When Kyle left for patrol a month after I moved in I made it my mission to search for something that told "our story". That sounds silly... but we basically wanted it to be about us. So I instantly thought about the colors of Key West water and places that we liked to go to together like the sand bars!
Going off of texture and bright colors I thought of a friend from college who had beautiful artwork on Instagram! Kira Luca Art - she worked with vivid blues, shocking pinks, and had textures to drool over. Her Instagram is so inspiring too! I reached out to her about making a custom piece and we got started - it would arrive right before Christmas so I could surprise Kyle :) Spoiler: he loved it! (I was actually really nervous he wouldn't like it haha)
I emailed Kira the size I had in mind and that I wanted two canvases. We then discussed layouts, inspiration, colors, etc. These are a couple of the images I sent Kira as inspiration:
Initially I thought about a boat moving across the canvases without any sand, but we've made some really great memories at different sand bars in the keys so I loved the idea of incorporating the sand and water. I sent her both ideas because I wanted her opinion since she's the professional. We decided on the layout that had the boats arranged as if they were anchored near the shore (#1 in the first photo below)! Then Kira painted the background of the paintings - the sand, water, and slight waves. Once I gave that a thumbs up she sent me a brief idea of how the boats would be laid out. I was so excited to get that little sketch I could hardly stand it! I gave her another thumbs up and she began painting... and I waited patiently haha.
I love the final design that we chose - incorporating the colors of those gorgeous blue Key West waters and the colors of the "boats" imitating the bright houses on the island! I like to think that the boat moving away is Kyle's Parker!
I love how it ties the whole room together :) definitely nautical which is both of our style!! The bright colors and movement in the water just creates such a soothing vibe.
I've tried to link everything I can below but if you have any questions feel free to email or DM me. Be sure to check out Kira's website too! Because we don't have a lot of space on the side of our King bed (similar bed) Kyle found these floating side tables (the sides of the bed open up into drawers where we store our sheets) but I don't know where they're from!
The striped pillows are from Home Goods (we switch them back and forth with the palm print pillows sometimes) and the Navy blue pillow was custom made for me by a commercial textile company called Geiger. Our curtains are from West Elm but I couldn't find an exact link. Kyle painted the paddle himself and made the leather strap from scraps I got during a furniture factory tour (I love how it all comes full circle back to us mixed with a lot of DIY).
Love Always,
