agate slice wall art

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Check me out, guys:

It’s art. On my wall.  And it’s PINK.

I spend so much time around this house thinking about flooring and walls and trim. But it’s a rare opportunity to see art actually hanging. It’s a punch to the eye… in a good way. And I love it. You can see it right as you’re walking up the stairs to the bedrooms:

Let’s recap:

The walls were repainted from a medium tan to a light gray that basically attracts light like One Direction attracts Twitter psycho fans*. I am forever happy that I chose to lighten these walls up (Gee, thanks, me! You really get me sometimes). For those wondering, the paint color is called White Dove (Benjamin Moore matched to Behr paint). And as of this weekend, I’ve finally finished the final coat on the walls.

On a recent trip to Hilton Head, I hit a gold mine (pun?) of a rock & mineral store. I spent a good hour in there at least, perusing all of the bins and cubbies that showcased geodes, agate slices, and the occasional carving. In other words, I geeked out a little. Then, I spotted this:

Jackpot. Four agate slices for only five bucks. The hot pink samples struck me right away, and I spent a good fifteen minutes picking and choosing the four that I wanted to take home. Pink isn’t normally a color I gravitate to, but I knew it would work with the pale walls and really pop. Also, I tend to get a little overly perfectionist with picking multiples of things. I wanted imperfect, but not broken. Similar sizes, but variation. Bright color, but a good balance of the unique attributes in each piece. That whole “random” look is ridiculously hard for me when I have this much to choose from. Eventually, I wrapped them up and left the store (after another three stops during the walk out to look at more stuff).

I picked out two different sizes of picture frames at Ikea about a month later. I’d completely forgotten how big the pieces were (shrug), so I wasn’t sure how much negative space I’d need in the rest of the frame for me to like the look. I knew whichever frame didn’t work out for this project, I’d use the other later, so no big deal if I got both. (But you should probably take the slices with you if you’re trying to get only one frame.)

When it came to assembly, eyeballing was the name of the game. I opened up the frame and cut out a piece of poster board to fit inside. Then I used a pencil to mark four equally spaced dots along the middle; they need to be very light since the agate slices are transparent. A small blob of plain glue kept each piece in place, but the slices are pretty securely wedged between the glass and back of the frame. Then I eyeballed the placement on the wall, placed a few nails, and used my iPhone app to check for level.

Easy. And lazy. And fabulous in pink. Insert your own joke here.

Charlie wasn’t very impressed with my new hallway art, but she was very interested in what I was doing with the tripod on the stairs. Those ears have their own zip code.

When looking at the wall from a wider angle, there is still plenty more space that needs to be filled in. I have a plan for the opposite wall and maybe something under the frame, but just like this project, it will take its own sweet time. For now, clean fresh walls + clean geek art = happy girl.

 

*Funny note: when Googling “crazy Twitter followers” for this post, the first search result was Amanda Bynes.

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18 Comments

  1. How pretty! I love the pink!

    And I totally get your trouble with the whole ‘random but cohesive’ look. It’s a style I love so much but it is hard to do! Darn those stylists who make it look so easy!!

  2. Where in Hilton Head is the store? I’d love to get some agate, too.
    We’re going in August.
    Thanks so much.

  3. For a second there, I was a little worried. Sarah, UDH and pink are not words one would find in the same sentence. I thought ”Oh no! Did the schoolwork affect her? Did she finally lose it? Was a room suddenly ‘pink’?” After a few sentences, my relief emerged. Awesome looking project! I love the crispness of it. For all the meaning of the word ‘random’, it is sometimes a very difficult thing to accomplish and make it look like it just happened. Keep up the good work! And Charlie Bug, keep up the photo bombs, you only complement your mama’s hard work.

  4. Cute, cute, cute! I love how bright they look on those walls. It’s like an instant mood enhancer right there on your walls :)

  5. Absolutely LOVE this! Spotted it on pinterest earlier and was smitten. So clean and pretty.

  6. I love your art and actually I love your blog! I am a faithful reader although I probably don’t comment enough. One thing that really annoys me is that you have ‘pin it’ buttons on all your photos. I can see if they are finished photos or after photos, or great ideas etc. but every minor photo seems to be over kill.

    1. Thanks for the feedback! Sorry about that. That feature is through a plugin, so it’s kind of an all or nothing thing. Trying to code the pictures more specifically would take a lot more time, so I chose it out of convenience. I’ll look into making the button smaller or something so it’s still there for those who want it.

  7. Nicely done, the use of the pink makes it pop off the white but none of them are a solid pink. Lots of little variations in each piece. I like it!

  8. I’m going through a major love affair with pink and have been adding agate slowly [not by choice in the slow department]. this is heaven on earth for me. I love it. I want more. Keep on, agate warrior, keep on.

  9. ok, i know this is nuts, but ::

    paint the smoke alarm above it a crazy color. like a teal or something, to make it into art.
    i think it’d be neat!

    weird, yes. but still cool.

  10. Girl! I so love your artistic mind. We are so alike, sometimes my husband doesn’t understood what I was doing with a certain thing, oh well… only artist can appreciate the “craziness” of our crazy ideas LOL. BTW, you’re a good house painter too haha! The wall is well painted, neat and clean! 2 Thumbs up!!!

  11. Love this. Doing this.
    Just started cutting out my raindrop art yesterday…slowly working my way though your. whole. blog.
    Loving it, you are so cute!