Want Ideas For Getting Parisian Style Into Your Home?

Paris is on the top of my list as the most romantic place I have ever been.  I left there with a new found love of Parisian style. I am not talking about French Country style, or the latest trends happening in Paris; I fell for the authentic Parisian feel incorporating Baroque and Rococo style (elaborate and ornamental design).  The kind of look you find at the Ritz in Paris.  Watch my TV segment on Ways to Get Parisian Style Into Your Home and I will share a very personal love story about myself, review photos of the Ritz, and how you can get this look in your own home inexpensively.  


Here is a DIY project I explain in the segment:

Bring in the opulence you would see in an old chateau by adding a gilded effect.  Using gold metallic paint and a stencil (fleur de lis is a popular French symbol), create a gilded look on walls, trim work, and crown molding.  Add gold metallic paint to the carved in areas of woodwork and furniture.  CLICK HERE to see this video.

My Website Gets A NEW Look

It's June so it is warm, but not as HOT as the makeover my website received!  LYR received a major face lift.  Along with many important changes, I have also now incorporated a blog into my new site where I will be posting journal entries and media information.  I will still use this blog for all my DIY interior design projects, and won't forget to give it hugs and kisses.  Check it out- CLICK HERE!

And don't forget to tune into WFMZ-TV 69 News Wednesday, June 15 at 8:40 am for tips on creating a Parisian styled room.  Oh la la!!

Kids Outdoor Paint Project

Meanwhile, I have a fun idea to do outdoors with your kids!  Painting still life!  Still life painting simply means using inanimate subject matter, like an arrangement of flowers, a bowl of fruit, or anything that you can set up, and paint.  The painter can give a straight forward representation of the object(s) or interpret it into something imaginative!  You and your child can study their shape, where the light falls and the shadows the objects in relation to the other objects being used.  Some of the most famous artists have used still life art including Paul Cezanne and Vincent Van Gogh!

I introduced my daughter to still life painting last weekend and was taken back by her imagination.  We used stuffed animals and a shoe.  Below is my mini Van Gogh finishing up her still life interpretation of her shoe.

All you need for this project is a canvas board, pencil, paint, paint brush, paper plates to mix your paints, and a cup filled with water.  Set up your still life, sketch it on the canvas board, then paint!  We did a series of 6 that I will hang together in my kids' playroom.