Spring 2018 One Room Challenge - Week 5: state of the art

Just one more week to go with our Calling it Home and House Beautiful's One Room Challenge and I'm happy to say we are finished! If you are new to the challenge or my progress throughout be sure to take a look at Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4. We've been hard a work transforming our stairway into a beautiful and functional 12 foot library wall and art gallery. This week was all about the "pretty" - styling bookshelves with books and a few pieces of pottery, layering in floral arrangements and hanging art.

We've had our family gallery wall in our stairway for a few years now only with a turquoise backdrop and it was time for a change. We couldn't imagine our home without our family photos but didn't want to compete with our library wall filled with colourful books. We opted for a smaller gallery this time with a white backdrop thanks to Benjamin Moore's "Cloud White". It still looks really pretty but has a much cleaner look than before.

Next we needed to hang some art on the opposite side of the stairway. I had a few pieces from thrift stores and antique fairs and bought a few new additions from Jenny's Print Shop. I pulled them all into the stairway landing to get a feel for them in the space. Again, not wanting to compete with the library wall, only a select few would be displayed.

"london" & "tulips by lynne millar from Jenny's print shop

antique & thrift store art with a beautiful painting by lynne millar front & centre

Last year I purchased my very first Anna Kincaide print - I fell in love with her unique feminine yet modern style and her hand embellishing is absolutely beatiful. This spring I purchased "This is not about us" and knew I wanted to feature it in this space.

framing options at the Shadowbox in orillia, ontario

In our lower stairway there was also room for a small gallery wall but felt like it might be too much. We opted for a single oil painting by Orillia artist Ingrid Seyffer - a purchase from "Starry Night" (an annual evening art celebration in Orillia) a few years ago.

Painting by Orillia artist Ingrid Seyffer

Last but certainly not least, I really wanted to feature a few pieces of art on the library wall itself. I thought about hanging some directly on the shelves but opted instead for a few smaller pieces including two daffodil paintings by the amazing Lynn Millar and a small floral painting on canvas by my daughter Lily.

I also added a few pieces of Canadian made Beauceware pottery collected at yard sales to add interest and break up all the hard edges from the shelves, books and paintings.

To further soften hard edges the final touches in all of my designs are fresh flowers. I purchase flowers that are in season from Ontario growers or grow them myself in my garden. We had such a late start to spring this year in Ontario with a blizzard and ice storm that only a few tiny daffodils are up in my garden right now. Thanks to Mid Valley Gardens I was able to pick up my spring favourites - ranunculus and anemones - as well as a few daffodils.

anemones & ranunculus from Mid Valley Gardens

Just a few final days left of selecting and editing photos taken by my friend Lorna and writing my very last post for this One Room Challenge and it's a wrap! I've been following quite a few other guest participants as well as featured designers and am so excited to read every final post on Wednesday and Thursday! Please take a look at their amazing spaces - you won't want to miss their reveals.