I got a wild hair and pulled out that massive canvas the other night. I coated it with a lightened shade of the accent color in our living room–a muted aqua–then painted a simple floral similar to the one that is on our living room throw pillows.

I love painting; it’s so soothing to me. and it was a perfect respite to pass the time while my husband worked late that night.

I was making good progress, but I just wasn’t feeling it. So when hubs got home, we talked about it and decided it was too matchy-matchy. And I detest matchy-matchy. I mean, it goes, but it goes too well. I don’t want our house to end up looking like we ordered one of everything from a certain collection in a fingerhut catalog or something. Ugh.

So I decided to go a different direction with the canvas. But rather than just painting over it, I posted a pic on my facebook page the next morning and said if anyone wanted it, they could have it; just replace the canvas.

And you know what? I had not one taker. Not a one. Not even an, “it’s nice; wish we had room for it.”

And then it dawned on me: I had made hotel art.

Hotel art is the flat beige of the art world, designed to blend in and disappear. It’s functional, not interesting, made to fill in a space, not open your eyes.

Yuck.

I need to remember that a well-decorated home is like a well-assembled outfit. Neutrals are okay, as long as they don’t take over. Matching is efficient, but it’s the pop of color that takes a look to the next level. Balance is nice, but it’s a little asymmetry that adds style.

Somebody slap me outta this creative daze, y’all, ’cause this cannot happen again.

*SLAP!* [ou-wwwwwwwww-ch] Hey! I was being figurative. Oi.

So I’m curious, where do y’all go when your eyes & art need a little creative shake-up?

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