All in the family

For generations back my family has been one of artists.  There were children's wear designers, modern artists and milliners. My immediate family consists of my mother who is a retired photo-realist illustrator with a masters from Oxford, my father who was a successful young photographer in Britain and finally my brother who is a ravenously successful graphic designer and comic book artist- who is currently speaking on a panel at the South by South West conference in Austin (check out his website www.joealterio.com). All have superb taste in home decor and furnishings and of course are all about all things DIY. You would be hard-pressed to find any art on the walls in anyone's home that were not made by one of our family members or one of my parents art school friends.

[courtesy: www.joealterio.com]

My mom also has quite the green thumb and she's combined the 2 and has started making wreaths from the grapevine cuttings from the back deck.

Isnt that gorgeous?! It's 100% natural and "green" and it would be such a fantastic additive to a front door.  It would span all seasons with a little changing of the [decoration] guards around the holidays. You can get some small ornaments or faux berries (I add some frosted pink white and silver ones to my Christmas tree and it would be great to tie the 2 together.) and tuck them into the nooks and crannies and really get a subtle holiday feel. In the summer and spring months you could weave a softer fresher color ribbon through it and perhaps even add a costume jewelry brooch to it and make it really BLING! How cute would this be with a robins-egg blue ribbon woven throughout?

Fabulous!! Or perhaps put a gorgeous faux flower- or cluster of multi-sized flowers! The key is to not get a flower that is TRYING to look real. Most faux flowers look fake, so why not play with that and make sure the onlooker knows its intentional.

My mother's home is a turn-of-the-century 2 family home also in the Boston 'burbs and is chock-o-block full of DIY. When I was in a wee lassie I was in love with horses and horseback riding. So she painted a mural of a pony running through the rolling hills. It took years for her to complete between all her other projects and being a Mom. Once that was done she tackled the hallway. we have a hall that has 4 doors facing eachother. The bathroom, the closet, my (former) room and her room. One day she just started painting my door.... and she painted the most stunning sunset on it. Then she moved onto the bathroom door.  This time it was a blue sky with white fluffy clouds and the silhouette of a bird. Finally she moved onto her own bedroom door. This one has a night sky on it with a deep blue gradation and a stunning moon.  Her last closet door has yet to be completed but she plans on painting it with a storm. Each one has been better than the last so I cannot wait to see how the storm will turn out.  Check out my pictionary! post for images.

I'll be headin' over the river and through the woods to Moms house tomorrow and will hopefully be taking some photos of these doors for your viewing pleasure. In the meantime: applause to Mom for always keeping the house interesting!
Until next time!