We Are Art

I think, more than any other item in a home, you can tell the most about a person by the art they hang on their walls. No other home item tells more of a story, which is both cool and a little bit stressful. What to buy? How can I find something that reflects me and my story? How can I be original?

Have I ever told you that I usually don't buy art for clients? It's like buying lingerie for a friend or something - it's just too personal. Or at least I think it should be.

In the past, when I'm shopping for my home, I sort of let art come to me. I buy pieces that really resonate with me when I come across them at flea markets, auctions, and online. I think that is a good method, but sometimes you just need a certain color or subject matter for a room, and I think there's been a real hole in the art market there. Especially for people on a budget.

Art.com approached me and a few other design bloggers about coming to San Francisco to preview their new site redesign and total rebranding. I saw a sneak peek of the site before agreeing to come, and it really looks great. But more importantly, it really works great. So I decided to do a little experiment.

I quickly flew through some of the loose image files on my desktop that haven't been archived yet, and I pulled aside the first 10 images that featured exciting art. Then I gave myself 10 minutes for each image to find a print or original work on art.com with a similar vibe. I thought I'd be able to find something at least close for about half of images.

I couldn't believe that in less than half an hour total, I found something close to or exactly the same as the inspiration art for every single image! And, truthfully, I would be ecstatic to hang any of these prints in my home.

Want to see what I found?

1) I really love this bedroom and I think the ethereal art is just perfect for the spot. I thought it might be tricky to find something similar - wrong!! There are so many great, dreamy black and white botanical photographs on the site, but the photograph below stood out to me the most. It reminds me of one of Michael's and my favorite films Ugetsu. Wouldn't this be great in our black bedroom?

Wild Flowers Growing on the Banks of a Pond // Elle Decor bedroom
Search terms I used: Photography, Black and White, Botanical
Find similar here (I really love this one!)

2) Finding the right color or texture in a piece of art is especially important when putting together a gallery-style art wall. A little bit of red is just what this wall needed.

The Red Flowers (Marc Chagall) // Green Office (House and Home)
Search terms I used: Red, Botanical, Floral, Fine Art
Find similar here

3) Isn't this a fantastic bedroom? I love this space. And the art is amazing, of course. I thought for sure I couldn't find anything similar to the modern, edgy, oversized floral photographs. I think the French artist I found (he actually silk screens on the photographs!), is a great style match.

Vegetaux 11, 2008 (Nicolas Le Bauan Benic) // Atlanta Homes and Lifestyle Mag
Search terms I used: Botanical, Fine Art, Photography
Find similar here

4) This Miles Redd room is a great study in colors and lines. I also love Mark Rothko's paintings and I'm so glad art.com had a very similar print available for us! The peachy coral and icy blue colors are just perfect together.

Untitled, 1969 (Mark Rothko) // Miles Redd
Search terms I used: Rothko, Abstract, Fine Art
Find similar here

5) No one does pop art like Warhol, and I love that art.com has such a great selection of Warhol prints available (I actually got one for the girls room - more on that later). Thinking about adding this heart print to the mix as well. Maybe for their bathroom??

Hearts, c. 19790-1984 (Andy Warhol) // Lonny
Search terms I used: Hearts, Warhol
Find similar here

6) Just like every other person in the world, I'm fascinated by the strange, dark story of the Kennedy family. I love this print, another by Andy Warhol. It adds just enough edge to this lovely, but pretty traditional space.

Jackie, c. 1964 (Solitary) (Andy Warhol) // Design unknown
Search terms I used: Jackie, Warhol
Find similar here

7) We all know neon has been hot the past couple years especially, but I love when the bright colors are used in more classical forms - like with figurative abstracts here. I am so, so in love with the Diana Ong print below. Maybe a birthday present for myself this fall? :)

Abstract #8 (Diana Ong) // Christine D'Ornano in Elle Decor
Search terms I used: Figurative, Abstract, Yellow, Fine Art
Find similar here

8) I've mentioned before that I'm a little sensitive to the overuse of portraits. To me, the portrait should be either really, really lovely or really cheeky and not-so-serious. This Sargent print is both I think. I'd frame it in something very modern to make it even less serious.

Sally Fairchild, C. 1890 (John Singer Sargent) // Elle Decor Christine D'Ornano home
Search terms I used: Fine Art, Figurative, Women
Find similar here

9) I love all of the Josef Albers squares studies. The colors! But if you're a bit color shy, try painting your walls a neutral color, and keeping all your other furnishings in the same quiet color family. Then throw in a large print like this one and the space will come alive, but still look grounded and mature.

Study for Homage to the Square, c. 1954 (Josef Albers) // Elle Decor
Search terms I used: Albers, abstract squares and rectangles
Find similar here

10) Here's another print I plan to order for our house! My Grace is super into stars and constellations - I think she'd love this poster in her room. Isn't the blue background fantastic? There's a black option too.

Constellations of the Northern Hemisphere // Thomas O'Brien design
Search terms I used: Constellations
Find similar here (maps!!)

11) I was so excited to learn that Art.com owns many original works and edition collections. I'm absolutely aching, dying for this vintage Chagall print. Gah! 

