start with art: a map inspired big boy room

This edition of "start with art" is inspired by a soon-to-be-three year old boy giving up his nursery for the newest member of the family. The former guest room needs an upgrade to suit this rambunctious colorful boy. What better place to start than with the art, I love the colors of the World Map in Aqua by These are Things, $99. The rest of the items are sourced below

Clockwise from the top:

-Small globe, $27, Chirp, Etsy The one shown is sold out. Here is another.

-Map, $99, These are things

-Owl night light, $49, Fruitfly Pie, Etsy

-Orange Pattern Pillowcases $68/2, Anthropologie

Turquoise Sheet set, $54, Urban Outfitters

Map Pillow, $55, My Bearded Pigeon, Etsy

White Duvet, $103, West Elm

Orange Blanket (for the foot of bed) $98, Garnet Hill

Suitcase Set, $25, Land of Nod

Flor Tiles, total of 18, $216, Flor

Armchair, $199, Ikea

Yellow/White striped fabric for window treatments, $6/yard, Fabric.com

Pillow for armchair, $75, Plum Cushion on Etsy

Overhead light, $59, CB2

Dresser Lamp, $35, Land of Nod

Orange Dresser (image for inspiration) Sydney Barton Painted Furniture

start with art: michelle armas

This edition of "Start with Art" is dedicated to...me. I've been thinking about redoing my dining room for a bit now. Not a total re-do but a freshening up. I've got way too much yellow going on right now and I'm over the terra cotta walls. I bought a new dining room set super cheap on Craig's. Actually, rewinding a bit, I bought a set of 5 shield-back chairs at a local antique store for $125. My plan was to buy 2 arm chairs to supplement the side chairs, but I found a set of 6 matching shield-back chairs and an oval table during my search for $250, which was less than I thought the 2 chairs would be. Needless to say, I now have 11 chairs and a table to refinish/rework. My normal limit of furniture I allow myself to keep en queue is one. Unfortunately, I already had one piece waiting before any of this craziness so now there's a total of 13 pieces in my basement waiting for love.

But don't fear, I have a plan.

-I've been pining after Michelle Armas's pieces for some time now and I've decided to use this piece as inspiration for the room. The colors are absolutely perfect. In real life, I will probably buy one of her prints, I'm not sure a $1400 painting is in my future but a girl can dream.

-The brown bambooish drapes, the light fixture, buffet, rug and mirror are here to stay.

-The current table and chairs are up for grabs.

-I've already found someone to sand and paint the chairs white for a reasonable price with a 10-day turn-around.

-My spring/summer project will be the table and upholstery.

-I'm thinking either the Imperial Trellis, Chiang Mai Dragon or a simple green/cream houndstooth fabric for the chairs.

-The brown and pink pillows will go on the bench I have in the room.

-I'm undecided about the walls still. (paint/wallpaper/stencil)

I think that covers everything. Anyone wanna buy a dining set?

start with art, nursery inspiration: paper sparrow's mushroom city

Okay, I know, all this nursery obsession has got to stop. I'm so focused on getting my kids rooms finished (I think that's the first time I've ever referred to my 2-year old and my unborn boy as my kids) I can't think of anything else. This nursery is made for a little girl, but it's not precious, it has bright pink red and turquoise as the main colors, I'm not much of a fan of pastels for the nursery. The artwork I started with is Mushroom City by Papersparrow. It's one of my favorites from her collection.

1) Mushroom City, Papersparrow

2) Soft Whit Scalloped Mirror or Frame, $74.00, Uncommon

3) Medium Birdhouse #4, $175.00, Tamar Modendorff

4) Confetti Mobile, $75.00, Frasier and Wing

5) Pagoda Chandelier, $695.00, Jayson Home and Garden

6) Turquoise Baby Bedding, Carousel Design

7) Dusty Pink Allium (fabric for drapes), price upon request, Hable Construction

8) 20x20 Big Beads Pillow, $90.00, Hable Construction

9) Rattan Hanging Chair, $450.00, Gore Dean

10) Summer Trellis Hooked Rug, $450.00, Shades ff Light

11) Ceramic Owl Lamp, $55.00, FruitFlyPie

12) Flower Garland, $57.00 EmmaLamb

13) Context Children's Furniture, 2Modern

start with art, inspiration: khristian a howell's "le grand roue"

This bedroom is inspired by Khristian A. Howell's: Le Grand Roue, 20x30", $65.00. I thought it would be very romantic in the bedroom and of course I picked the largest "statement" size. If you're into something smaller, there are 3 different sizes available.

I found a beautiful headboard (#1, $750) upholstered in vintage fabric from Spruce Home in Austin on Etsy and went from there. The vibe is french industrial. It could be for a fashion-y lady but is also just masculine enough for a young couple, maybe newlyweds. The lamps (#2, $149 each) are tiled capiz from West Elm. I thought they were the perfect size. The bedding (#3 $150/set) is simple all white, and also from West Elm. The dresser (#4, $300) is from Etsy seller Painted Patina. It's a larger piece and could be used for both husband and wife. The bedside tables (#5, $168 each) are from Urban Outfitters. I love that they have wheels, and lock in place. I have always wanted a pair of upholstered benches at the foot of my bed. These X-base stools (#6, $299 each) from Wisteria in grey would be a perfect graphic statement against the white bedding. Grand total for this romantic bedroom: $2,497--including the artwork.

start with art, inspiration: hijirik's live what you love

I'm starting a new column here at Art Wall to keep me inspired. I like regular columns because they are clear taskes to keep me focused. I really like putting elements of a room together in 2-D so I thought I'd design a room around an art piece.

This room is inspired by Hikirik's Live What You Love letterpress piece. My favorite of Hikiri's pieces are the large poster-sized pieces but I was more inspired by the baby blue color in the smaller print for today's room. I found fun pillows that coordinated color-wise and went from there. This room is designed for a fun young family that needs a dark colored couch but didn't want to settle for brown. The pillows had lots of great colors to work with so I kept the color palette open, which can be harder to pull off but makes for a more unique and eclectic room.

1) I'm really into navy right now. This Crate and Barrel sofa is a great investment at $1,269.00

2) I've been obsessed with this trellis/lattice print for the last five years. I saw it first by designer Lulu DK (at about $100/yard) and spotted a very similar pattern on a great quality fabric here for $9.99/yard. I would use this to make drapes. (estimate: 4 panels @ 5 yards per= $200.00) Side note: I used this fabric for (lined) drapes in my own home and found the quality/weight perfect for this use.

3) Although I left these pillows out of my top 12 list from yesterday, I really love this pattern and all the colors gave me a lot to work with in the room. $185.00/pair.

4) I adore pairs of vintage chairs in a room. They make things interesting and these chairs definitely shake things up a bit and add some pizazz. These are a splurge at $1995/2 but could be used as inspiration to find something local with a similar feel that would be easier on the pocketbook.

5) This little accent table for $99.95 would ease the pain of the budget-buster chairs a bit.

6) Another penny-pincher, an 8x10 West Elm rug for $495.00 in the best pattern.

7) For a mantle or shelf (to keep away from little hands) these ginger jars are nicely priced at $39.48.

8) I've always loved the CB2 Peekaboo clear coffee table. Not as hard (or sharp) as glass, and without any sharp corners. Perfect for little guys to run around safely. $249.00

9) I would never stop at just 2 pillows and would love to keep going after three, but for the sake of time and coding, I picked this chartreuse printed pillow to bring out the green in the dragons. $55.00.

Grand total with chairs: $4599.93, without chairs: $2604.93.