Sometimes the hardest thing about keeping up with this blog is taking time to stop painting! Getting ready to take off to the other side of the planet and one of my priorities was painting cotton knit dresses for family. Painting clothing items is what started my business way back when.

What does this have to do with Interior Design? Inspiration! Discovered on a back shelf was a supply of beautiful Textile Dyes that I had yet to experiment with and test.

Techniques with these dyes provide new texture and depth to the hand painted cotton canvas pillow covers as well as the dresses. A primary color used for a design will change according to its surrounding color, for example, when a red dye is applied to a stamp; it looks completely different when placed upon a blue background than on an orange. Different textures are also generated with both color of the dyes and designs of the stamps. Using various shaped stamps with the same dye produces an entirely new effect when combined on a single piece of canvas.

When decorating a home or hotel, often it just takes a small focus on a certain color already existing in a room to accent and compliment (or contrast). Painted canvas cushion covers that pick up a base color of a surrounding rug can give a tired couch a fresh new look. Another option is using a particular color on hand painted canvas pillow covers ...an easy way to add color and freshen up a couch instead of changing the upholstery. These new textile dyes add a new dimension to the art of hand painted canvas.

The fun with experimenting for hand painted canvas décor items and using new materials such as textile dyes is the variety of effects it produces. Simply using a single color and implementing different painting techniques on a canvas rug or a canvas cushion cover...or a cotton knit dress, will present surprising and exciting results. All you need to know is how you want the decor to "feel" and color can translate it into a myriad of ideas to express it.

Almost everyone loves “Before and After” pictures; it gives us inspiration for new beginnings, a fresh look. Often it takes something as simple as a fresh coat of paint on the wall but what about something different? How about a fresh coat of paint on canvas pillow cushion covers?

 Living in a wood house on a farm surrounded by tropical nature, I originally decorated my front porch with a touch of flora to reflect the natural surroundings. Painted fresh fern leaves were pressed onto a canvas rug accenting the brown of the wood deck and the greens and golds from nearby foliage and canvas pillow cushion covers were hand painted to match the rug. The natural material of the canvas rug and canvas cushion pillow covers provided a one-with-nature appeal and natural décor.

 But then I needed a pick me up! You know that feeling when you just want/need a change?

 So I thought, why not redecorate the porch? I am, after all, in the Interior Design business. Why not give the porch some punch and go bright and colorful?

 We made new 100% cotton canvas pillow cushion covers and painted them with a water based acrylic in a pale turquoise color, with a simple design in the centers of some of the cushions in bright tomato red. The turquoise cushions contrasted with the wood, rather than blend in, and gave the porch area a bright and cheery punch!  And of course, a new hand painted canvas rug was created to work with my new porch décor.

 The finishing touch was repainting a coffee table with a bright fire engine red to match the red in the design of the pillow covers. When using bright colors I wanted all the parts to compliment without an overwhelming amount of colors clashing, which is why I used only two bright colors.

 People are always commenting on my porch décor. A simple change of painted canvas pillow cushion covers along with a painted canvas rug provided the needed change and everyone seems to enjoy and appreciate the cheeriness…including me.

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Leslie’s hand painted tropical fruit canvas wall hanging is complete and on its way via mail to its home in Southern California.  

The tropics not only offer a plethora of colorful plants, flowers and birds, but the fruits are also colorful and delicious! Now perhaps the deliciousness does not translate in a painting, but the colors are divine. This will probably set me off into a whole tropical fruit phase, mangos, melons, guanabana, cas, tamarindo, bananas, papaya…to be expressed in a canvas rug or a canvas wall hanging. 

Our clients in Costa Rica love the tropical plant life and the
Banana tree design has become a new favorite. Many clients are finding our painted canvas rugs just as pretty on their walls as on the floor. These can easily cover large wall areas using a variety of patterns to pull a room together; using panels of painted tropical plants offers a taste of nature inside the home.  

A painted canvas wall hanging such as Leslie’s does not have a frame per se; it was painted with two borders to give the effect of being framed and matted. By painting more than one border the finished wall décor has a finished look.  

There are different ways to display a painted canvas wall hanging. The upper hem can be made wider so that a dowel, rod or even bamboo can slip through and attach to anchors on the wall, like those for curtains. Or using a decorative cord secured to the dowel or bamboo rod that can be attached to a hook. For long panels, a heavier rod should be added through a bottom hem to give weight and make the canvas wall hanging, well, hang!

 Hand painted canvas wall hangings are a great design option for wall décor and for bringing nature’s beauty inside…be it tropical fruits, flowers…whatever your imagination can conjure up!