Repeat Progress Report

Earlier this week I'd posted about repetition of pattern and how I was going to apply this technique in my own bathroom, gettin' all kinds of D.I.Y.-dirty on y'all...here's the pattern I'm working from:

Here's what bathroom looked like:

Here's where it's at now:

And:

Obvi, I decided to play with scale here, so my bird cages are a lot LARGER. I also deliberately left the birds out for fear of it going way too juvenile and I think this really works. Plus, this makes it much more conceptual, overall, since me and Dyl are now the 'birds' in these larger than life cages...and who doesn't like to get some cage play once in a while?! Chirp! Chirp!

I'm doing all this painting by hand and though exhausting, it's also fun b/c the pattern has a real line drawn/illustrated quality about it, so I can't really make any mistakes...well, I can and have, but they're easily corrected. Basically, it doesn't have to look perfect...it's interpretive of the original and it's super-quirky! My plan is to paint the other three walls in the same way, so check back for more progress updates and more detailed how-to action!

Repeat=Chic

Y'all, here's a HOT tip...repetition makes for one stylish space, if done in the right way. No, this isn't some ancient technique passed down by the decorators of yesteryear...it's really current and makes a huge impact in a space...what is it? This:

By taking a pattern, whether it be a wallpaper or fabric and repeating it on multiple surfaces in one space, you get repetition (this also applies to well-edited collections/collectibles, btw). Sometimes you also get a massive migraine too but there's pills for that...ingest, y'all! This treatment can be a chic way to really amp up the glamour and drama in a space, particularly one that's smaller or has peculiar architecture, like an dormer room. I know it seems counterproductive to completely envelope a tee-niny room in a cra cra pattern, but when executed well, the endless repetition, tends to erase the physical structure & boundaries of the room, so you're left with a seemingly vast expanse of space. Are y'all keeping up?

I use repetition a lot in my work, but have never gone full-on immersion like the above genius example...until now. Our bathroom is a cute spot and will make the perfect place to have a pattern blow out! YES! Here's what it looks like: I have this amazing shower curtain that I scored from Urban Outfitters, that sadly enough, is no longer available on their website: So since I can't buy more shower curtains to use as fabric for the wall treatment (which depending upon the specific application, isn't a practical thing in a bathroom anyway)...I'll be painting this pattern, by hand! Uh huh, I'm an absolute d.i.y. dork that way and I enjoy self-torture! But, since it's so organic and hand drawn-looking as it is-- I feel confident that I can re-create it, even if it's not perfect. I'm also going to play with scale of the pattern, just to give it more dimension when it's on the walls...and since I have existing tile work partly covering every wall, I don't have to paint as much...holla! If y'all were to tackle a similar project, remember you don't have to go to such extreme lengths by hand painting a pattern b/c there's a ton of fabrics that are also available as wallpapers or some fabrics can be used with spray starch and made into wallpapers as well...check out my former co-worker and friend, Kristin Appenbrink's post about it on Real Simple's Simply Stated blog, here. And check back soon for progress posts on this project! You're forewarned-- It may take a minute, y'all!