If you do not have a Joann's, look in the art/scrapbooking dept in Walmart, KMart, or a regular stationary store. If nothing else, take a pointed pen, and take tracing paper, and press hard. You will see a line on the wood which you can go back and highlight with pencil. If you have any dollar stores around you they have tracing paper, and art supplies. Even wax paper will work.

Walkin Yesindeed, a reporter once asked Louis Sullivan the same basic question you just asked me, and got back one of Sullivan's typical cryptic responses: "I would describe it as the successful solution of a problem." Thanks a lot, Louis. Big help. And when somebody else asked Sullivan to describe the style of the Auditorium's own decoration, he said "I would prefer not to describe it at all. I would perfer for you to look at it yourself and make up your own mind." Let's just say that Sullivan would have gotten himself eliminated on the first round of something like "Design Star" that are less about design ability or artistic vision and more about personality & sense of humor. And those things are fine, but they have nothing to do with design. Anyway, here's the thing: like I said above, most of Sullivan's mature work was on major commissions: the Auditorium, the Chicago Grand Opera House, the Chicago Stock Exchange, department stores, banks, railway stations. After Adler & Sullivan becamse famous with the opening of the Auditorium, he seldom designed anything as small as a residence again, and most of the residential designs that came out of the office were in fact Wright's, or George Elmslie's, with Sullivan directing the overall design & the ornamental detailing. Even in this somewhat limited role, it was his vision that determined the aesthetic form of the finished buildings and the look that we think of as Sullivanian, in the same way that Fritz Kreisler & George Solti & Daniel Barenboim put their individual stamps on the sound of the Chicago Symphony, even though they weren't the ones playing all the instruments. Unfortunately, since Sullivan didn't really do residences, and never furnished the interiors of the houses that came out of the A&S offices, we have to look at his other buildings to find what motivated him, but it's not hard to see. In a letter to a banker client, he talked of the decorative scheme of the interior as a 'color symphony' and he wasn't kidding: the finished banking room has literally dozens of intermingled colors, mostly soft greens, yellows & oranges. It also has an elaborate stenciling scheme that blends all those contrasting colors with such subtlety that they seem to dissolve into a green haze that floats in front of the wall plane. Not only that, the main banking room is lit with a pair of gigantic arched windows of golden yellow & white glass, and at night the room glows with the light from four immense electroliers that hang from the corners of the room, fixtures in the form of gigantic clusters of sea green foliage & coiling, intertwined stems, all studded along their length with electric light bulbs. And don't forget the honey-colored Roman bricks on the walls, the intricately molded paster ceiling ai more tinys of green, the green terra cotta moldings, the bronze teller cages or the green marble counters. What's amazing was that this incredibly rich scheme was designed not for a sophiticated city audience but for a small-town farming community, where the people in line were likely to be standing in muddy boots & dirty overalls, and when he was designing for the really fancy people, it was amazing. But rather than intimidating the locals, it enobled them and their daily activities. Sullivan was a color genius, that's all I can say. After dinner I'll look up the description of his color scheme for the McVickers' Theatre here in the city, which, even as mere words on a page--the theatre was demolished decades ago--is one of the most striking combinations you'll ever see.

Find your closest Michaels Arts and Craft stores and then go nuts!! A huge assortment of supplies tailored specifically for kids of varying ages. You name it when it comes to arts and craft supplies and they've got it!! Prices are very reasonable, IMO. And get her one of the new "adult" coloring books :-) Even though she says she doesn't need one, she will be fascinated by the patterns and details these offer - I've yet to meet a real adult that wasn't very taken by them. I've been into arts and crafts all my life and draw copiously but I love these things!! btw, this was my first request as a child when asked what I wanted for my birthday - art supplies!! I'd include: Prismacolor colored pencils - come in sets of just a half dozen or so to dozens. Probably your most expensive investment but worth every penny. A simple water color paint set with brushes. Or acrylics. Scissors Drawing pencils and an eraser. A smallish sketch pad A selection of colored tissue paper or printed art paper (often sold with the scrapbooking supplies). A set of gel pens or colored markers. Elmer's Glue or modge-podge at least one very good black ink pen, like a fine line rollerball. LOTS of paper - newsprint as well as printer paper

Towel rack and art work. And where you currently have that large plant I would put a nice cart with shelves and on it put the things you need for your bath- soap, shampoo, bath oil, scrub brush, etc. and the fun stuff, like a candle, and a scent diffuser oil with sticks, perfect for an area that gets warm and steamy, and whatever decorative accessories that make you feel relaxed and "spa-ish." With regard to the art work, rather than worry about humidity rusting a frame, or getting inside and causing deterioration of the art and or the matting, why not just paint something directly on the wall itself? You can do a landscape mural if you like that, or a line painting, or whatever suits your fancy. Just remember you will be right next to it, and without your spectacles, so that will change how you see it. If it were me, I would find a talented high school student or middle school student to do a line drawing of something. Too old, and it costs too much. Keep in mind, you can't ask a middle school student to do a nude. Well, I wouldn't. I find the younger they are, the less inhibited, the less bogged down by the "I can't do this, I am no good at this" stuff adults are, unless they have already been assaulted by it. They can do a drawing on paper and you can blow it up on the wall and paint it. Or you can ask them to paint it, either one. or you can just copy a line drawing of one of the greats. Kandinsky, Matisse, Picasso, etc.