I have always loved tedious and time-consuming artistic projects. I don’t know what’s going on with them. I love not only the end result (most of the time), but also the process. But the key is that the project must be artistic in some way. I don’t like lengthy construction projects or lengthy home improvement projects, so I’d rather do anything but drywall. Mudging and sanding drywall is tedious, but there’s no real reward in the end other than boring walls. But give me a lengthy art project and I’ll get started straight away.
I wish I could find pictures of the first house Matt and I built shortly after we got married. It was in this house that I discovered my love for these types of projects. In our bedroom I painted the walls a deep, beautiful red. At least I remember the color in my head being beautiful. I wonder if I would actually think that if I saw it today.
But in any case they weren’t consistently red. I painted a harlequin pattern on it. The walls were covered in diamonds about six inches high. All of the diamonds that made up this harlequin pattern were the same color, but I alternated between flat and shiny surfaces. And after they were all painted, I went back and added shiny silver tacks to each place where the diamonds met – top, bottom, and both sides. These walls were a work of art. They looked something like this, but imagine if the two different colors were actually the same color with very different sheen. The red wasn’t actually that dark and the dots between them were shiny silver.
These walls took a ridiculously long time to complete, but I was in my element. I giggle when I think back to that time in our lives. It was on these walls (and in this house in general) that Matt realized exactly what he was getting himself into when he married me. Before that we lived in a shared apartment, so I didn’t really have the opportunity to express my creativity. But three months after our wedding, we started building our house and I let my creativity run wild. I can’t imagine what he must have been thinking so soon after we got married, but he was kind enough to let me do whatever I wanted with this house. And he has been with me for 23 years now.
This herringbone tray was a smaller project but still fits the theme. And if you’ve been around for a while, you can see that this was the start (and inspiration) for much bigger projects to come. I did this with small iron-on edge strips, so each of these pieces had to be ironed on individually. You can see this project here.
And then came the really big thing – the chrysanthemum mirror made of plastic spoons. I owe a lot to this project. This is the project that put my blog on the map. It went viral like no other project I’ve ever done. This thing took on a life of its own and inspired thousands of spoon-related DIY projects for at least the next year. In fact, one manufacturer even stole my idea and mass-produced it out of resin, right down to the exact number of petals, the ombre polish effect and everything. They just made it cream instead of teal. And of course I didn’t notice anything about it. Back then, manufacturers were constantly stealing ideas from DIY bloggers for mass production.
This is a project that I would actually like to recreate. I made this hanging floral backsplash about 12 years ago from 2×4 pieces of wood. Unfortunately, I didn’t seal it at all, so the raw wood only lasted about two years outside in the elements. But it was inspired by my neighbors’ flower basket made this way. Her house is painted and still hangs on the porch today.
As I scrolled back through my DIY projects gallery and remembered these older projects, I was actually surprised at how many of these boring art projects I’ve done over the years. I love these types of projects, whether it’s an art project, part of a piece of furniture, or a wall design. And I’m sure I’ll love this current project – the new design for the bathroom walls in the studio – once I’m done with it too. I enjoy the process and the finished project is the icing on the cake.
