Accessible Art – COZAMIA

We are just finishing up a small interior design project where we helped the client liven and warm up her super contemporary space. One way we did this was by infusing some bright, yet affordable contemporary art.

We found this really cool art print from COZAMIA, an online source that features original digital prints by artist Nancy Ramirez.

Nancy describes her theory behind forming the abstract combinations.

“I love to explore the relationship between abstract, hand painted patterns and the more rigid conforms of digital art, the combination of these two things allow me to create strong and modern yet beautiful art full of life and energy.”

ReDecked

Is it weird to say how sore I am? Those muscles underneath your armpits, you know, where you (women) sort of get that bra bulge – those muscles are killing me! To preface, I am a little lazy with the exercise, but do get a decent run, long walk with the dog, or some kickboxing in my routine a couple of times a week. But, scrubbing, painting, yard work, and all sorts of other manual labor are hard. Hard, I tell you! Oh, but the end results are well worth how old your body makes you feel. I need to toughen up anyway if I’m going to be a farmer’s wife.

One such result was transforming our worn and ragged (and sort of boring) deck into a nice extension of our dining room.

Check out this old guy. He’d seen several winters and spring rains and was looking worse for the wear.

After sweeping away mountains of annoying helicopters, scrubbing it down, putting one coat of gray stain – in a solid finish so it almost looks like paint, filling cracks with wood putty, and staining an additional coat, the deck looks like this.

Cheap, Fast, or Good

I’m sure you have all heard the old adage about the Cheap, Fast, and Good triangle. Basically it says: a person starting a project – especially a design project – can get a finished result that is only two out of the three points of the triangle. One can never get all three.

So, your options are Fast and Cheap, Fast and Good, or Good and Cheap. If you are looking for Fast, Cheap and Good, it’s not going to happen.

This rule completely applies to interior design. Sure, you can bang out a project incredibly fast, but if you want it to look really good, it’s not going to be cheap. Contractors, shipping companies, and vendors will move faster than average, but you better start adding additional zeros to those checks. You have to pay for special treatment. On the other hand, you can thrift and search for the best deals and the end result can still be amazing. I’m sure you noticed, though, that you don’t get that option super fast. The final choice is to breeze through decorating a room and spend hardly a penny, then probably hate everything and end up with a lot of buyer’s remorse because you didn’t take the time to do your research.

My suggestion is to get out of those extreme points and head more toward the middle. You can do things a little slower, spend a little bit of money, and end up with something fantastic in the end.

Here are some tips, touching on all three triangle points:

• Give yourself a budget so you don’t spend without a limit in mind, but don’t be an absolute freak about it. If you find something that you love, love, love and it’s fairly expensive, go ahead and splurge. Just know that your indulgent piece probably pushed your timeline back on finishing your design project. Then wait before going ahead and give yourself some time to recoup that overage in the budget. Once you can get back on track, move forward with more purchases.
• On the flip side, you should give yourself a timeline. Again, don’t be super rigid about it. It helps to have an idea of an end goal, but if you need to take more time to get it right, then do it!
• Don’t pay exorbitant prices on items that don’t have to be the highest quality. This will help you avoid endlessly decorating one room, always waiting for that perfect piece. It also helps you not spend a fortune on everything, while never paying attention to a budget. Good places to save are on smaller accessories like throw pillows, trays, small accent furniture and interesting knick-knacks. There are endless sources for all of these at retailers like Target, HomeGoods, and Marshall’s and also at garage sales, thrift stores, and antique malls.

Now, get decorating!