A few years ago I was having dinner with my closest girlfriends and one of them asked the group “If you could teach your child one thing in life what would it be?”.   For a moment my initial thought was  ’Whoa, I don’t know.  There’s just so much.’, but a minute later it occurred to me that I knew exactly what it was and I said it every night before bedtime to my then 2 year old son.  Before laying him down in his crib I’d say to him “Always believe in yourself.”    Sure, it takes more than just saying it to your kids you have live what you say, but without consciously thinking about what it was I wanted my kids to have most in their life I knew I wanted them to believe in themselves.

You see for me if a person believes in themselves often then the best person they can be will be fully present in this world.  A person who believes in themselves often feels loved, respected, understood and thus can love, respect, empathize and give the best of themselves to the world.

Yes, that’s it.  If my kids can someday look back on their childhood and feel it was an environment that helped them believe in themselves and in turn they give back to this world the best version of who they can be I would say that’s success….a mother’s ultimate legacy…well, at least for me.

So, what the heck does this have to do with Siona’s Space?  Well, actually one of the biggest reasons why I love interior design is helping create inspiring spaces that reflects a persons authentic self thus bringing out the best that person can be.  So, of course, I wanted this all for my daughter’s room…a place that was inspiring and nurturing.

Artwork can certainly be and should be an inspiring element in a room.   For me, artwork should help tell a story, teach a lesson, help one appreciate beauty or simply put awaken the senses and the spirit to something bigger.  Whoa!…no wonder artwork can be so intimating for people and even myself when re-doing a space, but it doesn’t have to be.  If something is meaningful to you or you simply just like a piece don’t be afraid to hang it up!   Don’t get paralyzed and have bare walls just because you think artwork has to be perfect, expensive….it’s the story of your life, should inspires you or just make you smile.

Having this all in mind, when I came across this piece of artwork, ‘I Know I Can’  from a young woman artist I knew I wanted this in Siona’s space.   Typically, I’m not so literal with artwork with the words “I know I can” written on the piece, but I just couldn’t resist the young girl’s expression of apprehension, fear and doubt all paired with wearing a cape!   I don’t know about you, but I can remember so many times in my life where I felt scared or doubt, but knew I had to be brave.  In other words, I knew I had to believe in myself because if I didn’t who would?

Of course, I explored other pieces from this artist and was drawn to these pieces of work titled accordingly, ‘Complete’ and ‘Coming Home’.  Each of them made me smile and evoked feelings of comfort, completeness and love.   I really just couldn’t resist and never mind that the colors were absolutely perfect too.

I purchased all three,  ’I Know I Can’, ‘Complete’ and ‘Coming Home’ and knew I wanted to hang all three around her crib in a gallery style….oversized cream matting (to coordinate the cream curtain panels) and oversized gilded gold thin wooden moulding (to coordinate with the gilded golden sunburst mirror).  I had the vision…just need to execute!

I worked with Darrell the owner of Palette Framing  (www.palettechicago.com) a framing store in my neighborhood, but who does custom framing out of state orders via on-line as well and actually even learned a lot of ways to improve an online business needs, for financial tools read about it here.   Darrell is passionate about custom framing and is very knowledgeable about traditional framing options, but also very knowledgable about the newest and most hip product as it relates to framing and matting.   In this case, I had a vision, but I must say if I didn’t Darrell has a lot of ideas to help drive the process along.  It’s really a pleasure to work with such an expert and he is very sensitive and conscious about working within  your budget.  Something I know all of us appreciate.

Of course, the first wooden gilded gold moulding I picked out (back in August) was out of stock and estimated to be re-stocked in November.  In the meantime, Darrell and I looked for more options.  Darrell suggested I bring all moulding and matting samples back to my home to see it in the space which I appreciated very much.  Finally, mid-October we found a wooden gilded gold moulding (that I liked just the same (maybe even a little better) than my first pick), a cream linen matte, firmed up a frame size (approximately 29×20) and I opted for museum glass (non-reflective)….it ain’t cheap, but it’s so worth it.   Note: To help firm up the size of the pieces I used painter’s tape to visualize what I wanted and then measured it out.   Here’s a visual of the work-in-progress.  (Check out which one Siona likes the best! )

As many of you know framing is not an inexpensive venture, but done right it highlights the artwork and is an investment for years to come.  Also, most people (including me) look at frames they purchase as one and done, but that is really never the case as Darrell reminded me.  You can always reuse the frame and just change the insides.  You can cap moulding–so if you ever wanted to make them larger, you would just put a large moulding around the original frame and use that as a liner.  It is a good way to use an old frame without breaking it down.  Also, you can cut them down in the future if you wanted something smaller and  still save money vs. buying whole new frame.  These are just a handful of ideas provided by Palette.  I always like to pass on good advice!

Well, just few weeks ago Darrell dropped off the framed artwork and it looks just as I imagined!

Believe in Yourself…

Complete…

Coming Home….

I mean how precious is this?  Siona’s Space is really feeling like home.

Until next time….

xo

~M