I have always loved tedious and time-consuming artistic projects. I don’t know what it is about them. I not only love the finished result (most of the time), but I also love the process. But the key is that the project has to be artistic in some way. I don’t like tedious building projects, or tedious home improvement projects, which is why I’d rather do just about anything other than drywall. Drywall mudding and sanding is tedious, but there’s no real reward at the end other than boring walls. But give me a tedious artistic project, and I’ll dive right in.
I wish I could find pictures of the first house Matt and I had built soon after we got married. It was in that house that I really found my love for this type of project. In our bedroom, I painted the walls a deep, beautiful red. At least I remember the color being beautiful in my mind. I wonder if I’d actually think that if I saw it today. 😀
But anyway, they weren’t solid red. I painted a harlequin pattern on them. The walls were covered in diamonds that were about six inches high. All of the diamonds that made up that harlequin pattern were the same color, but I alternated flat and glossy finishes. And then after they were all painted, I went back and added shiny silver thumbtacks at each point where the diamonds met — top, bottom, and both sides. Those walls were a work of art. They looked something like this, but just imagine that the two different colors were actually the same color with very different sheens. The red wasn’t actually this dark, and the dots between them were a shiny silver.
Those walls took a ridiculously long time to finished, but I was in my element. I have to giggle when I look back at that time in our lives. Those walls (and that house in general) is where Matt realized exactly what he had gotten himself into when he married me. 😀 Before that, we lived in an apartment, so I didn’t really have the opportunity to let loose with my creativity. But three months after we got married, we started building our house, and I let loose with my creativity. I can’t imagine what he must have been thinking so soon after we got married, but he was so sweet and let me do whatever I wanted to do with that house. And he’s been that way with me for 23 years now.
This herringbone tray was a smaller project, but it still fits the theme. And if you’ve been around a while, you can see that this was the beginning of (and inspiration for) much bigger projects that were to come. I made this using small strips of iron-on edge banding, so each of those pieces had to be ironed on individually. You can see that project here.
And then came the big one — the chrysanthemum mirror made out 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 the next year, at least. In fact, one manufacturer even stole my idea and mass-produced these out of resin, right down to the exact number of petals, the ombre paint effect, and all. They just made it a cream color instead of teal. And of course, I got nothing out of that. Back in those days, manufacturers were consistently stealing ideas from DIY bloggers for mass production.
This is a project I’d actually like to recreate. I made this hanging flower backet out of slices of 2×4 lumber about 12 years ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t seal it at all, so the raw wood out in the elements only lasted about two years. But it was inspired by my neighbors’ flower basket that is made this way. Theirs is painted, and theirs is still hanging on their front porch today.
As I was scrolling back through my DIY projects gallery and reminiscing about these older projects, I was actually surprised at how many of these tedious artistic projects I have done throughout the years. I love this type of project, 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 studio bathroom walls — as soon as I’m finished with that as well. I’m enjoying the process, and the finished project is the icing on the cake.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
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