Cool Ideas For Wall Art – In part two of our series on wall decor, let’s talk about getting really creative and using non-art to express your unique style!
I hope you enjoyed last week’s post about adding personality to your home with art and gallery walls!
Cool Ideas For Wall Art
Before we get into this week’s topic – non-art exhibitions – I want to tell you a little story about one of the things I recently talked about last week.
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Last Sunday, after our big snowfall on Saturday, I headed out to one of my favorite antique spots, the Wiscasset Antiques Mall. With over 100 retailers, I can usually find what I’m looking for there. And often something else! 😉
This time I was looking for a piece of art for the primary bedroom. There is a bench under the windows opposite the bed. I have two stacks of decorated books there and I want a third item with more height.
Yes, as we discussed last week, I wanted a piece of art that would randomly lean against the wall!
I didn’t quite know what I was looking for. This is often the case when I go for antiques. I have a general idea, but wait and see what strikes me.
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The piece that came home with me is a vintage framed needlepoint reproduction of an 18th century pattern. (That’s a mouthful, haha!)
I hesitated before buying it – was the needlework even made in the “80’s”? And not in a good way?
In the end I went with my gut feeling. I knew the colors would be perfect and I loved the stylized design.
As I suggested in last week’s post, I kept my mind open and waited for something to resonate with me.
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I have a friend who has a beautiful lakefront home that is just as beautiful and filled with outstanding art. I always appreciate her unique pieces. They make such a statement!
My friend and I were talking about our homes once and he said something along the lines of “I just hang art on the walls. You make art out of your displays.”
It was rewarding to understand and appreciate one of the ways I express my unique style.
By artfully displaying ordinary objects such as plates, baskets, architectural pieces and even fish shapes, you can create something that is more than the sum of its parts.
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Like regular art, think outside the box! You can find items at your local thrift or antique store.
In my blog post I’m My Mother’s Daughter, I wrote about the antique blue and white transferware pieces from my mother’s collection that now adorn my home.
However, hanging this arrangement over a stone fireplace takes it from everyday to wow! The contrast between rough and uneven stone and smooth and refined slabs highlights each.
I get questions on Instagram about how I hang kegs on a stone surface. In a little feat of Yankee ingenuity, my builder helped me make hooks out of old metal hangers. One end has a long “tail” that fits between the stone and the roof tile at the top of the chimney. A wire runs from the hook and attaches to hangers on the back of the plates. The concept is similar to a Victorian picture rail.
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Then I put a row of plates on the top wall and smaller pieces on each side. I kept the layout organized.
I added a few more dishes to the top right and inserted the bird to the top left. I like it when “one thing is not like the others” and the scheme is a bit off.
And check out my friend Ann’s post on Dabbling and Decorating “Blue and White Asymmetrical Vintage Platter Wall | Design Your Own Today” for more inspiration!
As much as I love my mom’s blue and white dishes, my favorite plate wall in the house is the arrangement of vintage Limoges fish plates in the dining area.
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I bought the plates from a local favorite store. It was early in our house and things progressed quite quickly.
After several months, as I gained confidence and began to flex my design muscles, I rearranged the plates into an asymmetrical design.
Over the last couple of years I’ve gone even bolder and added a few extra plates – a couple of oyster plates, a different fish design and some all white to give the event some ‘breathing room’.
In my previous post I talked about different ways to decorate walls. As this arrangement has grown and changed over time, it is one that I have only glimpsed when hanging new plates.
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The lack of planning has created an organic flow to the event – like a school of fish swimming in water.
Proof that arranging these plates in this way encourages people to think beyond traditional symmetry!
A note here about hanging plates: I’m a traditionalist and use spring-loaded metal hangers. I know they are reliable and I don’t even look at the clamps that secure the faceplate. Having said that, I know many people now use adhesive discs that attach to the back of the disc. I actually bought some to use to hang some plates with a sponge on the back of the corner. I’ll let you know what I think of them!
When I first hung them on the wall, my collection was small and I arranged them in a relatively harmonious way.
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Which I don’t want to do, I thought, one day I was looking at the growing collection and the screen wasn’t working for me. So everyone came down!
The second time I arranged them I used the “lay flat” method to arrange the shapes. I discussed this briefly in Part 1 of this blog series. With all the different shapes and sizes, it was the only way I was able to shape them into some sort of arrangement.
I chose a rectangular shape with small flares at the top and bottom for some dynamic interest.
The baked haddock sign and a single copper mold (a lobster), both gifts from a friend, are fun “not like the others” additions!
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So even though basket walls were everywhere for a while, when I saw the biggest basket of Shaker Cheese at a local store, I took it home and hung it on the wall.
Our daughter Zoë worked as a cheesemonger right out of college, so we have a bit of a thing for cheese in our family.
As much as I would love to hang some extra art in this area, I don’t think it would be right. Since the eyes are not subconsciously trying to see the details of an image, curves give them some rest in a room with busy walls.
Architectural salvage pieces always make interesting decorative additions to a home, especially new construction like ours.
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We have a lot going on visually in our house, but sometimes I want something simpler.
The same was the case with the stairs. I knew I wanted something decorative on the wall, but I didn’t want it to be too messy.
When I stumbled upon a Victorian porch railing at an antique sale, I knew I loved it, but I had no idea what to do with it.
As soon as the dealer mentioned taking it apart and hanging the carved balusters flat on the wall, I knew exactly where they wanted to go!
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I almost didn’t move it to Maine with me, but a friend convinced me to add it to the truck.
In keeping with the coastal location and theme of my home, I’ve put together a collection of oars and oars.
I gathered a cozy group of them in a corner of the hallway on the second floor. (You can see them in the picture of the big arch.)
And others I have hanging on the wall – in the guest cabin, in the living room, and even on the covered porch.
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Also notice the old blue shutters with the sailboat cutouts that I hung there on either side of the windows.
To see more of our porch on a magical summer evening, check out my post Summer in Maine: A Coastal Table Setting on the Porch.
As I did last week, I’m sharing here the places in my daughters’ homes where they each got creative with wall decor!
Zoë, our family organizer (and former cheese monger too), went with a coordinated display of wood planks in her dining area.
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And I helped Leah, who like me loves color and pattern, hang this asymmetrical arrangement of pinwheels made from children’s book pages. The pinwheels were a baby shower decoration that friends threw for her, and now they hang over the changing table in my sweet new granddaughter’s nursery!
I hope this two-part blog series has inspired you to look at your walls in a new way! Does your home need a refresh? It is easy for the same four-waller to feel dull after a while and need a change. Change yourself