$50 and a blank slate

oh happy day! i got to go shopping at the fabric store, so, yay for geek party week at my house. i'm super excited. 

every year on approximately february 2, i get an insatiable craving to glitter bomb my family room. i've enjoyed a month of clean slate, post-christmas decor detox. but the room that felt refreshingly empty in early january now feels depressingly void. it is time for color. 

i sold a chair on craigslist for $50 last week, so i decided that was my budget to infuse some new energy in here. 

this is my blank canvas:

i always start every project by shopping my basement. today's foray into the landfill yielded some gold goodwill frames, five pillow inserts, and a box full of white cherry blossoms. 

 

then i headed to the fabric store. i usually go with something very specific in mind, so i'm almost always disappointed with the selection. but today, i just decided to see what inspiration would strike. i immediately had keepsake calico-mari calypso in my cart (the orange one with the pink flowers), and everything else came together from there.

i ended up with a grouping of bright orange, hot pink, navy and turquoise. totally unexpected, but i'm thrilled. it will be a nod to spring, but the colors are really saturated so they still work with the blizzards and negative temps raging outside. they won't look odd next to a roaring fireplace. 

it then dawned on me that the "watercolor" prints i had been monkeying around with in paper 53 would be perfect with these fabrics. 

 

so i bought some large watercolor paper while i was out. i'm going to try to replicate these in real life, and tack them up in my basement frames. wish me luck. these are hacks of pieces by a real artist, therese murdza, who i hope never finds out i've desecrated her work this way. i promise i'd buy the real thing if i could. for now, the $4 version will have to suffice.

some coral red fabric paint (i have an idea for those boring drapes) and some (i chokingly admit: fake) magenta peonies filled out my shopping cart. i am proud to say i even stayed (close enough) in budget.

when i got home, i happened upon these photos from design to inspire:

it is the home of andy and kate spade, designed by steven sclaroff. genius, brilliant, gorgeous, perfect. just the confirmation i needed that a color scheme this bold can be gold.

{update: it's done! what do you think?}