Pepper Design Blog

Large Abstract Art on a Budget

I’ve been on a pink kick. You’ve seen my diyed pink heart art, glimpses of the pink throw pillows for the living room (with a new coral glass vase for good measure) and my favorite addition – a big piece of pink dining room art. Pink is infiltrating the house.

In my dining room art post I mentioned just how tough it is to find oversized art on a budget. It’s really very tough! I continually find myself drawn to stunning pieces like this aboriginal painting over at Ish & Chi, an oil on canvas like this one by Jesse Mackay, and I hope that one day I can get my hands on an original Katherine Sable. One day I will choose art because it moves my heart and spirit and makes a room sing. But today price plays a big role.

As previously promised, today’s post is a round-up of favorite large pink art pieces that will rock a wall without totally killing the wallet (some of these are even originals):

1. Bethany Oliver Oberly, $189 2. Ora Birenbaum, $345 3. Sixth and Main Photography, $90 4. Annie Clark 5. Unknown landscape from Art.com, $24.99-199.99 6. Sarah Leslie, $34.99-69.99

Until that day comes when price is not a major factor in choosing wall art, there are plenty of creative ways to fill a large space on a budget:

*there are the do-it-yourself abstract options that involve a few tubes of paint and an oversized craft store canvas (purchased with a 40% off coupon, of course)
*the semi-DIY options (I turned this piece of fabric into a big piece of stretched canvas art, and had this botanical chart printed on fabric and then hung it with dowels. Other creative ideas include transforming a map into art or stretching an old flag over a frame – I actually have one ready to go and waiting for its stretch at the moment)
*the framed fabric or wallpaper look for a blast of pattern
*the thrift store, eBay or garage sale finds (I have a few of those hanging around)
*the small town artist (love art shows or even Etsy for these finds)
*or the print route (settling for a print is no big deal! There are plenty of creative ways to frame a print to even make it look like a canvas)

7. Tchmo, $17-57 8. Michelle Armas, $350 (my favorite) 9. So Very Happy, $45 10. Kelli Hall, $38-375 11. Unknown abstract landscape from Art.com, $24.99-199.99 12. Xilvar, $38-375

Some of these guys featured in the round-up are in the hundreds of dollars range, but many are in the double digits and with framing (see a great solution here if you don’t find a store bought frame that fits) might even come in below $100. Which is a total steal.

Happy art hunting!

PS A big thank you to SheKnows.com for featuring our dining room bookshelves in their favorite storage finds!

Office Makeover: A New Pharmacy Lamp

You may have noticed two new additions back when I posted about the living room here and when I shared our guest bed find here.

I’ve been on the prowl for attractive task lighting (or pharmacy lamps) for a while – I love their vintage feel and the brass or oil rubbed bronze finish that they usually come in. I was secretly holding out for a great thrift store find of a one-of-a-kind buried treasure, but a couple of searches in I turned to the big ole web.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. CSN Lighting ($74.25) 2. CSN Lighting ($38.40) 3. Ballard Design ($219) 4. Staples ($39.99) 5. JC Penney ($59.99) 6. Lamps Plus ($152.90) 7. Rejuvenation ($194)

And then one day, as with all best buried treasure stories, I stumbled upon a box at the back of Joann’s Fabrics that was covered in sale items (and lots of dust!). Turns out, they carry a set of pharmacy lamps and they were marked down 50% off – best part? It was a set. For just over $75 I found a great desk lamp and a new living room light to boot. Alas, they wouldn’t accept my 40% off coupon on top of that (did you know there’s an app for that? I always forget the paper coupon…) but I was really happy to score two new lights for under $40 a piece.

Here is the table lamp in the office:

And the floor lamp in the new living room:

The best finds always happen when you’re not looking!

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: wallpapering open shelves, finding the perfect credenza, new trim, dining table-to-desk, a new desk & bookshelves, installing remnant carpeting, grasscloth wallpaper, painting the office nook, finding carpet for the office, chocolate brown wall ideas, plastering progress,  inspiration for a diy desk, back in action!, desking hunting for under $300, bookcases under $300, inspirational rooms, room layout options, demo part 1 & demo part 2.

Project Nursery: A Much Needed Lighting Update

What happens when your family comes into town for Easter? Little projects that have been shelved for months get a bit of attention.

We’ve finally installed a much needed lighting update over the changing table! If I could move the entire sconce down and a bit to the left I would… but given the previous state of the light I’m loving the improvement!

My parents visited us for the weekend and decided to help tackle a few projects around the house, changing out the light fixture was at the top of my list.

I’ll apologize right now for the horrible lighting in the room (especially at different parts of the day, like above).

But yay for a new light! And the new sconce sits so perfectly below the little nest that Aunt Karen & Momma Eileen painted. The little birdie is Liv, and Kevin and I are the poppa and the momma flying down to the nest. So sweet.

The added butterflies (from a baby shower gift) are a neat little detail and will tie into the new mobile project. Now when Liv is on the changing table she stares up at the bright, shimmery colors.

So the hunt for the new light began a while back but I couldn’t settle on the look that I was going for. You might remember the makeover we did on the pendant in the center of the room and it brought such a wonderful, modern update to the space.

But… all of the modern sconce options were a little too modern.

Lamps Plus George Kovacs

I love these vintage industrial-style lights, perhaps to nicely balance out the modern pendant in the center of the room? But they might be better suited for the new office.

Lamps Plus

We decided that we liked the style of the swing arm sconce. We can easily move the light over the changing table or the reading area with the glider, and little toys (like the butterflies) or a mobile can hang from the arm to entertain Liv.

Why the randomly placed sconce was installed in the first place makes us curious (here’s before pics of the room). Actually, the previous owner has found this blog, Hi Patt! and there’s probably a great reason behind it, like perhaps a desk or bed used to sit below it, or perhaps it was even installed many owners ago. But by happenstance the changing table fits nicely beneath it’s current placement, so we’ve found a good use for it.

Lamps Plus, Target, Pottery Barn

I was on the search for a sturdy, low priced version and had finally resigned to pay $100 plus when I scooped up this version for $40 from Lowes!

We modified it to hard wire straight into the existing electrical box and I left off some of the more ornate bulb decor (is that what you’d call them?) for a cleaner look.

So one big item crossed off of the nursery list. Just a few more to go!

More Project Nursery posts: basket liners part 2, basket liners part 1, the great glider makeover, sewing the curtains part 1, part 2, part 3, nursery fabric board, curtain fabric selection, rocking horse find, new pendant light, vintage wall art addition, changing table makeover, nursery wall striping tutorial, painted animal project, the initial inspiration board and the before picture posts.