Please welcome  Adriana Willsie as our first Guest Blogger of 2012! Adriana  is an unapologetically upbeat artist, who is obsessed with pet portraits.  Kandrac & Kole Interior Designs boasts a keen ability to create designs that celebrate the lives of our clients. Adriana's work is a perfect fit with our designs and we recommend her highly!  Here's what she has to say:

I live in Chicago, and just down the street there’s a particular home design chain store that has always boggled my mind.

Here’s why.  The bread and butter of this particular store is selling pre-packaged ‘room designs.’  We’re talking a finished set of furniture, window coverings, rugs, lamps, and even wall art that you buy in one big package and then have installed in a room of your home.

I don’t know about you, but this freaks me the heck out!

I’ve always been bothered by this idea that you can find identical living rooms sprinkled throughout the entire Chicago area.  I mean, how creepy would it be to go to a book club meeting and find yourself seated in your own living room, but in someone else’s house? (Cue Twilight zone music…)

Needless to say, I’m a little biased.  After all, helping people to ‘personalize’ their space is not only my passion, it’s my job.

I’m a commission based artist, who specializes in making original paintings of the people we love, the places that form us, and, most often, the pets that brighten our lives.  Okay, I’m no interior design expert like the lovely Joann and Kelly.  But I can tell you with confidence that what you put on your walls can make the difference between a room that could be in anyone’s house and a room that feels like you through and through.

If you’ve ever considered commissioning a piece of original artwork, or if you’re just getting a little tired of what’s hanging on your walls, here are the top 3 things you should know:

1)  What you put on your walls matters.

A lot.  These are the images you’re going to see day after day, year after year.  A wall is an open invitation to surround yourself with your colors, your memories, and art that matters to you on a personal level.

2)  Cookie cutter art is so last season.

A quick tour of the interior design blogosphere confirms that cookie cutter art is out, and original, homemade, handmade creations are in.  Whether you’re framing family photos, making shadow boxes with keepsakes, or purchasing or commissioning one-of-a-kind paintings, the more unique and personal the better.

3) Original art isn’t as expensive as you think.

Somewhere down the line, original artwork became synonymous with “out of my price range.”  That’s baloney, I say.  A quick trip to Macy’s shows that $235 will get you an unframed, generic fine art print.  $235 will also get you one of my ready-to-hang original paintings of your pet, your favorite place, or a still life that has personal meaning.  Head on over to Etsy, and $235 will get you any number of original paintings, photographs, and mixed media pieces that you won’t find in anyone else’s living room.

When it comes to your own space, you can never get too personal.  So, go ahead and treat yourself to the one-of-a-kind original artwork that your one-of-a-kind family deserves.

Visit her website (http://adrianawillsie.com/ ) to see more of her work,

 Connect with her on twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/AdrianaWillsie)

Friend her on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AdrianaWillsieArt),

Sign up for her newsletter (http://adrianawillsie.com/newsletter) to receive downloadable freebies, discounts, and first peeks reserved just for newsletter subscribers.

Thanks Adriana!!