Welcome to another installment of the workshop series brought to you by Mustard Seed Creations and Funky Junky Interiors! It has been very exciting for me to hear from all of you about your excursions into the decorative painting aisles. You never know how you’ll be unless you try it! I also want to encourage those of you who have said, “I can’t draw”, you don’t have to be able to draw to paint. Next week we’ll talk about using templates, stencils, and projectors to help you out.
So, after you read this post about getting inspiration for your painting projects, make sure you visit Funky Junk Interiors to learn all about developing a plan of attack when organizing your work area. You need to know what will work for you and be realistic for your needs and the way you work. Donna’s been hard at work in her own garage and has some wonderful ideas to share.
I have received loads of questions about how I come up with a design for a piece of furniture. This is one of the simplest things I can teach you! I look at magazines, books, scrapbook papers, fabrics, plates…anything with a pattern. If I like it, I mark it, cut it out, scan it, snap a picture or even sketch it out on a napkin. Here’s the trick, though, you want to be inspired by a design and not totally rip it off. Here are some examples of an inspiration picture and the furniture piece that resulted.
Do you see the design on the door of the cabinet in this furniture ad? That was the design I used on my dresser.
This hand painted pattern is from a book on decorative motifs. I used this design on one of my hand painted bread boxes,
I don’t have the scrapbook paper that inspired the designs below, but I received it as a thank you card. I loved the design and thought it was perfect for this little box and angular side table.
This table is from a decorative painting book and I used the design on a half-moon table that my aunt gave me.
Do you see the bouquet on the side of my inspiration piece? I used it on the front of this little blue and white cabinet.
I really liked the simple and graphic nature of this design I found in a book about decorating children’s rooms and used the design in white on a vanity.
So, does this give you some inspiration? Believe it or not, I’m not very good with creating my own design on a piece. I almost always need some kind of inspiration or direction to get me going.
So, here are some tips for gathering and using inspiration:
1.) If you don’t have a large collection of decorating books, hit your local library and pull books that have designs or painted furniture that you like. You can also surf the net and the blog world. There’s a lot of great stuff out there.
2.) Don’t try to tackle something really complicated if it’s you’re first time. Choose a simple design that’s doable.
3.) Put your painted design where it’s going to be most visible and have the most impact.
4.) Make sure your inspiration design will make sense on the piece you want to paint. You don’t want to paint a mid-century modern dresser with frilly French country scrolls and flowers. It just won’t work.
5.) Your work is not going to look exactly like the inspirational design, so don’t expect it to. You want it to look unique, so don’t fret if your work is less refined or the style looks different. That is what makes it yours, so embrace any differences and imperfections.
Me: So, Donna, where do you get your design inspiration?
Donna: “This is an area I have problems with. I rarely if ever get my inspiration from outside sources. I go by what I find and work with the found item. In all honesty, this is so easy to do in home decor if you don’t wish to detail pieces. I’m by nature not a crafty person. I love things in their naturally simplistic state and rarely if ever, build on an item other than to clean it up. If someone told me to look at a catalogue and copy something, it’s like a root canal for me. Isn’t that crazy?!?
However, when it comes to decorative painting, I can see where this has to change up abit. I easily see geometric shapes (like checkerboard) and two toned shades on something with plenty of distressing thrown in, however decorative flowers? Never. Can’t even visualize it for the most part and I know why. It’s simply because I don’t have that info stored in my ‘card file’ (which would be my brain).
What you feed your card file is what you’ll start seeing. I’m in a learning process where decorative painting is concerned. I’m watching to see what inspires me and I’ll then know where to build. So far, it’s rustic numbers, letters, and basic shapes and tones. We’ll see how my vision expands after your series. :)”
As one last example, I’ll share my recently revealed Goodwill lamp makeover.
On the left is my inspiration lamp and the right is a before picture of the lamp I found at Goodwill. This is a quality lamp and I really liked the potential in it, but it looked a little dated and masculine to me. I was drawn to the feminine and traditional quality of the inspiration lamp.
The interior of my shade was white, so I started out by painting it a metallic gold to reflect the light.
I was not fond of the brass finish, so I applied gold leaf. You can check out my gold leaf tutorial to get the details on how to do this. I then painted the outside of the shade in Pro-Classic Semi-gloss latex paint from Sherwin Williams called Creme. It took three coats to fully cover the brass. Since this is a lamp shade, I’m not concerned with dings and scratches.
I painted the bottom rim of the shade in the same metallic gold paint that I used on the interior of the shade.
Since the shade was connected to the lamp using three “spokes”, I used those as a guide for the design and centered each of the three “windows” on the spokes. I sketched out my design using burnt umber mixed with glaze. If you’re feeling a little lost, go back to review my previous Workshop Series posts.
I washed in the colors and then started adding highlights, shadows, and the details.
We had a teenager hanging out at our house yesterday and she asked why I was painting a cupcake on my lamp shade. This is evidence that you can’t judge a work in progress!
The scroll work and basket is done in gold, burnt umber, light yellow and metallic gold. The ribbon swag is in white, light blue and dark blue. The flowers are in burgundy mixed with burnt umber and white to make three different shades.
I finished off the entire lamp with a dark walnut stain. You can check out my tutorial for that process here.
Now, go out there and get inspired. You can feel free to use my portfolio to get some ideas as well.
17 Responses
Well I am back. I love the gold leaf. Such a good idea! I silver leafed the top of a fish tank. I am going to look at your tutorial. Thanks fo stopping by!
smiles, alice
I love your ideas. I think I am going to re-do the bookcase I recently painted. I am not happy with it and I see that I can do better. It's the first piece i've ever tried and well, you know how that goes 😉 thanks for all of the tips and ideas. For someone who is just learning it is very much appreciated!
Shari
I'm so happy I have found your blog… so inspiring!!! thanks for sharing great ideas, for sure I'll be coming back and forth to learn.
follow me: living Creatively with Flory
http://flo-ry.blogspot.com/
You have inspired me to re-do a small side table that has been bugging me for years. It is time to transform it. I will take pics of my progress. Thanks for the encouragement!
Hugs
SueAnn
I have so many projects all standing in line waiting to paint!!! Your series has inspired me to the degree that I feel I can do this now!! You've propelled me into the creative process becoming a reality!! I'm almost complete with my work space/studio! And sometimes I do a little dance!
I am inspired by everything I see. Even a clean bathroom, Ha! It's getting to the point of actually creating, putting the hand the plow, doing it, that takes a good shove! You've shoved me (with love, of course, I know!)
Have an amazing day,
~Kolein
great job, thanks for sharing. i am going to follow you!!!
I really appreciate your point on "inspiration", NOT "copying". I know some who get bogged down in expecting an exact replica. It is way more fun to put a little "you" in the project.
This is such great inpiration. Thanks for sharing.
You sure do know how to work a paint brush!!!
That is really lovely when it's finished! Great job.
Great tips. I'm not much of a painter…but I would like to be! Thanks for sharing from your wealth of knowledge!
Blessings, Grace
Lovely lovely. You are SO talented. I enjoy seeing everything that you do.
Thanks so much for this decorative painting series. I find all kinds of inspiration, I just get scared of messing it up. I know the more I do this, the better I will become. I am a perfectionist, that holds me back alot. Really trying to push through this in all areas of my life.
Thanks again for all of your inspiration.
Have a blessed day.
You're a true talent friend!
Thanks so much for the informative post! I love that little orange table – too cute.
This is just simply fabulous. Simple enough when you break it down, but so dramatic and gorgeous when comparing the before and after.
the lamp is absolutely beautiful & I love everything about it. Gill The Shooglie Brush