Tropical Paint-By-Numbers

Welcome to my study.....

.....a room of high art and refinement!!!!!

I am in the process of adding more stuff to my walls.

YES!!!!

THERE IS ROOM FOR MORE!!!

Come with me to explore the frontiers of my walls.

(sounds like a song.....)

(the windmills of my mind.....)

(the frontiers of my walls....)

It all started here, when I first viewed the house with the real estate agent.....

The previous owners had added a molding around 10" down from the crown, and painted the blue stripe for an accent. 

WHAT THIS DID WAS: MAKE THE CEILING FEEL LOWER!!!!!

Here is this house with wonderful 10' high ceilings, so, I KNOW!!

LETS MAKE THEM FEEL LOWER!!!

OY VEY!!!

So I had to go to the expense of tearing out another upgrade that had been added into my purchase price.

And while I'm complaining.....

I HATED THE CEILING FAN!!!!!

I changed that too.

Put this in my garage workshop!!!!!

If you work in your garage, it's great to have ceiling fans, along with a lot of light. There were two of these babies in the house, and both are now in my workshop.

I wanted to find a wonderful desk......

I wanted to find a wonderful desk.....

I wanted to find a wonderful desk.....

AND I DID!!!!!

Here it is right after I moved into the house.

White walls, white rug.....

isn't it pretty?????

It's green Chinoiserie. 

If I had envisioned a desk for my new tropical retreat, 

THIS IS WHAT I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF!!!

(if I had been that clever.....which I'm not.)

I found it in an antique store in Essex Massachusetts, and had to beg the dealer to sell it to me, since he was using it as his own desk.

I was very insistent.....

So, just like the rest of the house, I had wood floors put down and the walls covered in Kneedler Fauchere bamboo wallpaper.

Isn't it amazing what wood floors can do to a space?

These are hickory.

I saw this floor in my neighbor Joanie's house, and she told me where to get it!!!

Unfortunately, they don't make this floor anymore. Now all the floors seem to come with a chamfered edge, so they don't look like a real unfinished old wood floor. It's probably easier for the manufacturers to get a tight joint between the boards, with an angled edge. 

OY.

I started assembling the furniture in its new home.....

I found a great looking double chair that looks like a little loveseat that fit in the small wall space.

And of course!!!!! more split reed!!!!!

Only, this chair ended up in the guest room and I found another for this corner.

It formed a cozy little sitting area in my study. I actually sit here sometimes!!!!

Then I started collecting artwork.

I HAD AN ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT IDEA!!!!

BRILLIANT I TELL YA,

BRILLIANT!!!!!

 I would do a collection of tropical bird paint-by-number paintings from the  1950's!!!

And I would reframe them in nice expensive faux bamboo frames, so they were all in the same frame!!!!!

I started collecting them, and took them to the framer, and then hung them on the wall before the wallpaper went up, so I could see how they looked!!!

The room started coming together.....

Then the wallpaper went up.....

Now I had to rehang all this @#$!!

So, I got this far in my decorating, having spent money on re-framing the paintings, and not saving the old frames. 

After I hung them on the bamboo wallpaper, and stood back.....

I was underwhelmed.....

The wall looked flat and not funky enough to me.

I WANTED FUNK!!!!

I had unfunked the wall by re-framing the art.

AND IT COST ME MONEY!!!!!

So, I did what I always do, and lived with it for several years.

This year I finally did something about it.

I bit the bullet, and re-framed the paintings in old frames

 from other paint-by-numbers.

I had to buy cheap ebay paintings in the same size, and switch the frames.

THEN!!!!!

I bought more paintings, and left them in their funky old original frames.

Then I reworked the wall!!!!!

I need to repaint the white frames. I think a yellowy creamy color, like the two red parrot paintings. 

Now I need to goose up the other wall.....

I have ideas.....

lots of Florida souvenir plates and parrot wall pockets.....

But I need to ruminate for a bit.

Hope it isn't another 8 years..... 

I still have a lot of things to write about in this room.

So I will continue on Tuesday.....

till then.....

Later, Gator

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