A Room of Your Own

A room featuring wallpaper designed by artist Hunt Slonem.

If you could design a room of your own what would it look like? One of my favorite painters, Hunt Slonem enjoys painting birds and bunnies. He decided to collaborate with a fabric and wallpaper company to make wall coverings and pillows and curtains rather than just putting his art in a frame.

A detail of Hunt Slonem's wallpaper. The frames aren't real! This is a trompe l'oeil technique which means tricking the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object such as picture frame in this example.

When I was young I always shared a room with my one of my sisters. My Mom didn't want me to hang posters on the wall. The pillows, comforter, sheets and furniture in our room was handed down by my parents or other family members. I didn't have much choice when it came down to how my room looked.

Can you guess which one is me? I'm about 6 years old in this photo.

I liked sharing a room with one of my sisters because we could stay up late laughing and telling stories. If my sister had a bad dream I would tell her a story or sing a funny song to make her feel better. When I went to college my Mom helped me sew a special quilt and pillows with cafe inspired fabric. I didn't have a lot of spending money when I was a student in Rome but I created a beautiful collage using images from Italian Vogue and Glamour to express my personality and interest in fashion.

Detail of a Clothespin Collage in my home studio

As an adult I still love using collages to decorate my own spaces. Here I've collected a velour rose from a cafe in Milan, a postcard from the Yves Saint Laurent museum in Paris, a postcard from my first art show in Durham, a watercolor illustration of a Gucci sneaker and a postcard of Salvador Dali's lip couch. I like using clothespins because it makes it easy to add or subtract pictures or change them.

On another wall I've combined images from magazines as well as paintings by my daughter with a museum postcard.

Activity 1 Build a Collage

1. Make a collage of things that are important to you or make you smile or think. You can cut images from magazines, newspapers or use old ticket stubs. Try to find a variety of shapes and sizes. Be sure to talk to your family before you start cutting up magazines. You can also add some of your own drawings or paintings into the mix. Words can also be an interesting way to build a collage. You can add speech bubbles or poems to your composition.

2. Before you glue your pieces, try moving them around the paper until it looks the way you like. Don't worry if your first collage doesn't look right. This takes practice and you want it to be fun.

3. Glue your images to a piece of paper or a piece of cardboard (have an adult help you take a piece of a cardboard box and cut off a rectangular panel. You can cut multiple pieces from a single box to use for different projects.

4. Show your collage to someone at home. Ask them if they recognize certain images or how the collage makes them feel. Bonus * Write a short story about what is happening in your collage!

Activity 2 Build a Room!

I didn't have a room of my own until I was in college. I also didn't have enough time or money to decorate nicely until I became an art teacher and had my own spending money. It is important to dream but don't feel worried or sad about having a perfect space of your own because you are still kids! You will have fun with this lesson because you can pretend that you have your own space or design one for one of your toys!

1. Find a box that is open on one side. You can use a small or large box. Remember to talk to your family before you start using a box for your project.

2. Design some wallpaper. You can draw on top of the cardboard, paint the cardboard or even draw wallpaper on a separate paper and glue it in. The last way is a good technique because you can make different wallpapers and pick your favorite. You can also cover up something you don't like with a new wallpaper if painting doesn't work out.

I had some leftover wallpaper from a home project. I used it on the walls and floors. I decided to make a small home for my Calico Critter cat!

3. Glue art or mirrors on top of your wallpaper. Tin foil is a great way to make a pretend mirror. You can add art or a Beyonce or Fortnite poster. Just keep in mind who you are designing for! Plants are a great idea. You can also make a restaurant, stage, pool with lounge chairs or a garage for fancy cars instead of making a traditional room.

4. Find or create some furniture. Bubble wrap and styrofoam is great for this. Cardboard is difficult to cut with scissors. Have an adult help you. Or peel the cardboard apart into thinner layers as I did here to make the round table.

I created a round base for my couch to stand on. I cut fancy fringe to hide the base. I used cardboard for the couch. Cracker, snack or cereal boxes work great for this. Turn the box inside out if you don't want writing on your furniture. Masking tape is great for this because you can keep changing and editing without a mess or waiting for the glue to dry.

5. Play with your new room! Who lives there? Is it a design for you or someone else? I thought the Calico Critter sets were too expensive so I felt happy making my own instead of spending $35 on something I could make in my own way.

Visit https://www.elledecor.com/ and https://www.architecturaldigest.com/ for more design ideas. Dream big and have fun! Work with other family members and combine rooms to make your own apartment complex, house, city or town!