14 Minutes

I thought it would be interesting to time how long it took me to do a scene in one of my houses. I often mention in my posts that I do a "quick scene," and I know what that means to me but then I thought it might not mean the same to you. I consider 14 minutes in the realm of "quick." I have spent much longer on other scenes, or I start a scene one day and finish it on another.

My scenes tend to be motivated by color, so if I were to dissect this scene it would go as follows:

* Motivation: My eight-year-old son has been VERY into origami lately, and experiments with all sorts of shapes and papers. The rocket ship is a form that he has perfected, and he amazes us with all the precise folds he has memorized; he can do it with his eyes closed! He made me a super mini one, in a lovely shade of electric blue, and I really wanted to use it.

* Choose house: I chose my VERO, which is still in rehab, mainly out of guilt since I still have not gotten around to wallpapering half the house.

* Choose room: Easy. I chose the lovely sitting room with two walls of windows.

* Choose a few key pieces: My new Paul MacAlister daybed, mostly because it is a new purchase and I wanted to try it out. One of my favorite credenzas, by VERO, and a beloved Barcelona Reac chair.

* The rest falls into place: The blue origami rocket ship emboldens me to use similarly colored pillows (handmade by The Shopping Sherpa for our swap) with the more somber plaid of the daybed, something I would not have thought to do. Add one of my favorite lamps, the three sphere wonder by minimodernistas, a coffee table, side table, and rug. After putting in a plant and a few small accessories, I restrain myself from adding anything further.

* Fidget slightly with placement. Shift a pillow slightly, move the coffee cup, push the vase back on the credenza, adjust the rain boots, turn the minimodernistas lamp.

* Photograph. Take 27 photographs, and use a little over a third for the post. I never Photoshop my photos, but I do use the straightener tool to even things out if I've done the angle wrong. I sometimes crop, but not often.

* Start writing this and plug in the photos.

Check out my son's handiwork!

OK, having done this I am now quite curious how you go about your scenes. Share if you're inspired!

Credits: Daybed is by Paul MacAlister; chair is Reac; credenza is VERO; side table is an artisan piece from Fridas Fancy dollhouse store; coffee table, rug, and lamp by minimodernistas; books and large blue pillows by The Shopping Sherpa; small blue pillows are Re-ment; planter is from Manor House Miniatures. Accessories are Re-ment, beads, made by my awesome kid, ELF Miniatures, and Barbie by Jonathan Adler.

Silver and Gold

My first fireplace makes an appearance here. I've been meaning to buy a fireplace for some time, but was struggling with what type, size, color, etc. I received this particular one as part of a lot of vintage items that I purchased from Oese. Oese tells me that she made the fireplace with a pink box she found at a flea market...she painted it and used a keyhole cover for the screen. She left it a bit unfinished, and I decided to complete the work.

Here you can see what it looked like:

I like the grey Oese painted it, and decided to add a thicker coat of silver acrylic paint. I then used the same paint for the keyhole screen and then used a small cameo charm, also painted silver, for a decorative cover for the hole:

I like the results! I tried it out in the small room on the lower level of my VERO house, and added two small topiary display trees ($4.99 for a package of four) from Michaels and two glass icicle ornaments from the clearance bin (.99 each) at Crate & Barrel as decorative elements on the sides.

As I was photographing the scene, I looked over at my progress with the main living area at the entrance to the house. I had papered one of the walls and added a wood panel to the ceiling.

I love the textured retro paper, but it is looking a bit stark to me, especially in contrast to the original blue floors. Now a am reconsidering using this paper and am at a standstill. You can see the original wall papers -- it looks like they were a shade of white with a wavy blue striped design.

Any ideas??

Credits: Fireplace made by Oese and finished by me; icicle accents are ornaments from Crate & Barrel; topiary trees and logs are from Michaels; chairs are vintage Petite Princess drum chairs; vase is from Fridas Fancy dollhouse store.