art

I’ve been trying to gather pieces to create a gallery wall over our sofa for a while. I put way too much time into it and the process didn’t need to be as stressful as it was. I searched ideas on the internet and laid the pieces I had out on the floor, moving them around to get an idea of what would look best.

Once I decided to keep it simple and leave options open to add other things at some point in the future, it took a lot of stress out of piecing this together.

I started with the one picture I knew I wanted in the gallery wall and the one I loved the most- which was my Mona Lisa!

The Mona Lisa was a gift from my great-grandparents- given to me when I was just three years old! When I was that age, I loved the song Mona Lisa by Nat King Cole, and would twirl around and sing the song to the top of my lungs in my Gramma’s living room. They were always entertained by that and bought this picture so I could enjoy it when I was little and enjoy it in my own house, later on.

I’m embarrassed to say it was hiding in my utility room in our basement for years. I didn’t think I had a spot on my walls where it really worked. so I put it away. In the last few years, we found our leather sofa on Craigslist for a great price, and I won this old record cabinet at an auction for just a few dollars! When I started piecing the gallery wall together, I thought the frame around the Mona Lisa would look great with them.

I’m happy to say I’m enjoying this picture now, just as much as I did when I was three years old. AND I’m still enjoying my Gramma’s Nat King Cole record. It’s all thanks to her that I love jazz music and art so much!

This one is pretty large, so I thought Mona should be the star of the show!

Since Picasso is my favorite artist, I wanted to add his art into the mix. I found this framed canvas on Amazon that advertises one of his exhibitions in France in 1971. The price was very reasonable and the art was beautiful and also simple enough that it wouldn’t take away from the Mona Lisa. I don’t feel like the Mona Lisa takes anything away from the Picasso, either!

I struggled to find another art piece that I really loved for the wall, so I decided to throw in some plants. I ordered the half moon planter and filled it with succulents. I wasn’t sure how the plants would do in the wall planter but I attached it to the wall with screws that were big enough to hold it in in place, but were small enough not to block the holes. That way, I can take it off the wall and water the plants. This has actually worked out very well!

The small copper planter is a special piece and, like the Mona Lisa, has sentimental value. My Grandfather made that copper planter in his high school shop class in 1952! He and I were very close and I’m so happy to have this on my wall! I filled it with one succulent and mostly air plants. I wanted something easy to manage that didn’t require a lot of watering in this planter.

I thought a fun wall light would be a nice addition to the gallery wall! It’s beautiful and unique and provides low lighting at nighttime. It’s a plug-in light, so no hardwiring required!

Moving over to the record cabinet, I created another small area to extend the gallery wall with some framed pictures of our kids. We already had these framed and in another area of the living room before I started this project. I’m enjoying the mix of classic art, plants, and personal pictures in this space.

I added a few more plants in the corner, because you can never have too many plants, right? Again, plants that are easy to manage!

The old peacock chair and macrame plant hanger add to the mid-century vibe of the record cabinet. I found a simple round pad for the chair it and it’s become the cat’s chair, now. She looks like a queen as she lays around napping! She kind of blends in with the fluffy chair pad…

You can also see that the hanging plant has filled out, some. I think I’ve learned how to properly care for it but haven’t quite mastered watering it without spilling some on the floor.

I am very happy with how our gallery wall has come together. I feel this space is a nice mix of old and new. I left the space to the right of the Mona Lisa empty for now. That way, I have the option to leave everything like it is, or add something to it later. It will have to be something I really love that will go well with what I already have. I’m the type of person who will leave a wall blank until I find the right piece- and I’ve given myself that option.

Welcome back, Mona Lisa!

And sweet dreams, Ms. Luna.

I had the opportunity to look through some things that belonged to my great aunt and uncle a few weeks ago. One piece I really loved and was so happy to bring home was this framed embroidery!

As soon as I saw it, I asked about it. There was something so neat about it and though I am not sure who made it, my great aunt was known for creating beautiful needlework. So, I wonder if it may have been something she did?

It was framed locally and the frame was sealed in the back. I tried cleaning an old stretched painting on canvas cloth that was framed just like this from my Grandmother’s house, years ago. I chipped the frame and never could get it back in like it was. I did not want to mess with this one and make that same mistake again.

I left the embroidery right where it was and decided to carefully clean it myself, while it was still in the frame. It was dusty and dirty from years of sitting in an abandoned house…and I suspect it had been exposed to cigarette smoke.

Here’s a closer look at the dust and dirt it had when I brought it home…

The cleaning process turned out to be as success. I want to share the process with you in case you have an old embroidery you’d like to gently clean and refresh without removing it from the frame!

I used the following:

A lint roller
Soft-bristled toothbrush
Baking soda
A vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment

I began by using the lint roller. The reason I started with the lint roller was because I didn’t want to work the vacuum any harder than I had to, since I wanted to be gentle.

The lint roller took so much dust and dirt off the surface! I was surprised that it showed on the backing right away! It lifted a lot.

Next, I sprinkled baking soda over the entire surface (not too heavy) and began cleaning with the soft-bristled toothbrush. Baking soda is great because it cleans and neutralizes odors! Baking soda is an abrasive so the soft-bristled toothbrush is mostly a guide…allow the baking soda to do most of the work!

I highly recommend a soft-bristled toothbrush! The needlework was secure but the threading is still delicate.

I gently scrubbed the baking soda on the backing. I didn’t press down on the brush handle too hard.

When it came time to clean over and around the threading, I was very careful. I did very gentle and short swipes in the direction of the thread. Here, you’ll want to let the baking soda do most of the work. It’s really about just getting the soda in the thread enough to refresh it, but don’t scrub the brush into the thread.

You can let it sit for a little bit if the odors are heavy. That will give the baking soda a little more time to neutralize stronger odors.

Next, I attached the piece with the soft brush onto the vacuum cleaner and the vacuum lifted the baking soda from the embroidery. I used the soft brush attachment to create some space between the embroidery and the vacuum so the suction wasn’t too strong and so the brush wouldn’t cause any snags. My advice is to use the soft brush, not the stiffer brushes! Here, I used the attachment with the soft brushes, meant to dust surfaces.

After vacuuming, I took the fame outside and lightly tapped the back of the frame to get the excess baking soda out, then ran the vacuum over it one more time!

And I decided to gently take the lint roller across it again. I saw the only thing that was left were the loose fuzzy pieces from the threads.