Happy Hour : A Portable Accent Wall

Every been in a restaurant when it turns "Happy Hour?" You notice the mood instantly changes as everyone is ready for fun. Whenever I'm having a Bad Hair Day, my cure is always a personal Happy Hour. Of course, I'm hopeless addicted to interiors; so for me, this hour is all about decorating. In this series, we'll look at some quick and happy mood changers for our very own Happy Hour. Each should take about an hour - a mere 60 minutes - to perk up our minds and our rooms. Let's get the party started.

When we discovered our 1990's house plans, we were surprised we had a family room. Our house is upside down with our living area upstairs, the bedrooms downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, on the bedroom level, is a room. I guess. It's a family room? We just use it to get to our bedrooms.

A 96" x 36" pine table (twin to our kitchen table) sits where I imagine a couch could. I really use this table only when I need to get out my sewing machine. Mainly it serves as a base for seasonal tableaus. Over the years, you've seen all kinds of pictures leaned against it. This season, I thought I'd try something a little different.

At Michael's, I bought a primed, gallery wrapped (canvas nicely stretched over the edges) canvas. These come in 30 sizes - I bought a 48" x 60" which was about $50 after using coupons.

I truly do love that black and white farmhouse look, but around here, I can't talk anyone into starting over with a new collar palette. But maybe a little black paint here and there would look fresh. For this canvas, I used black chalkboard paint (Home Depot, $12) so I can draw on it sometime. Three coats later, I was ready to move my "painting" into place.

Doesn't a black backdrop makes what's in front of it a little more special? It's like a portable accent wall.

A Costco fiddle fern has doubled in height since I bought it - my pandemic baby. There's also a moss ball wreath (Ballard Designs, $17 on sale last year). The gold frame was $10 at San Pablo Flea which I used to temporarily frame a piece of cardboard.

I like the way light and shadow bounce off the slightly rubberized canvas.

So there's my little Happy Hour. Buy a canvas and paint it black for a little drama in your rooms. Easy peasy. It's the perfect portable accent wall. If you have a minute, I'd love to know what you think. Just add a comment below. In the meantime, enjoy your Sunday!