Friday, January 8, 2010

New years resolution...unblank the walls

I made the pretty standard resolutions this year...eat healthier, exercise, spend more time with family, yada yada yada. I also stuck a fun one in there, and I'm expecting my bloggy friends to hold me to it. My big resolution is to spruce up a blank space in my home EVERY week this year.



You see, we have a lot of bare walls/windows/doors in this house. It is a good-sized 50's era contemporary split level, and it has a great open feel about it. When we moved in, it kind of absorbed the decorative stuff that filled our tiny antique cottages and bungalows of cities past. Even though Spartan decor has been easy and requires little dusting, blank spaces bug me. So this year, I'm going to make the time each week to do something to make a space look better. It won't necessarily be innovative, but it will be an improvement.




I started with my studio wall. When I set it up, I didn't put a lot of thought into decorating it. I just threw up some things that are special to me (a baby dress, gifts from sewing friends, a thimble collection, Lou's artwork, collages of Lou by the awesome artist Shelly Pint, and a big bird painting from my childhood room). I always love looking up from my monitor and seeing such happy things, but that foot of space above is just a sea of boringness. I've been wanting to put something cool up there for a long time, but it had to be something that would fit the space.




My sweet sister-in-law Margie and her family visited us over the holidays, and they gave me one of the coolest things possible...DOLL CLOTHES!!! They picked several cases up at an auction, and lots of styles and eras are represented in there. The 50's era full-skirted dresses just blew me away. They are tiny things, some labeled with Ideal tags, and some handmade. I think they were made to fit Little Miss Revlon. I decided to put them on my wall.




For my "clothesline," I nailed rick-rack to the wall. I spaced the nails every two feet (and I cheated and inserted them into the rick-rack before getting on the ladder, so they probably aren't perfectly spaced).




I picked up some tiny clothespins in the woodworking section at Super JoAnn's. I then hung the dresses at the position of the nails. After that, I hung dresses in between. The weight of the dresses made for a bit of a staggered effect.



Above is (almost) the full panoramic view from where I sit. When I need to avert my eyes from cutting layouts and yardage calculations, the beautiful little dresses are a pleasure to view!

14 comments:

Char @ Crap I've Made said...

I think this is a FABULOUS resolution...right up there with "Buy more lamps". :o)

Kim W in Idaho said...

I love the look of all those dresses up high. Very clever! What a nice SIL, by the way.

PS- first time commenter. Found you by way of YCMT (doll clothes patterns).

cupcake studio said...

Your clothesline is so super-cute! Your studio looks like a fun place!

CJ said...

Those dresses were a sweet find! I love how you are displaying them.

Sara said...

That was so creative!!! I love it!

Cathy said...

What a beautiful clothesline! I love all those little dresses....what a special gift!

Tabitha said...

Oh I just love the clothesline....you can always add color to the room (paint) and that will change everything course you knew that already!

Jennifer said...

That makes an adorable border!

Anonymous said...

That is too cute! Now I want to do that to Megan's room. Do you think she would give up her doll dresses in the name of art? ;)

Shelli said...

Love this...I have dozens of doll dresses from my youth that I've never known what to do with. What a great idea!

Shannon said...

LOVE it! Genius idea - one that I would love to duplicate some time!

Nat said...

Carla, they are soooo cute!!

teresajoy said...

I love this SOOOO much!!! If I ever get a room of my own, I want to do this!

Anonymous said...

I need that camera bag in my life! But a bigger version of it..will use it as a diaper bag! Looks perfect!