Mini vs. Maxi

You can drag your kids to the art museum, but can you make them drink the Kool-Aid? As a mom I had to use bribery when they were little (We’ll have treats in the café afterwards!”) but eventually my kids got to know and love art on their own. They developed their own tastes, but what I never expected was that my son would become a minimalist.

I guess my art could be best described as maximalist: lots of colour, pattern and texture. And I find it kind of amusing that Sam’s taste is the opposite, I’m glad that he has his own opinions. But what happens when I offer to paint a painting for him?.

So, here’s one of Sam’s favourite artists, Agnes Martin.

And here’s the artistic church I worship at, courtesy of the artist, Hense.

But since Sam is the “client” in this case, I have to try to create something quieter, which pretty much goes against every instinct I have. So I compromised and created this:

Do you remember the messy apartment in Montreal? It’s a lot neater and cleaner now, but unfortunately, I won’t be able to finish the living room because it’s still full of boxes that haven’t been picked up yet. But I can show you before and after photos of the bedroom.

The bedroom as it was when I arrived:

The bedroom today:

I had to buy the canvas for $29, but the duvet cover/shams/cushion were stuffed in his closet. I found a three drawer organizer on the sidewalk, where I could put away a lot of stuff in the closet. I bought two extra pillows for $11 (buy one, get one for a dollar at Provigo!) I moved the bed around so Sam can actually use his bedside table, and picked the lamp up from the floor(!) Like any good house porn decorator, I stuffed the excess items away and voilà: the perfect minimalist bedroom. Total cost of redo: $40.

I'm posting this once he's on the plane, but hopefully he'll like it! I know it won’t stay this way, but I’ll always remember…Montreál.