Warm Décor

When Becky Tiland began painting the small mural in her home, her husband and son were a little worried. After all, cheetah spots aren’t exactly, well, a guy thing. The colors seemed a bit bright, the pattern a bit busy. But Tiland had a vision and she was willing to see it through.

Tiland had a small picture from Art in Motion. It featured one of her favorite words, chocolate, at the center of a simple design and frame. She’d owned it for a couple of years and was ready to create a new home for it. The wall she envisioned it on was large enough to hold two or three pictures. Tiland considered the option of adding another picture to create a grouping. Then her daring nature took over the project.

“I just painted cheetah spots and harlequin diamonds on the wall to border the chocolate sign,” Tiland said. “It sounds tacky, but it turned out pretty good.”

One must admit with this project, seeing is believing. The simply framed picture could have hung innocently on the wall and received the occasional comment of, “My, what a cute picture.” Instead, it is now the centerpiece of a mural that has the power to wow.

The harlequin pattern immediately surrounding the picture was the hardest part of the project. “It took a lot of time to measure off the diamonds,” Tiland said. A hand-painted border created the look of molding around the diamonds. Painting the cheetah spots to border the whole project was simple — just some freeform strokes of paint and a touch of bravery.

Tiland purchased inexpensive craft paints to match the colors in the original piece of art. To tone down the bright colors, she thinned down three shades of paint — the background color, dark brown and white — to antique the entire mural. “The antiquing gives it lighter and darker qualities that add depth,” Tiland said. “It’s the finishing touches, the details, that make something complete.”

The chocolate picture received a metamorphosis. A small, cutesy piece of art became a dramatic 50-inch wide mural. It’s adventurous. It’s high-end. It’s a finishing touch that anyone can add to their home.

“Once I finished the mural, my son realized how much he really liked it,” Tiland said. “You can’t stress until it’s done. And then you paint it over if you don’t like it.”

This isn’t Tiland’s first adventure in decorating. As co-owner of Rustic Impres-sions in Stanwood, Tiland has taken on painting walls and adding color splashes to the dark corners of her rooms.

When the seasons change, she’s willing to try out a new look in her home. “You don’t necessarily have to go and buy all this stuff,” Tiland said. “You can change up something and repurpose it.”

To bring in the elements of autumn, Tiland suggests rethinking your candlesticks.

At Rustic Impressions, Tiland and her business partner, Pat Powell, placed ceramic pears on the tops of three candleholders, layered at three different heights.

The effect: an instant touch of nature’s harvest.

Another element found within the store that lends itself to autumn’s theme is a grouping of shutters, painted black, that provide a beautiful backdrop for fall-themed artwork.

“You don’t have to place a piece of art in an ordinary spot,” Tiland said. “It doesn’t have to be where you expect it to be.”

Within her own home, Tiland has added more of nature’s landscape to warm her rooms. “I found two seven-foot metal gates and stood them in front of our wainscoting.” A table and chair sit in front. “I like it so much better than having pictures on the wall.”

These simple touches and Tiland’s willingness to change things from room to room allow her to add the warmth of the fall season to each of her rooms. “There are so many interesting things you can do,” she said.

Adriann Wade, owner of Serendipity Home Decor in Marysville, is also a proponent of trying new looks in your home to greet a new season. She reaffirms Tiland’s viewpoint of changing-out art to create a warm new look in a room.

“Art is such a conversation piece in the home,” Wade said. “If you entertain a lot, it gives something new for people to talk about.”

According to Wade, changing out art can be as simple as adding new pictures to your frames or finding a frame at a discount store for a picture you already own. “If you’re creative and want to paint something you like, even if it’s just taking a piece of poster board and painting one or two solid colors then framing it, you can have an abstract piece of art,” she said.

Wade’s business focuses on the softer side of home decor. Customers choose from custom bedding that will fit through all the seasons of the year. “We make our duvets reversible, so one side can be for spring and summer, then the other side for fall and winter,” Wade said.

“A duvet cover is a case that goes over your down comforter or polyester insert,” she explained. “Even if you have an old bed-in-the-bag comforter that you don’t like, you can throw a duvet cover over it for a new look.”

Wade’s clients also turn to using throws and pillows to bring in the colors of fall. “Layering is a big thing that’s an easy way to change a look,” Wade said. “You can add unexpected textures with pillows and coverlets.” You can also fold back the sheets and duvet to add extra texture and color to your bedroom.

By creating layers, you allow your eyes to fill in the void. “When you look at a group of pillows tossed in front of each other, you can’t see the fullness of any pillow except for the ones in front. But you still get to enjoy the beauty of the rest of them even though you’re missing parts of them,” Wade said. “It almost makes it more intriguing because your eyes are drawn into the full scene.”

If you plan to add new colors to your room’s walls, Wade encourages you to choose your fabric items first before choosing your paint colors. “There are infinite choices in paint colors and there’s a limited selection of fabrics and rugs,” she said. “By pulling one piece that you love, something that you’ll have in your house year round, you can choose paint colors from it.”

According to Wade, the colors need not be an exact match to your design inspiration.

Another tidbit of advice: “It’s better if your paint color has a bit of a muddy quality to it or it’s grayed down a bit to make the color a little less intense.” Walls are meant to be a backdrop. “You’re not supposed to see them first,” Wade said. “Your furniture and accessories should come forward, so the walls should be somewhat natural-feeling.”

A recent client of Serendipity had a room filled with taupes and browns. “It was a pretty neutral canvas that seemed like it was missing something,” Wade said. “We layered in accents of red and even a little bit of purple.” The bold colors made subtle appearances in the colors of the artwork, in the furniture’s pillows and in pieces of glass art.