Thanks to Dixie Belle Paint Company for providing samples for this mini-makeover.
This is our guest room, under the influence of Prisma. You could say the editing app Prisma has become a bit of an obsession.
If you follow along on Instagram, you have been seeing a lot of it. I just can't get enough! Case in point:
That is our guest room comic book style! I love the way different art "finishes" highlight form and line and how you can really "see" your spaces differently. I have always utilized photography as a way to "see" rooms in order to rearrange furniture, change colors, etc. because they reveal what the naked eye misses, especially when you are living in a space. Prisma does the same thing, but in an even stronger way.
Now onto the "real" pictures, shall we?
As you enter the guest room, there is a straight shot view of half of the gallery wall. I added a small painting to the hallway to draw you in. Note that the paintings (for the most part) are REAL. They have real brushstrokes, real flaws, real signatures. (However, they are NOT necessarily expensive.) It has been my goal to collect these original pieces for around $5-10 each.
I have about 2/3 of the wall covered and hope to finish out the wall in the next year or so. (Until then, a garden structure/trellis is hanging out in the corner to add height.) I needed to unify the paintings, so I have stuck with a seasonal landscape/floral subject matter and used Dixie Belle Chalk Paint to connect the frames. I left three frames in their original wood, but these photos are making me rethink that decision. I think at least that top left frame might get the Dixie Belle treatment as well because it is sticking out like a sore thumb.
I used a mixture of Drop Cloth and Dried Sage Chalk Mineral Paint with the tiniest bit of 'Bayou Moss' Gel Stain.
Why chalk mineral paint?
A. I did NOT want to sand frames. They have lots of ridges and details and are a pain to sand. Dixie Belle goes on with 1-2 coats and it is finished. (You could probably do 20-30 frames (or more) with one little sample cup. It goes a long way!)
B. I love-love-love the matte finish that only chalk paint can accomplish and the matte finish complemented the art much better than a gloss finish.
From the other side of the room...
Hiding behind that door is a little laundry room and it is in SAD shape aesthetically. I spend a LOT of time in there though, so she is in the midst of a little makeover. New tile will be going down on the floor soon (there is GREEN carpeting right now - IN A LAUNDRY ROOM!) and a little bit of art on the wall will help. The room is *just* large enough for the washer/dryer and a small cabinet (see below). While I had the Dixie Belle paints out for the frames, I went ahead and put a couple coats on the old formica countertop that was previously the worst mustard yellow ever. 3 weeks later and it has held up way better than I expected. I was just experimenting, but it turns out I quite like it!
The guest room also has an amazing fireplace and the colors of the stone were really the jumping off points for the colors of the gallery wall.
You can also get a little peek of the recently painted (black!) bathroom back there:
I have come to the conclusion that black is my VERY favorite colors for little washrooms.
A larger mirror is on my "hunt list" for this room!
One more little plug for Dixie Belle...When the sample products arrived, there were several different gel stains. The table below is the entry table right inside our front door and I literally opened the paint package and couldn't wait to test them out, so I went to town on this water stained table with the tobacco gel stain. 20 minutes and a few coats later, the table looked SO much better!
The stains are not completely irradiated (that would have taken either sanding, then restaining or a chalk paint treatment),
but this little touchup made a world of difference. The Dixie Belle gel stains are definitely a tool in my back pocket now for little touch up jobs!
...and because I LOVE Prisma...I couldn't help just one more!