It must be rental season around here, because today, we have another amazing rental - this one, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Vinaya and her husband originally chose their Boston rental for its amazing location, but it has become 'home' over time!

“Over time, we’ve styled the space and now it truly feels like home. When I started decorating, I had no idea what my style was. I have gone through several design styles by now — which explains our farmhouse-style dining table and a cottage-style bed! If you ask me ‘today’, I prefer clean, modern lines that are also comfortable.”

Vinaya's history of moving has forced her to curate her own collection of only the most loved and eclectic pieces - like her beautiful slatted second-hand coffee table. Of course, there are some things she can't change, like the carpet or white walls. Luckily, as we all know, white walls are the 'it' trend right now!

From Vinaya:

“I think one thing I can’t get my mind off is the all white interior. All white interiors are super trendy now, and I love that! But I also love color. And I also love black and white and graphic. I am really torn between a unified color scheme. ”

“(un)Luckily for me, I can’t paint my rental – so I have no way of experimenting with this. But if I could, I think I will turn into someone who paints their walls a different color every month. So instead, I try to add color in other ways like art and accessories. One of my favorite things is my black and white gallery wall – I love the graphic quality of it and over a year later of putting it up I still enjoy looking at it!”

For us renters, gallery walls (if your landlord is cool with holes) or a photo ledge like Cate & Chelsea pulled off here are great options to add your own personal touch! Vinaya's got this one down.

Now to close with Vinaya's own words, that I believe represent the mantra by which all of us style mutts live:

“I love trends, but don’t follow every trend out there. If it is something I truly like, I will still incorporate it even if it’s been over and done. And if I don’t really fall in love with something , I try not to do it just because everyone is doing it. I think if you decorate purely based on what you love, it will always be trendy to you, and that’s all that matters! ”

Follow Vinaya along on Instagram @hiphiphome or on her blog!

For a few months now, my collection of original abstract artwork has felt...off. It's like you're trying to copy your mom's crowd-pleasing artichoke dip and yet it just doesn't taste the same when you do it - you feel me?

In an effort to solve this art conundrum, I declared "Grown-Up Abstract Art" as item No.4 on my furniture flip bucket list and began to do some research on what ingredients may be missing from my art collection. After consulting pinterest, I kept stumbling on some delicious abstract art showcased in gorgeous, minimal floating frames.

And so my first theory was formed. I rummaged up some spare wood trim to fashion a make-shift gold frame for one of my smaller pieces, but when I finished it still felt juvenile somehow.

Using my day off to work on a #furnitureflip #bucketlist item: grow up my artwork. I'm starting by experimenting with #diy modern frames. We'll see where this goes... #abstractart #floatingframe #gold #stylemuttprojects

A photo posted by StyleMutt Cate (@cate_stylemutthome) on Feb 26, 2016 at 11:54am PST

After mulling over it for a little while longer, I began to think that perhaps my portions were off. I love to paint but I'm no professional artist - when I paint, I can't help myself: I love ALL THE COLORSSSSSS. But perhaps I need to balance out the generous helpings of bold pops of color with some graphic patterns and white elements like this large piece I painted to help stage the cowprint bench. [It actually sold at our Pop-Up Shop at Sweet Clover Barn so I never got the chance to mix it into my new abstract art recipe.] And interestingly enough, despite my obsession with large-scale abstract art, I don't actually have any pieces hanging in our apartment.

Ok so let's meet the "art ingredients" I do have in stock and let's see if we can mix them together for a winning combo.

Van Gogh's Les Alyscamps — Van Gogh's *Les Alyscamps*

"Les Ales Camps" - a 3rd Grader made this piece at a school I worked for. The elementary art program was doing a series on Van Gogh and this young artist was studing Van Gogh's Les Alyscamps (which she mistakenly labeled as "Les Ales Camps" in the top right corner lol. I loved the playful take so much that I had it printed on a canvas to hang in my office.
"Unnamed" - this is the largest piece of abstract art I've done and yet I haven't found a place for it. I think I feel like it would overpower any of our small spaces so I've never hung it in our home.
"Hadley" - this is the piece I tried to give a floating frame. I think the proportions are off and I would like it better if the frame were thinner and little daintier.
"Picasso" - this is another piece I can't take credit for. I just love this line drawing so much that I traced it on some paper and popped it in a frame - forgive me Pablo P.
"A Riot of Color [in a dreary world]" - name that movie! I painted this poppy-inspired piece while watching a Heath Ledger favorite (may he rest in piece). You may recognize this pop of red from staging this piece here.

For plating purposes, I've enlisted the help of a fresh flip who'll be heading to his new home in DC soon [I removed the original toe-kick and added tapered legs with the nickle caps cut off and painted the top and sides a glossy white].

Art Recipe No.1:

Playful "Les Ales Camps" with a side of "Picasso" garnished with plant, brass candlesticks and record player served on a Mid-Century Record Console Table with storage for your vintage record collection.

[How cool is that rolling door for space-saving storage?! And there are four compartments inside with removable vertical dividers.]

To combat my tendancy to over-saturate with color, my thought here was to pair the two "lighter colored" art pieces on a white-wall background. The smaller graphic "Picasso" cuts the intensity of the color in "Les Ales Camps" and the record player.

Art Recipe No.2:

A large helping of "Unnamed" abstract with a side of "Picasso" drizzled with candle sticks and a fern for garnish. Since "Unnamed" is such a powerful flavor, I also tried to soften it with the dainty print and anchor it with a large plant.

Art Recipe No.3:

Spiced "Riot of Color" and "Hadley" with creamy "Picasso" served with natural elements encased in glass cloches and garnished with a potted fern.

[Look at that gorgeous wood grain in the slats of the console table's rolling front.]

Since I was using two bold paintings, I again employed the "Picasso"print and accented with the airiness of the glass cloches.

[Fun fact: the stand for the raw mineral is just one of my fluted candlesticks turned upside down].

Which recipe hit the spot for you? Any suggestions on how to make my art collection more flavorful/ refined/ spicy? Leave your tips in the comments below!