Tuesday, April 24, 2012

{My Life} A big blank wall.


Happy Tuesday blog friends!  I'm in the process of updating our living room a bit, and I thought I would bounce some ideas off of you all.  

When we bought our house last year, we went from a 1200 square foot town house to a 4200 square foot house.  As you can imagine, we had a lot of furniture to buy.  Sadly this meant I made some bad furniture choices, just to try to furnish as much of the house as possible.  One of those terrible choices was our living room furniture.  


Besides finding something cheaper, I also wanted something more "traditional" because our house is a more traditional, new craftsman style house.  I felt like that I should go that route, worrying that more modern furniture might look strange in our space.  It only took about six months for me to regret my decision.  Our furniture was complete crap, was falling apart almost instantly, and it didn't fit our personal style at all. 

So that brings us to this spring.  Despite the fact we had only had our furniture a year, we bit the bullet and bought new stuff.  This time we did lots of research and not only bought good stuff, but also bought stuff that was much more "us."  

Now that we have new furniture, I wanted to spruce up the whole space.  The former owners loved neutral colors, so our whole house is just different shades of beige (or should I say different shades of blah).  I wanted to give the living room a little splash of color, so I started testing some colors.     


I started with a color called Green Myth (pictured above).  We like it, but think it'll be a little too bright for the large area we would be painting.  It also looks a little more blue than I would like when it's dark out.  The new color we are going with is a color called Cucumber Crush (top left on the color palette), and we really like it.  I want to accent with various shades of coral, peach, and green (perhaps darker than the one on the the color palette).  Bottom line, I want to keep it light and airy in there.

Now here comes the part where I need some help, the massive wall to the right of our sofa.  Originally I thought that I would just get one large piece of art to put on that wall.  However now I'm thinking that I would rather do a gallery wall.  Here is some of my inspiration that I found on Pinterest (of course).


Photo Credits (clockwise from top left): 1, 2, 3, 4  
I know I don't want to use personal photographs because we have a ton on our mantel.  I also think I want to include some (or all) of the following: numbers (like in the top right picture....maybe our wedding date), a cameo of our pup, something funny (maybe a print like this), a map (maybe something hand drawn), and a clock (I'm still not 100% on this one).  I also would like to find some unique vintage objects.  I have this antique bingo card that I might have to put up there.

So there you have it.  What do you all think?  Do you have any go to places for unique art?  Any other tips, advice, or ideas?  

10 comments:

  1. Oh my god Jessy - I have exactly the same problem as you right now. We need to find something to put on our living room wall but we just can't settle on anything. But here is on great place to buy original, unique pieces: http://www.buysomedamnart.com/

    Not sure how much you want to spend....but check it out, even if you don't buy from that place it's good for inspiration.

    As far as I am concerned, I think I might have to go the DIY art road until we find "the real deal"

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    1. Hey Audrey! I will definitely go check that out! Nothing wrong with DIY art either, it's one of a kind and often better! :)

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  2. You may find something at the bazaar at the festival of nations. I haven't been there in years which is why I want to go back to see it again. You might find some interesting pieces there?

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  3. Be careful in your purchase(s). Having a gallery plus the pictures and tchotchkes on/near your fireplace could make the area look cluttered. That is a big wall space. You can do some big things there. Do the wall on graph paper and play with some sizes and shapes of art items (or go high tech and do it on CAD.)

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    1. If I do a gallery wall (which I think I will), I will probably keep it on the small side. I definitely don't want to distract from the fireplace, but on the other hand, I've had smaller art on that wall and it looks strange. I also don't want to leave it blank. I will definitely have to do some sketching! I want to have it painted first (I scored a groupon for painters), so I have some time to find items and make decisions. :)

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  4. I like the colour palette you've chosen. I've committed to upgrading the artwork in our house too and and am busy sourcing stuff on Pinterest as we speak. Whether (like so many things), it makes it off Pinterest and into my house is another matter...

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    1. Oh my goodness, I completely understand! There are so many things that I've found on Pinterest that I want to do. TOO many things. :)

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  5. I know colors look different in pictures than they do in real life, but I LOVE the color you put up on the wall! Part of me kind of wants to see that stone fireplace painted white. I think the stone looks fine as it is, but I think painting it white would give the whole room a much airier feeling. And maybe if you think the Green Myth color would be too much all over the room, you could leave it where it is as an accent wall?

    I agree with what Jene says, though, about the possibility of it looking cluttered if you do a gallery on that wall. It might compete with the other wall and confuse the eye about where the focal point of the room really is. I read something the other day that made so much sense-- small homes need many focal points to keep the eye moving around and interested. Larger homes and rooms need one focal point to make it feel cozier. Multiple focal points can be overwhelming in a large space.

    Whatever you decide, I hope you'll show us!

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    1. Hi Cassie!

      Don't worry the new color is very similar to the old one. Just a tish lighter. :) I want to take it all throughout the room (which extends into our kitchen) because I want to lighten up the whole area. We have maple woodwork throughout, and the neutral beige walls make it looks so blah in there.

      I will definitely put some updated pics up here as things progress. Thanks for all the advice! It's much appreciated! :)

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