deserving

Kevin's office needed to be seen. However, took all the pictures on my phone so sorry they look grainy and dark/blinding by the light tree. The awesome shows through still.

 This is Kevin's "Oh no no no! It's not ready yet!"

 Game face.

 Shelves. Built by Kevin and Ethan, so HGTV-esque.

 Buzz. He is everywhere.

 Pop of green for pictures and artifacts to call home.

 Desk, former pantry door now painted original, once again by Ethan and Kevin.

Speakers spray painted yellow, and filing cabinets spray painted black. Talk about cool, yea?

love laugh and PAINT.

It seems lately I have slacked off on my blogging, but even in the last trail of blog posts I have failed to include the "Paint" aspect as the title suggests: Love Laugh and Paint. Lots of love and laughing have been happening, but little painting has happened. I was not okay with that fact when I sat down to realize how much I missed the crafty side of my heart. So I went on painting and crafting overload this week to compensate!

First, I am interning at Shades for the entire summer, working with high school girls and investing in those who feel called to ministry. I'm loving the relational time I get to have with the girls, as well as the fun I have being around the office and the people I look up to so much. Last week Kevin Johnson came on staff as the high school boys ministry associate. It's been a party from the second he got here! And first on his to-do list was to decorate his office. Well it was more than decorating really, it was a fullout HGTV-style makeover complete with paint, built-in shelves, a table desk, and a Buzz Lightyear figurine. Oh and also a tree lamp, au natural.

So the HGTV lover in me was eager to contribute and suggest, just like I learned from years of faithfully watching Trading Spaces, Color Splash, Designed to Sell, Dear Genevieve, and the list goes on and on. We painted three walls a charcoal grey, with one red accent wall that matches the other paint in the building. The desk and shelves are a lighter grey, and the accents are bright green and yellow. Very modern, very awesome, and incredibly typical of such a creative guy like Kevy.

This makeover combined with my new interest in a blog called YoungHouseLove inspired me to update my own room at home. After rearranging and cleaning out, I had a lot of pictures and art and little pieces of life that I wanted to display. But I wanted something exciting to match the awesome spree of creativity I found myself in the last week. This particular post from YoungHouseLove about a wall of frames was my inspiration for the arrangement and layout.

First step: paint everything in sight white. Leave nothing behind.

Second step: find things to fill in the frames. I had some pictures that I have just stuck in random places around my room the last year or so, so they were my first choice for filling out the frames. I also have a box of cheesy sentimental things that I sifted through for a few options.

Step three: Once I had everything filled and was feeling pretty content, I started to play around with the layout. I let a small framed picture of my mom and her massive awesome red glasses holding me as a baby be the centerpiece with a shadow box underneath. I just kind of worked my way out from there. I wanted there to be lines within the arrangement but liked the idea of an asymmetrical assortment for the rest of the objects.

Step four: I measured the height and width of the arrangement to figure out where the center should go on the wall above my desk table. From there I just put up the first frame and worked my way around in small portions.

Step five: lots of smiling and a happy heart. I was most pleased with this frame. Ethan and I went on a trip to Idaho with our high school church choir just a week or so after we started dating. As our first trip together, I really loved that memory. I found an atlas in our house and used the page of Idaho as the background for this frame. I put a picture inside from our trip, and just smiled at the memories of the beginning of our relationship (three years ago next week! woop!)

I also liked the idea from YoungHouseLove to interchange some of the pictures and objects in the frames. This way its a working, moveable piece of artwork that is special to me. I can add or take away, replace but keep the things I really love. I have a feeling the atlas/picture frame isn't going away ever! I also love the picture of me and Ethan at Homecoming my senior year before we were even dating. Who knew what potential would come from such good friends!