some point in the past, but whomever his previous owner was did a good job with the super glue.  Once he's painted, you'll never know.

This is actually my very first owl purchased for our house.  I guess I'm a little (okay, a lot) late at jumping on the owl trend, but I'm okay with that.  I prefer cuddly animals anyway.

I grabbed a dozen fake green apples for $7.50.

These babies are going to help me carry out my green accent for the story boards I've been doing.  And since there's twelve of them, I can divide them up if needed and use them in different arrangements or entirely different rooms if I need to.  I also grabbed another glass cylinder, which I picked up for $2.  I always buy these at thrift stores, since they're so cheap there.  It's a great money saver and you can never have too many.

On Sunday morning, the hubs and I packed up and headed off to the Tri-State Antique Market in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  It's just across the border from Cincinnati, but since we live on the far east side of town, it's a 45 minute drive for us.

They always hold it on the first Sunday of the month, and October is the last month of the 2012 season for them.

Patrick is pumped, can't you tell?

It's at the Lawrenceburg Fair Grounds, on Route 50, just off of Interstate 275.  For just $3 to get in, you can browse the state's largest antique-only show every month.  This one is good because it's exclusive to antiques and vintage items.  No shady vendors hacking Nascar blankets here.

Me, in my antique market outfit.  Vintage dress, Hunter boots, fake pearls.

Since they hold it at the fairgrounds, there is a ton of space and a lot of vendors.  Some of them have to brave the elements out on the lawn, but many of the booths are in covered pavilions.

This rabbit statue sits at the entrance to the expo pavilion. 

What a handsome fella!

Although the skies were ominously dark the whole morning, we only had a few drops here and there.  The vendors were breaking out the tarps just in case.

Stormy Skies

Since there are so many vendors, and it's a strictly antique and vintage only market, the variety of things for sale is vast.

Vintage Signs

They also have a lot of really nice furniture pieces. 

Vintage Chest O' Drawers

They have some great old industrial worktables that we'd love to buy to use as a kitchen island.  Here are some inspiration photos:

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We only brought $40 with us so that we couldn't get into too much trouble.  I did pick up a few items, though.

I purchased this piece of ironstone for just $5.

English Origin Stamp

Rim Detail

I love all of the fine lines showing so many years of use.  Although, it will serve a purely decorative function at my house.

I also bought a couple of antique crystal doorknobs for $20.  My goal is to have all of our doorknobs switched out to these one day.  One day.

These will add a little vintage glam to our doors.  I can't wait to have a home for them!

Inspiration Board: Bedroom

So, as promised, I finally finished my Master Bedroom inspiration board for the new house.  Since we just purchased our bed and dressers from Ikea in the last year, I have to incorporate those into the scheme.  But I did get to add lots of goodies for fun.

So pictured above is our ASPELUND bed frame and our 8-Drawer HEMNES dresser.  I love both of these pieces, and knew that they would work with a lot of different design schemes when I bought them.  Even though they're not expensive, I still wanted to be able to use them for a long time and not be limited or pigeon-holed into one style or another.

I'm also planning to use the same walnut-stained wide-plank hardwood flooring throughout the house, also featured in the kitchen, living and dining areas.  The curtains and the mirror are both from Ballard Designs.  The bench is one that we already have (currently in the living room in our little rental house), and the end table are both from Home Decorators Collection.  The chair is also from Home Decorators, and at just $373 is a total steal.  The bedding, wall sconce, lantern and antique drapery hardware are all from Pottery Barn.  The chandelier is the same one I used in the dining room (A little wacky to use a dining fixture in the bedroom? Maybe, but I'm okay with being wacky!), is also from IKEA.  I just love its simplistic design.  It really could go anywhere.

I put the topiary, the milk crate and the antique crystal doorknobs as inspiration for accent pieces, to reinforce my theme of getting back to nature, and to a more simple, rustic way of living.  My goal, with whichever house we buy, is to replace all the builder-basic satin nickel or (eek!) brass doorknobs with a crystal antique one.  It's just one of those small little details that really adds up to building a house with a little bit of character.

I also added the French door as a reminder that my goal is to replace a window in the master bedroom with a French door, so that we can expand the deck/patio area and have access directly from the bedroom.  I'm just imagining a hot tub on the deck, and the convenience of being able to run from the hot tub to the bedroom (naked, perhaps?).  Not to mention the added natural light and letting the dogs out in the middle of the night if needed.

So there we have it.  An overall theme of Modern Rustic Vintage, featuring primarily modern style furniture with clean lines, with natural colors and textures plus timeworn, aged metals, and antiques used as accent pieces throughout.  My design plan for a house that flows from one room to the next, with plenty of wiggle room for impulse buys and fun stuff added in along the way.  A place to relax, a place to work (especially for me, since I work from home) and a place to enjoy with friends and family.  My goal is to create a house that everyone always feels welcome to just drop on in, hang out and relax together.