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5.10.2018

orange crush

dipped paintings, color blocking, wall art, framed art, color, orange, neutrals , diy crafts, home decor, wall decor, painting, color splash
one of the best things about decorating with a neutral palette is flexibility...
it's easy to add in a vibrant new color accent each season, to bring new energy to rooms.
adding in fresh accessories affects your rooms like an exclamation point!

here in the home i share with Mom, that accent color is most often orange.
Mom once painted the front door of my childhood brown and white tract house bright persimmon,
and planted marigolds in matching wood planters on the front porch...
it shocked the neighbors, but delighted me! i thought Mom was a genius! (i still do)

she's basically had a crush on orange for most of her life - it's a happy color! - so it works for us.

there's a secondary hallway in our home, and it's dark. even with a window at the end, it's just dreary.
it has needed a touch of warmth and light and color. of course, i figured that it would be orange!
and when i saw THIS on Pinterest, i knew it was the solution...

continue reading to find out what inspired me!

this 'dipped painting' by artist Oliver Jeffers caught my eye - and made me smile.
( and when he says 'dipped', he's not kidding: )
photo by Kacy Jahanbini for hyperallergic.com 2014

cool as it is, i knew that Mom wouldn't really go for this look - the hallway is right outside her room,
and she'd be seeing those walls several times a day. modern art isn't her 'thing'.

i DID, however, have a modified version in mind: what if i 'dipped' only the frame?
it would be a much simpler, less overwhelming way to get the same fun effect.
so i gathered up frames from other projects around the house, some paint, and did a quick makeover:
dipped paintings, color blocking, wall art, framed art, color, orange, neutrals , diy crafts, home decor, wall decor, painting, color splash
(you saw some of these frames in my ReFraming Your Dreams post )
with a quick coat of white paint, they were ready for the punchline...

i figured out the configuration that i wanted on the wall, placed them in that layout on my worktable,
and used a yardstick to mark a line across all five frames in the same place.
the bottom half of the frames (and tippy-top of the largest one) was painted bright orange, using craft paint.

the top of those lines was fuzzy, so i grabbed an orange Sharpie paint pen to draw a straight edge -
the bonus was that that orange was just a touch darker than the other, so there's a crisp border line!

i began hanging them with the largest piece, and then measured the rest to sit on an imaginary straight line,
in the center of a wall between two doors (to the laundry room and the guest bath).
the effect is clean and contemporary, and adds a color punch to a formerly dreary hallway:
dipped paintings, color blocking, wall art, framed art, color, orange, neutrals , diy crafts, home decor, wall decor, painting, color splash
the images inside the frames are things i've had in my design files for decades...
cards with photos of houses, photos of a shell and a carpet torn from magazines,
an image of a nest that i tore from a magazine in the 90's!
(it's been on many of my inspiration boards over the years)
all of the images fit our color palette - lots of brown, tan, and white plus a sprinkling of orange.

and because i had all of the paint out, i grabbed one more frame:
dipped paintings, color blocking, wall art, framed art, color, orange, neutrals , diy crafts, home decor, wall decor, painting, color splash
this multi-frame was dark brown wood, as seen in my Thrifty Weekend Makeover part IV post.
after the same process shown above,
i filled it with snippets of fabric, gift wrapping paper, and even an orange paint sample.
now it's fresh and bright on the guest bath wall!

this was an easy way to bring some fun color to boring walls... i encourage you to try it!
(who knows, maybe the dipped paintings will work for you ;) )

click here to learn more about oliver jeffers art 

shared online:

funky junk interiors | diy salvaged junk projects #427


thank you for the feature, Miss Donna! 

the how-to home | project inspire{d} #273


just one more thing... 

my friends, i love sharing creative ideas with you...
i so enjoy hearing from you about how they inspired you in your own home, 
and how you enjoyed replicating them in your own spaces. and saved money doing it!

the time has come for me to share my heart with you.
it's a very important message, one that i have given considerable thought to speaking up about... 
 i hope you will take just a few moments to read it here. thank you. ~ deb


3 comments:

  1. Very creative way to get the "dipped" look. I'm sure your mom loves these. Ps, I'm quite an oragneaddict myself, lol.

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    Replies
    1. this was my 'un-messy' way to get the dipped look! LOL! Mom seems to like the way they cheer up the hallway, so i'm counting it as a win.... and how can orange not be a win, right?! thank you so much for visiting and commenting, Amy!

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  2. I love this idea! Adorable! Popped over from Funky Junk;)

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