In December, I was at one of my favorite flooring vendors here in Indy to look at some products. I stopped by their restroom and noticed a super cool, but very poorly framed, painting on the wall. It had been relegated to a no-frills, one-toilet restroom, so I assumed it was not terribly valued by them. The painting was colorful with lots of orange (my favorite color), busy, traditional, but a little off-beat — I was intrigued. I looked closer and saw that the artist was one that was familiar to me – Michel Delacroix. My parents have a lovely small painting by him that they found at a garage sale and later discovered it was worth 10x more than they paid. I took a pic, commented to my contact at the flooring vendor about how cool it was, and left.
I kept thinking about it that afternoon and figured there was no harm in asking if they’d be willing to sell it to me. It was, after all, in a plain public restroom, hung just to put something on the wall, but clearly it was not a prized possession. I called my contact and asked if I could buy it. He laughed at me, of course, and said he’d ask his management. A few days later I heard back that I could buy it, and they just wanted enough money for it to buy some other framed piece to replace it. The framing job, though custom, did nothing for the art. It seemed like someone was scared to have a mat and thought they needed the whole lithograph showing. It detracted from the art, and I wanted to bring it to life instead. I searched for a while at thrift shops, hoping to find a cool, old frame with mat that would fit so I didn’t have to spend much money to have it reframed – no such luck. So, I decided I wanted a burled wood look frame to bring out the orange, and spent quite a bit of time with the lovely associates at the Hobby Lobby custom framing shop to find the right mat – not to detract from, but to bring out the best in. And, they ensured that the full lithograph was preserved to not affect the value of the art.
My new art, rescued from the restroom, has come alive thanks to the right mat, the right frame, and the right location – in my family room above the piano, so it brings life and some levity as we pass by it throughout the day.
Moral of the story – keep your eyes open and be bold enough to go for something that you are drawn to. You never know where you’ll find something that speaks to you. And there is no harm in asking to buy something, even if it’s not for sale. So, next time you are in a restroom or a basement or an odd place that has a diamond in the rough that you think you can bring to life, go for it, and you may end up with a great piece for your home!
Sarah Couture Design would love to help you turn your inspirations and ideas into a workable design scheme for your home or commercial space. Schedule a free discovery call with us to understand how easy and affordable it can be to get started in the right direction.
