Guestpost: celebrating and Making Sakura

Note: If you would like to guest post @ ArtMind please contact me (mitsy@artmind.eu) and I'll send you the 'how-to-blog@ArtMind' -info.

By Greg from StylishHome

image by photographybykarina

Where I live we are having a late spring, but the cherry trees have just come out in full bloom. We have them throughout the city and they got me to thinking about their deep and rich history, particularly in Japan.
In English, “sakura” refers to the Japanese flowering cherry and “hanami” is the centuries-old practice of picnicking under a blooming sakura tree. Today, millions visit parks and gardens to see the sakura and celebrate. The sakura is a cultural institution in Japan and can be found in art, décor, clothing, and gardens. Most Japanese schools and public buildings have sakura trees planted outside. The cherry blossoms have come to represent the ephemeral nature of life. Their beauty and short life are often associated with our own mortality. The beautiful trees really make you stop and appreciate life, especially in light of the recent natural disasters in Japan. In that spirit, 100% of proceeds from the above sakura photo will be donated to Japan via the Swedish Red Cross. Who wouldn’t want to picnic under one of these beauties?!

Top left: Called “Down the Rabbit Hole,” this looks positively enchanting.
Top right: Morning light on a row of cherry trees.
Bottom left: Cherry trees in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France.
Bottom right: Classic pink cherry blossoms with a great film look.

A picnic wouldn’t be complete without a nice cup of tea. Why not take several teacups with you and enjoy the afternoon with friends.

Top left: Ceramic clay teacup to keep your tea warm on a cool spring day.
Top right: The sakuras are hand-painted by Japanese artisans.
Bottom left: Very delicate hand-painted cherry blossoms.
Bottom right: Small bird and sakura with gold accents.

Feeling relaxed and rejuvenated yet? What a perfect time to put your skills and energy into your own beautiful sakura creation. You can create elegant décor items with sakura fabric. The blossom patterns are beautiful all year round. What will you create?

Top left: This Yuzen Chirimen silk fabric is gorgeous. Made by a kimono-dyeing artisan in Kyoto.
Top right: The rubber stamp material is imported from Japan.
Bottom left: Bright and classic sakura patterns.
Bottom right: A tonal yarn reminiscent of cherry blossoms.

Five ways you can help earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan.

Guestpost: Guest Bedroom Design Inspiration

Note: If you would like to guest post @ ArtMind please contact me (mitsy@artmind.eu) and I'll send you the 'how-to-blog@ArtMind' -info.

By Greg from StylishHome

Interior design inspiration can come from almost anywhere—a photo, a story, a movie or a design catalog. Today we’re going to use Vincent van Gogh’s “Bedroom in Arles (Amsterdam)” for inspiration and our decorating starting point. We chose it because we really like the colors, simple lines, and the era portrayed by it. We thought it would be great if we could replicate some of the feeling in the painting in our guest bedroom.

Since Vincent van Gogh (born 1853, died 1890) painted during a time when most things were still handmade, we thought it would be interesting to furnish our bedroom with as many handmade items as possible.

Before we started looking for just anything handmade, we used the color palette maker at StylishHome to create a nice design palette based on the painting’s colors. We’ll use it for reference as we look for furnishings. You can see Vincent van Gogh was a master with the RYB color wheel!

To start furnishing our guest bedroom, we found a beautiful handmade nightstand ($400) made from reclaimed barn wood. It feels as though it could have been used by van Gogh himself. It was made by an artisan on Etsy.

Even a simple guest bedroom needs a mirror and we found these two ($85) from an Etsy seller. We also found several other nice handmade wall mirrors here from Etsy artisans.

The deep red hues and weathering on the mirror frames are fantastic.

Of course we want our guests to sleep comfortably and we found a really unique set of handmade headboards ($725) made from upcycled shutters. This will get your guests’ attention.

No guest room is complete without a coat rack ($24). Made from reclaimed barn wood from the 1880s it adds real character.

We think guests would appreciate a nice area rug to keep their feet warm and make the room quieter. We liked this beautiful hand-woven rug made from upcycled cloth. We found a number of other blue handmade indoor rugs from Etsy artisans in various sizes which would also look great.

What about the pictures on the wall? Well, we’re thinking of framing a print of the Van Gogh that provided our inspiration. It’s a portrait of Van Gogh’s own bedroom where he hung his own work on the walls. It would make a terrific conversation starter, “You’ll be staying in our Van Gogh room.”