NEXT LEVEL SHIT
Here is where I straight up brag about my awesome husband. He is game for all my wack ideas even though they usually mean pain + patience up front in exchange for future pleasure + glory. He even trusted my instincts when it came to the large scale murals that I knew would elevate the whole experience of our home. Elaborate details were all settled, BUT I had no specific image chosen for one spot: the long skinny wall facing the stairs that you stare at as you descend. This time, he would choose.
Who or what will he pick!? I honestly didn’t know. Elvis Costello? Lou Reed. Marcia Brady. A POGO comic strip? He chose Madonna Louise Ciccone.
But which persona!?! It had to be early Madge. All nets, bangles, chains, ratted everything; a babyfaced BOSS. I trolled all the early photos and fixated on outtakes from the photoshoot for her first record. I chose a sidelong pose facing left [I do not own this photo, it’s by Gary Heery.] I enlarged, tightly cropped, altered and fooled with the image until it fit our dimensions and the composition aligned with the adjacent slat screen wall + light situation.
That was the idea. Would we be able to make this a reality? After many false starts, I found Sign Wizards to print it up on their wall tux- a tough vinyl stick-on material. Trickier still, I had to find a super nimble install team experienced enough for this delicate and tiny space. It was not a DIY task. I was still nursing a black eye from building nightstands a month prior and was not looking for another one. This was a 3 man job: 2 spotters holding the ladder and 1 putting up the vinyl with a squeegee while taking direction from one of the spotters. Zero room for error.
The installers were into it. One of them put it on his snapchat. One of them texted me that his mom wanted one. It is truly good. She looms there, daring, judging, flirting, making sure you get into the groove before you take one more step.
NEXT UP: full bath remodel. IMO one of the greatest before + afters ever.