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Yesterday’s poll of possible changes to studio office area cabinets had very clear, obvious winners. And it’s not even close. If you’ve taken any time to read any of the 450+ responses here on the blog and on Facebook, you know this choice of wall color around the window and behind the cubbies is a winner.
Out of three options, my mother, my brother and I had a winner among the three of us on Wednesday when we had lunch. But yesterday afternoon, I had another thought. I thought about using gold leaf on the back of the cubes instead of the wall color.
listen to me My concern is that with the color of the wall behind the cubbies, the bridge will look incomplete, with no back. A bookcase, cabinet or bridge without a back makes me feel cheap, like a very cheap piece of furniture, like furniture that doesn’t come back, or like the person who built it has run out. plywood and just decided, “Well, it’s enough to hold some books.” So while option #3 from yesterday’s post (shown above) is my favorite of the three, the thought of it being incomplete doesn’t thrill me.
And then this thought popped into my head. The appeal of this option is that it simplifies things. Instead of everything being pink, this option adds some brightness. So I tried to think of a way to make the backs of the cubbies lighter and brighter while still having a solid look (ie, with its back) and tying in with the side cabinets.
And then I thought, “What about gold leaf?!“People keep telling me I need gold somewhere to tie the bridge to the side cabinets, but I don’t add any trim to the gold leaf. It seems unnecessarily forced and contrived to me. But I think putting gold leaf on the back of the cubbies accomplishes everything needed! It makes the cubbies lighter, the solid backing , while also connecting it to the side cabinets. And even though it’s technically a large area with gold leaf, if I have things in those cubbies, only a small portion will be visible.
So I’m looking into it. I have plenty of gold leaf left over, so this weekend, I might cut some of my scrap plywood for the back of the cubbies, to match the gold leaf, and see what I think. Now that the idea is ingrained in my brain, I won’t be satisfied until I at least try.
My plan is to use it on the wall next to my desk in the office area of the studio. But after I painted the cabinets in this area, I really didn’t like the idea of having such a huge, colorful display on the wall next to the cabinets. I want it colorful and I want it big, but each month on that calendar is 16″ x 20″, so if all 12 months were displayed (which is what I want to do), it would be pretty impressive.
Plus, since that wall is narrow, I have to hang the calendar in three to four rows, which means I may need a step stool to reach and write on the first three positions. That doesn’t seem practical to me.
And then on a large, blank wall left in the studio, I’m trying to figure out how to arrange it, keeping in mind the three non-negotiables I still want to add to the studio – the printing mat of our landscape design that Matt bought for me, my spoonflower color map, and the TV. Try as I might, I had a hard time figuring out how to make those things work on this big wall.
So yesterday, I decided to adjust my plan. Instead of trying to force that big colorful calendar next to my desk, it should go on the big wall. Instead of transferring a beautiful landscape design to a large wall, printing it too small and then getting lost on that huge wall, I wanted to print it larger and use it on a narrow wall in the office. Area next to cabinets.
So I went to the FedEx office yesterday afternoon and had them print it out for me in their largest “poster” size and mount it on foam board for me. It cost just over $100, which I thought was a very reasonable price for such a large print and mount. Here’s how it happened…
Isn’t that awesome?! I love it so much! I had to spend hours editing this thing to get it ready for print. If you remember, when the landscape designer sent me the file it looked like…
The house floor plan wasn’t right and the rooms were labeled (some of the labels were wrong), the car in the carport was the wrong way around, and then there were a lot of other little changes I wanted to make.
What he gave us was fine for its purpose – just a landscape plan. But to hang it on the wall and display it as a work of art, it needs a lot of work. I completely changed the floor plan of the house for a new one that shows furniture placement. However, unfortunately, I did this before I decided to bump out or add an extra seven feet to add walk-in closet space. But I’m not likely to spend the extra hours doing it again, so it’s fine.
I also moved the car in the carport, removed the plant legend (although I repeated it and printed it separately to hang on the same wall), added a continuous black line to frame the entire frame, changed the driveway/concrete areas., etc. It was a ton of work! But I think the end result is amazing!
I honestly couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I love how the greens look next to the pink cabinets!
I still need to make a frame for it, which will probably be a very simple white frame. But before doing anything with it I remembered yesterday that I still need to put an intake vent in this wall!! I can’t believe I almost forgot!
On the other side of that wall is a storage closet, and that storage closet houses the HVAC system for the studio. Currently, the door to the storage closet should be kept open all the time so that the air intake can get plenty of air. I sometimes turn off the HVAC and close the door when I need to take pictures…
But right now, as soon as I finish the pictures, the door has to be opened again to turn the HVAC back on. If the closet door is closed and the HVAC is on, it is unlikely to get enough air to function properly.
So before I close the closet door, I need to add a large vent to this wall that goes directly into the closet to allow the HVAC system to get plenty of air circulation. I’m not exactly thrilled about having a big vent on this wall, but it’s one of the necessities we live with. I’m hoping it won’t interfere with the things I want to hang on this wall, so it can be lower on the wall above the baseboards. But it should definitely be done first. As much as I want beautiful artwork to be a priority, a properly functioning HVAC system is a top priority here in Central Texas.
Addicted 2 Decorating shares my DIY and decorating journey as I renovate and decorate the 1948 Fixer Upper that my husband, Matt, and I purchased in 2013. Matt has MS and is unable to do physical activity, so I do most of the housework myself. You can learn more about me here.
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