La Bible - Lang (Marc Chagall) // Kristin Buckingham for Elle Decor
Search terms I used: Abstract, Figurative, 20th Century
Find similar here

I had so much fun with that little game. You guys should totally try it. It's a simple way to find art that speaks to you, that you can actually hope to afford! 

Any prints/pieces you've been eyeing? Do you have an inspiration piece of art you'd like me to find a match for? I'm up for the challenge! Bring it.

And of course, a HUGE thank you to art.com for partnering with me on this post series. I can't wait to share more (stay tuned for a really cute project I'm working on now!)

PS This tv spot gave me goosebumps when it was unveiled at the conference...

lately i feel like i have been drawn to a lot of neutrals colors.....
i'm loving those burlap draperies!!

*all images found here

this week, we sent taylor to swim lessons to (fingers crossed) get the hang of swimming.....now i'm to test it out....hope y'all enjoy your weekend!!

Summer Happenings

What a strange week it's been! We haven't quite had the chance to adjust to the summer schedule yet, and then with the holiday right smack-dab in the middle of this week, it feels like one long, weird drawn out weekend! Our heads are clearly not in the game as we did the unthinkable and took the kids to Time Square (always a bad idea).

Yesterday was nice though. We have family in town, so we did a lot of cooking and baking and eating, and really, what more could you want from a holiday? The girls helped me make this cherry pie. They did pretty good with the stars, huh?

Last night we walked to the west side and watched the fireworks display, which they orchestrate from a barge in the middle of the Hudson River. We were lazy and stayed downtown (the view was much better I'm sure in midtown). Given how many people were sitting with us down in Battery Park, I'm glad we didn't bother making the trek up. The kids were pretty wiped by the heat and mosquitos by the time we got home.

It's a rough life and the party must go on, so we're packing up to head to Delaware for a reunion with the clerks and judge Michael used to work for. I am excited to get out of the city for a couple days and hang out at the beach. And I'm extra excited about going to the Amish flea market again! I've missed those beautiful whoopie pies and farm fresh cheeses dearly. Not to mention the sour dough rolls, soft pretzels and homemade ice cream. And the doughnuts. (and the cinnamon rolls). Oh my.

When we get home, it will be almost time to head to Arizona for two weeks. And then - the MOVE!!! Finally. It's been such a long process, I can't believe it's time to start packing! And there are still so many decisions to make. Like the color of the floors. I'm still liking the idea of very dark, almost ebony. But part of me wants to do a lighter, almost ash color. I was inspired by the floors at Toys R Us. And hopefully that will be the first and last time I will ever write that sentence.

Signing off for the week! I'll be updating instagram all weekend though if you want to follow along on our little trip to Rohobeth. (@jennykomenda).

xoxo

Salad Plates

My favorite way to set a table is a really basic, solid color dinner plate with a fancy, colorful, patterned salad plate layered on top. If it's Thanksgiving or Christmas, I like to pull out the gold chargers and the table linens. It's sort of fool-proof and even fun to set the table with this method. It's just a matter of figuring out which salad plates will we use this time and what the flowers will look like.

So whenever I come across salad plates for a fun price, I have a hard time passing them up. It was pretty much impossible for me to not buy these tumbling blocks porcelain plates from CB2. $2.95 each! Won't they be perfect for outdoor dinner parties this summer? Eight are on their way to me (along with a couple of these (cute hostess gifts!) and a handful of these (love yellow!)).

How do you set your table? Do you have one china set or many? Growing up, we used my mom's beautiful wedding china for holiday meals and sometimes just for Sunday dinners. I always liked that my mom was willing to use her nice china often, even when we were young kids.

on the way to dinner this weekend, my friend turned on her ipod and the car immediately broke into a fist pumping routine.....i had no idea what they were doing....this AM i you tubed it and it totally started my monday off right....seriously, try not to laugh!

The Powder Bath

One of the things I am most excited for with the new house is the bathroom situation. Mostly just that there is more than one of them. :) There is a powder bath on the parlor level, and any powder bath to me just begs to be adventurous! Look how sad the bachelors made this bathroom! It's down right desperate for some love and better lighting.

I can't decide about that little sink. It's original I guess and it could be sort of cute with a skirt? Wouldn't something really quirky like this sink (and that mirror!) be amazing?

Elle Decor

For the walls, I would naturally gravitate toward a crazy, loud wallpaper pattern like this one:

Palmer Weiss

With an interesting mirror:

Houzz

But the room is tiny (like 3x4) and I don't really feel like papering around mirrors and lights and fixtures with almost every single sheet. I'm thinking I might try a decorative paint treatment.

Martha Stewart's Faux Bois kit might be perfect. I've heard it's a really fun project and that the rocker tool is super easy/forgiving. (demo video here) But I'll run into a similar problem af having to work around things on the walls.

I'm leaning toward hand-stamping the walls with a wood block. I bought this pretty 3x6" floral stamp here and I think it's worth trying. It could be a really quick, fun project. The hardest part might be choosing the color combos for the paint!

Also diggin' that black trim in the corners. It really helps define the walls, right? Otherwise things might get a little dizzying in there with all the small pattern. Very nice.