Allison
Friday, January 22, 2010 at 5:11AM 
Hi Christine.
Before marrying my husband (who has traditional taste), I would say my style was contemporary to almost modern. Now as I age, my taste is changing to traditional contemporary. I love decorating and with a one year old, I really do not have time to do the things I wish I could these days. This wall started with 2 pics....all black of white. I sort of patterned it after Pottery Barn sort of collection of black and white frames. I am torn...I think now it looks like a big mess and need some order....I know how, but honestly, I love my artwork and photographs and need help picking and choosing.
Also, should I stick one style of frame?
- Alison
Dear Alison,
You have four issues with your wall- relationship, scale, repetition and overlap
- The wall decor above furniture should have a relationship with the furniture below it. You have a good 15 inches between your lowest frame and the sofa. Lower everything.
- I told Laura this same thing- You need some large scale items. Why? You are not in a hallway. There needs to be some items that can be seen from more of a distance- because of the size and nature of the room.
- I don't like the single shelf. Repetition is important. If you are going to keep the shelf- get a second one and stagger them. Maybe a smaller one of the same style. (I know that my picture has one clock. I am allowed to break the rules. You are not. :)
- Overlap. I have said this many times- but you should have some pictures a little behind that lamp. There should be some overlap.
Don't worry about hanging every single picture that you want to hang. Hang the number and size of pictures that will look the best. Should you have just one frame style? No. Not from what I can see of your home. That is the more "modern" look- but your home is more "traditional modern", as you said, and for that- the mismatch collection is better. Draw it all out on graph paper- OR- lay it all out on the floor with some painter's tape showing where your walls and furniture are. This keeps you from too many mess-ups with the nails. You don't want your wall to look like a "drive by shooting".
The wall decor and clock is from Uttermost.
family photos, overlap, photo gallery, relationship, repetition, scale
Reader Comments (4)
Thank you so much...I so much needed direction. Actually, the first pictures began on the shelf only and with a chair and end table on that wall. This has been driving me nuts! I will use my Photoshop skills and send you a template when I figure it out. I will keep you posted!
This is such great advice - it's amazing how thorough you are with the information you provide, it's incredibly helpful.
Thought I'd chime in and offer up the suggestion of Command hooks. They really work. My walls used to look like target practice around artwork. Now I can hang things stress-free. Just make sure to pick up the right type (lots to choose from), I learned that the hard way.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Command/home/
Hi, I am a home stager and I love the way you describe what should be and how to do it. You impress me and not many people do, you're ego is not the same as others but you are "straight up". I like that. Had I have been younger I would have gone to school and gotten my ASID, I was 61 when I got my accreditation for staging, having always decorated all of my friends homes and offices. My love for design courses through my veins, as does yours. I would like to send you when I get my "packett" from another designer and see what you think. I had just redone all of my cherry wood furniture and made it "shabby chic", ordered new sofa, arm chair and ottoman.
Sorry for such a long "comment". but would love to hear back from you.
C.J.
Thanks for the kind words. You are right- it courses through my veins! I would love to see your packet- it sounds intriguing!
Christine