Homemade Kitchen Artwork
You know those commercials where a mom is panicking because her kids drew all over the walls, and thank goodness for the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser because it removed their first attempts at self expression from the institutionally blank walls in mere seconds?
Well, you’d think I’d empathize with the mom, but those kids are totally on to something. I recently discovered the joy of writing on walls and People, I’m hooked! It feels both rebellious and artistic at the same time – like I’m an angst-filled artist that’s upset with the world for not appreciating my complete lack of talent. Let me explain how this discovery came about…
A few weeks ago, when Joey and I found a 30-minute period of time where we actually felt motivated to plan our new kitchen, we transferred the measurements for our IKEA cabinets onto the kitchen walls to make sure they’d all fit.
We were neat and tidy about it at first, measuring and taping strips of cardboard to the walls to represent each cabinet.
As our motivation dwindled, we ditched the cardboard and went right for walls.
And, like an epiphany from the good Lord himself, I realized that I should’ve been writing and drawing on the walls years ago. As soon as I knew we’d be tearing them all down, I should have taken brush to hand, downloaded some episodes of The Joy of Painting and gone to town on them.
We’d have “happy little trees” everywhere.
Unfortunately, I misplaced my watercolors decades ago and all I have is a black Sharpie marker. Let’s see what I can create, shall we? This is gonna be so much fun!
Now that’s what I call art. Let me explain what’s going on in my Sharpie-on-wallpaper creation.
This is a sketch of Joey and me. Notice the shadowing technique I used to highlight my pregnant belly. Ask anyone who knows us, and they’ll tell you this is exactly what we look like in person.
I call this one “Wall Flowers.” Pretty clever, huh? I’ve been drawing these flowers since I was 13 years old and even have a small version of one tattooed on my lower back. I know, I know – it’s totally cliche. But I was in college and it was spring break in Florida and I felt I needed to do something zany to capture the futility of my youth.
And finally, my masterpiece – The Happy Little Tree. This is my attempt to pay homage to my mentor, Bob Ross, who guided my art career from age 8 to 10.
By the way, Joey doesn’t know yet that I did this to the wall. Surprise, Honey!!! I decorated! The baby made me do it. It’s totally a “pregnancy thing.” If you’re upset, I’ll happily write “I will not write on the walls” 50 times on the wall to make it up to you.
This post is great. When we were getting ready to renovate our living and dining rooms, we did the exact same thing. We used chalk on the old paneling and drew in the new sofa, tv, where the walls were going to be opened up- we had a blast (and it actually did help us plan it out too!)
Very cute but be careful!! It’s pretty addictive. I wrote all over my bedroom walls as a teenager when my parents were gone. I got in soooooooo much trouble!!
Well, to borrow a phrase, “It’s your world.” So, you can do that if you wanna. Joey will have to deal.
Just remember, it is VERY difficult to paint over sharpie. Be careful where you draw. I speak from (bad)experience!
I love my kitchen,when i bought my house through costa rica homes for sale i expected to have a big kitchen and now i am really happy.