The Evolution of an Art Wall

When talking about arranging art and photos on a wall, so many times I hear friends and clients say they haven't hung anything because they're scared they'll do it wrong or that it won't look good. So instead they have blank walls. But the thing is, what's the worst that could happen? You hang something and it looks bad? Then take it down and try something else. Believe me, it's very easy to fill nail holes.

To illustrate my point, I'm going share with you some really ugly wall arrangements (and crappy photos) by yours truly. One wall in my living room has gone through many changes.

This is what I hung up when we first moved in, yikes. Mostly I used items I already had, and then I spray painted a couple of thrift store finds. It's not good.


Here's what I did next, I decided I needed some bigger pieces.  Better I guess, but still scary.


After we bought our sectional, I added to the arrangement.  It stayed like this for awhile, but I wasn't truly satisfied with it.


And this is how it looks now.  Much better from the original crap fest.  But I'm sure I'll change it again eventually.






This just shows how it won't kill you to experiment a little. Yeah like me, you might go through some fugly arrangements; but eventually you'll find something that works.

Making Three Adjoining Rooms Cohesive

My client Katie has a floor plan with three adjoining rooms - her front room, her family/TV room, and her kitchen. We wanted each room to have it's own feel, however they needed to also be cohesive. We did this by using one main color scheme: yellow, blue, green, and gray. However, each room highlights the colors differently.

 The front room is yellow, gray, and blue.  (The quatrefoil pattern seen here represents a plastic room divider that Katie is custom ordering to be placed between her front room and family room.)

The family room uses mainly blues and greens.

And the kitchen uses all the colors; but sparingly so as to avoid the three spaces getting too busy. The kitchen also includes a small desk/office area.


Out of respect for my client who paid for the room boards, I won't be posting a full source list, but feel free to e-mail me if you have a question about a specific item. Thanks!