In my journey for self love and artistic discovery, I found that there is something that really helps the mind calm – a wonderful bedroom. I have always had a love of old, broken things made beautiful. Bohemian and Gypsy style. Heirlooms mixed with junk. New pieces mixed with old. Gold and rust. Cracks and dust. Modernism and antique.
Turning 30 last year I really decided to put my heart and soul into my art. I’ve been creative since I can remember. So in order to have a nice place to calm myself, meditate, or read I decided my room would be an art project. It is far from done, but I am loving the treasures I have found and created so far. It brings me calm. The light shines through my windows and dances on the mirrors.
It’s a place that is authentically me. I can paint for hours in this room. I feel relaxed when I lay on my acupuncture mat before bed to get rid of then tension of the day. It took me 30 years but I am finally living in a little space that I can say is really my space.
My mirror collage is one of my favorite parts of the room. While I will go a bit more in depth to the pieces once I feel like it is truly finished, I felt compelled to share a bit about it now. I will admit that I have a total passion for vintage pieces. However, I will never count out a beautiful piece that one day will be vintage!
The chevron mirrors are from Target. I originally was going to split them up, but felt like they just looked way too good together. The other mirrors came from thrift stores found locally in the Bay Area. That beautiful, unique starburst piece on the lower left came from Burlington Coat Factory of all places. I felt like I needed to bring a bit more of the red wall into the pieces, so I chose to hang up a beautiful “Amor” necklace with the sacred heart (purchased at the Betty Page store in San Francisco)that I had in my jewelry box.
A mix of DIY, random discoveries at second hand stores, and family hand-me-downs. I’ve been holding on to those beautiful textile pieces that I found at yard sales for about ten years that I picked up for photoshoots. Finally they have a use! While they were never featured in any of my photo sessions, they do work well with my colorful bohemian decor. They frame a beautiful DIY wall piece that I created from a rubber floor mat ($7 thrift store find!), some spray paint, and some bronze acrylic paint to finish it off. All the beauty of a rustic iron art piece… without having a iron art piece over my head.
One of my favorite parts of my room is this little piece. If you know me, you know I am totally a whiskey girl. Give me a juke box and a class of jack at the local dive bar and I will be guaranteed to have a good night. Just don’t give me the whole bottle, then it might be a bad night for everybody 😉 But, I digress…
My little brother was given this bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel in celebration of the birth of his daughter. Rather then tossing it into recycling I just fell in love with the shape and knew I would eventually use it for a project. I’ve been keeping a hold of those beautiful dried flowers for 4 years now that were given to me as a client gift for taking maternity photos. It finally hit me that they would go perfectly into the Jack Daniel’s bottle. The dead flower’s gold hue complimented the gold of the Jack Daniel’s logo. It’s so simple but I am ridiculously obsessed with it!
The teal crystal came from Target. The clear crystal was sent as a gift from a wonderful ebay seller! That beautiful angel wing dish is from one of my favorite online shops, Junk Gypsy.
Once again, I put a mixture of the new, old, and special. I live in a rather small space (9×9) so there really isn’t room for bookshelves. I knew I wanted a place to store all of my books and kindle at night that was safe from furry friends knocking it over. So I found these crates at Joanne‘s($7 each). They come in a raw wood, but I HATE the chemical usage of stain you normally can find. I hate the smell! I hate how sticky it all is. So I ordered some PureColor Eco-Friendly Stain in Brunette. I can’t rave enough about this stain. It was so odor free I could actually stain my crates in the warmth of my home and not in the cold garage! With a sponge it took me just one coat to get the desired finish.
Other thrift store finds? The colorful candle holder on top as well the bronze jewelry box by the quail.
If anyone knows that kind of plant that is, let me know. Hah! No really, it’s a piece of a plant that was pulled off of my Grandfather’s plant that we’ve held on to for 20 years since he passed away. I wanted a piece of it in my room so putting it in water has kept it growing for months. However, I hated the clear purple vase so thanks to some bronze hammered spray paint, I fixed that right away.
Another sentimental piece you can see if the bronze quail. My last living grandparent recently passed away. When cleaning out my Grandmother’s house I came upon this set of Quails that she had decorating her backyard. I was in need of some nice bookends for my room, and since these were meant for outdoors they were heavy enough to hold books up! So I got a piece of her in my room as well.
The dreamcatchers are gifts from my brother’s girlfriend that she brought back from an Arizona vacation. Once again, more pieces that I have held on to for years knowing that I was eventually going to have a beautiful use for them. That aged cup on the top was my Great Grandmother’s. The geometric glass piece and succulent came from Hobby Lobby!
My little space in the world is far from done. But it’s getting there. I’ve found that at this point in my life it’s a really refreshing feeling to come home to a place that really feels like mine. Admittedly, I am a messy person. Always have been. Probably always will be. However, to my fellow mess makers – having a space that is truly you maybe not stop you from making a mess, but it sure as hell inspires that clean up day once a week. Not because of the money spent, as most of this was discount, vintage, or family hand-me-downs. But because of how much I truly enjoy my little space.
