There Ain't No Old Lady Up In This Here Shoe

I figured before I really dove deep into sharing the creative recesses of my wishing well of an imagination, that I would share a little bit of my home life and my daily surroundings. First and foremost, COLOR is a huge part of not only my wardrobe but apparently my walls...my house is a color cluster-muck of unhindered taste. Orange living room, red kitchen, yellow office (and bathroom), a robin's egg blue guest bedroom, and a green bedroom so potent they named the color after a cartoon: Fern Gully. That's right ya'll, I live in a rain forest. Be jealous.

My brother informed me after seeing all of my deliciously decorated splendor (my words, not his) that if he didn't know any better he'd never think a single white female lived there. Which I just found hilarious, oddly complimentary, and mostly just awesome. Its not my house - Es mi casa, ¿entiendes?

If there's one thing I like to do, its to not do like others. So if the colors I used in my house are any indication to the types of colors I like to art it up with, well then you should never be bored...hopefully.

The living room is perhaps my favorite room in my house. I love my color combinations and my furniture. I found my TV stand at the Rescue Mission for $19. It's actually an old buffet. Its amazing what removing some tacky embellishments, adding legs, a few handles, knobs, sanding the schnikes out of it, and putting on a few coats of good quality paint will do. 

My movie cabinet (which is situated next the Rastafarian masque I made) actually came from Forsyth (If I remember correctly) from the upstairs of an old bar my dad was remodeling. It was a wardrobe closet when the bar had a hotel upstairs. My dad actually brought it home for my mom, who is letting me use it. I re-painted it, but its actually pretty close to the original color, mine is just cheerier. And let me tell you, that thing is heav-y! They sure knew how to build a piece of furniture back in the day... not like this chinsey partical board stuff you pay out the whazoo for these days.

Carrying on... Portraits! Portraits have always been a favorite thing of mine. To look at, to study, to doodle. Although lately my portraits are kind of a "horse of a different color" sorta thing. My portraits have no faces and definitely have more dialogue... and usually include a body or two. Thereby laying out the obvious differences of my portraits to a normal portrait. Part of my daily inspiration comes from a wall of portraits in my living room. I actually cut apart a book to get these. Don't worry, it was bought and paid for. It was comprised of people of so many different cultural backgrounds and such different looks, that I couldn't stand just having them occasionally flipped through and looked at while collecting dust on my non-existent coffee table. I needed to walk by them on a daily basis. I have the same intention to do this same thing in my office but that room is not quite finished, and by finished I obviously mean messy, hence no pictures.

Also, I have a thing for goldfish... real ones, not the crackers. Although, they are quite tastey... the crackers, not the real ones. I like them so much I felt it necessary to have them swimming from my ceiling. Imagine my surprise when I found a boat load of goldfish Christmas ornaments this year. I bought the lot of them. JACKPOT! 

Ironically, and quite awesomely, this house is the very first house I lived in. My brothers grew up here, and after 
I was born we stayed for another 3 years. When we moved to Laurel, my parents kept it and used it as a rental property. Twenty years later when I was desperately house hunting after graduating college and becoming increasingly depressed because I couldn't find anything to "house" all of my schtuff, the house was available at precisely the right moment and BAM! It became my domain, and I absolutely adore it!

My kitchen was a fun room to put together. My dad, the master carpenter that he is, built all of the wood cabinets you see pictured when he and my mom bought the place in the late '70's. I definitely needed a color to compliment them - so obviously I went with Chili Pepper Red, which is sort of a deep coral color. The photos really don't do this room any justice. Who needs coffee when your walls are this bright eh? Also, as you can tell, in these pictures and the ones of my sleeping quarters - I love red and green - especially TOGETHER. They are complimentary colors, so they always look good together, no matter their shade. They are, Simply. Fabulous. Man I love reiteration. 

Maybe some of this will give you a little insight into myself. If not, well then I got a chance to show off my house a little bit. I'm awfully proud of it. I don't show it off for just anyone... well, I didn't use to.

Cheerio!