A Matter of Scale

The bed in the master bedroom has given us fits since day one.

This is how it looked in the realtors’ photos.  It was a little dated, but not bad. We’d add some warmth and bring it into the 21st century.

Then as we’re moving in, the MR sends me a cryptic text that “the bed is king”.  What is that supposed to mean? Well, our queen-size mattress was woefully small on the built-in platform.  https://bigwhitehouseonthehill.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/206/ highlighted how a new mattress got rid of the hop-skip-and-jump of getting in and out of bed.

The MR had already painted the wall behind our bed making the navy shower seem intentional.  Now we just need new bed linens and updated artwork.

The MR headed off to Europe for a few weeks in 2013, and I went shopping and brought home what I thought would be a better piece for over the bed.  It had blues and yellows with a nice strong horizontal layout. I picked it up at Cost Plus on sale.  It was perfect—sort of.

As you can see, it’s a little small for the space.  That’s why when we were at a gallery back in February, we started looking for art for over the bed.  Something to fill the space with a little more presence. We found the perfect piece, but it was too tall and too much, so we kept looking.

Last week, I shared our lovely Etsy find for the great room/entry alcove.  Well, that same night we found a bold graphic painting from itarts on Etsy.  It was the perfect size, a great price, and we could support a local artist—in Hungary. Sometimes I miss these important details.  The canvas was being sent from Europe in a tube; this was going to require some work.

I went to a local art supply shop.  They don’t stretch and mount canvasses, but they’d be glad to give me some tips.  Well, this painting is 3×6-feet.  I didn’t want this to be my beginning art project.  I wound up at the local Ben Franklin, and 10 days later it was ready.

I don’t miss driving the old minivan often, but Friday as I was hunched over the steering wheel with barely room to breath so my painting wouldn’t get crushed in the cargo area, I remembered it fondly.

And now, we have a new painting over our bed.

From this angle, it looks a little crooked, but it’s not.  The MR had out the level and everything.  As you can see, the silver candleholders have been moved.  I had an incident fluffing pillows that led to picking up glass and changing sheets.  Maybe a nice wood vase in white and navy would finish off the headboard.

I was hoping the sunshine would highlight the metallic glints in the painting. The problem is, I’m not in charge of the weather.  While it wasn’t technically raining when I took these photos, it was overcast and thinking about raining.

The old picture hasn’t found a home just yet.  I was thinking it could join the silver candleholders that survived my bed making skills over the bookcases in the bathroom. If that doesn’t work out, we can always hang it over the TV.

Where do you find your artwork?  Ever supported struggling artists in Hungary?

(Looking back at the beginning photos, it’s fun to see all the changes.  The weird lights are gone, we have the fresh navy wall color, the ugly mauve tile is a thing of the past, instead of fabric panels for privacy (or nothing for the exhibitionist former owners) we have blinds. So much more than paintings have changed in the past four years. I did really like the super low angle the professional used for the bedroom.  I’m going to steal that idea in the future.)