When I was in Charleston for the New Year, Emma and I spent a couple of afternoons shopping up and down King Street. When we walked into Beckett Boutique, they had all this amazing artwork on display that I immediately fell in love with. (You can see their gorgeous display in the photo below!) I asked the sales clerk who the artist was, and she told me it was an artist named Renée Levert. While I didn’t buy a piece on the spot—limited space in the carry on, you know how it goes—I knew I wanted to get a piece of her work for my home.
Fast forward about a month or so, and my friend Emily texted me that she was buying a set of paintings off Renée’s Instagram. (Emily and I have such similar taste in artwork that I had texted her immediately when I discovered Renée’s art, and she became a fast fan, too!) I went to watch the Instagram Story to see which pieces she was buying, and fell in love with a 10×10″ painting of azaleas that I knew was perfect for me. For one, the painting was a beautiful mix of pinks and greens, so it would blend seamlessly into my existing decor. And for another, I love when the azaleas bloom in spring—especially the ones in the front yard of my parents’ house.
When my azalea painting arrived—the one you see on the top in these photos—I was so obsessed. So when Renée posted a similar one on her Instagram Story later that day, I decided to buy it, too, so that I could have a pair. I love how they are different, but complementary. The second one I purchased—shown on the bottom in these photos—has more darker greens and a little bit less pink. They are both 10×10″ squares, so they look uniform when hung together.
If you follow me over on Instagram, you know I debated about where to hang these for a while. Originally, I purchased these for a gallery wall I am working in my room, but I decided to hang them elsewhere for two reasons. The first is that I wanted them somewhere in my main living area so that I could see them more often—and so could any guests I have over. The second is that these are about 1″ thick, whereas most of the other frames in the gallery wall I am working on are .5″ thick, so they kind of felt a little out of place.
I decided to hang them on the same wall as my thermostat, which presented a little bit of a dilemma, as the thermostat itself is hung right in the middle of the wall. I initially thought about putting one of the paintings over the thermostat, but ultimately decided that would be super annoying, as I would have to take it off anytime I wanted to change the temperature. So, instead of that—I figured I could hang them both above the thermostat, both below the thermostat, or one above and one below the thermostat. I decided that one above and one below the thermostat called too much attention to the thermostat itself, and if I hung them both above the thermostat, the art would be too high. I ultimately went with hanging them both below the thermostat, and while in an ideal world the thermostat wouldn’t be there, I am happy with this placement!
One of the things I’ve learned about renting is that you make it work with the space that you have, but if you invest in things you love, you can make them work in many spaces. I have no doubt one day these will be hanging—sans thermostat—in my dream home.
Since my Renée Levert’s are original paintings, you can’t buy the exact ones I have—but definitely check out her website or Instagram for similar pieces. She also takes commissions! I love her work and will definitely be adding more of her pieces to my art collection.
