My Idea of 'Original Art'

Since I showed you the art I made for my bathroom, my friend Kate who's an art consultant, wrote about it on her awesome blog Art Hound. While I appreciated the post, I have to respond to her statement "As Laura would undoubtedly agree, original art is ideal but just isn't an option for her at this time."

While I live on a limited budget, it's not that 'original art' isn't an option, it's just not a priority and that's a big difference. Art comes in many forms, not just paintings, drawings, or sculpture. The 'art' that is most relevant to me and I opt to invest in is the design of everyday things, clothes and jewelry. Case in point, my recent purchase of this necklace by Etten Eller.

Not saying that Kate meant the statement viciously, she's very lovely and I didn't take it that way. I just thought it was a good opportunity to repeat what I've said before and will say again; figure out what matters to YOU, whatever that may be, and don't be overly influenced by what other's think is important.

Disappearing Bookends

Two ways of using simple metal bookends:

#1: in the center of a shelf to hold books in place when a book is taken out. This is so helpful for those with long bookshelves. I often refer to my Housekeeping Handbook and since it's quite large, the books to the left of it used to fall over when I take it out, not anymore.

#2: I didn't like the bookend covering the cover of my book on Steve McQueen (sorry, that's on another shelf), so I placed the bookend inside the cover. For use with a paperback, I would recommend using a large binder clip to hold the cover on.

DIY Consultation

(images courtesy of The Julie Blog)

While most of my work is hands-on, I also do consultations. It takes about 2-3hrs, where I go through steps I and II of my process; touring the space, discussing their concerns and possible solutions. I then follow up with a report, reviewing what was discussed along with product suggestions.

Last weekend I did a consult for Julie and her husband. You may have seen their house tour on apartment therapy. She lives in a small apartment in the Cherokee Bldg on the upper east side. She's documenting the experience on her blog so you can follow her progress. This is especially exciting for me, since I don't always get to see what people do afterwards!

Clothing Recycling

When editing your wardrobe, you inevitably have clothes that aren't in good enough condition to donate (stained, damaged). Instead of throwing them out, you can recycle them.

Thanks to Grow NYC, Friday-Monday, there are a number of locations around Manhattan and Brooklyn where you can drop off clothing, shoes, hats, and belts. While they also accept bedding and linens, please donate them to a local vet's office or animal shelter for reuse (call to see if your local one does).

If you're not in NYC (and even if you are) you can bring any brand of worn out sneakers (no cleats, sneakers containing metal, flip flops, or dress shoes) to any Nike retailer where they recycle them into sport and playground surfaces, as well as numerous Nike apparel, footwear, and equipment products.

Affordable Art My Way

As many of you reading, I don't have unlimited funds. Accepting this, I've taken the time to determine what's important to me and what I prefer to spend my money on (which is my wardrobe for those of you who couldn't tell). While I know there's affordable art out there, it's just not a priority for me right now so I've been making my own.

For the bathroom, I hung frames I already owned without anything in them until I figured what I wanted visually. For the large frame I thought something simple, graphic, and black + white, so I purchased a piece of fabric that I cut to fit. For the white frame, I wanted a bit of color, so I pulled a page out of a small art book I had, "Testing" by the artist Jaq Chartier.

COST

striped fabric: 1 yd $8

metal frame: existing $0

art book: given to me by a client $0

small white frame: existing $0

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total cost: $8

loving my bathroom: priceless!