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emilyd2

Odd wall. Need help, picture hanging!!

emilyd2
6 years ago
I was planning on turning his very sad, bare wall into a gallery style wall with a mish-mash of art I’ve collected over the years - but I’m just staring at it going, “what the heck do I do with this trim?” Would it look ridiculous to add a few pieces slightly above the trim? Or should I stay below? Note: the couch has been shifted to the right for work-prep reasons. Thank you.

Comments (14)

  • apple_pie_order
    6 years ago

    No mish mash of small things. Gallery walls that require you to kneel on the sofa to see the small things are not functional. Try something large, at least poster-size, for dramatic impact.

  • livingdeadwill
    6 years ago

    It’d be a challenge to put something up there, but have you tried photoshopping the pieces in at the Best scale you can eyeball to get some visualization?

  • emilyd2
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Hi, thank you. I probably should’ve said that the majority of my art is on the larger side. I’m hoping to get guidance on the wall (old ceiling height) trim. See attached. Thank you.
  • PRO
    Business_Name_Placeholder
    6 years ago

    Do you have a picture with a wider shot so that the full openings are included? Even better, a picture of the entire room so that we can see your furniture placement. Right now, it seems like an odd place for this couch which when shifted back to the left, no doubt cuts into your openings??...This section of wall is misaligned with the center of the cove ceiling above..why oh why do builders not think of these things!?

    You could get rid of the old post and lintel trim around each opening, move the couch to a different location (can't see the entire room though to know). Widen the opening on the left to match the right (draw imaginary line from center of ceiling(top of triangular wall section) straight down and make openings start equally distanced from that line. Use your right opening as a guide since it will stay as is. I would use a filler and get rid of the gap between the wall and triangular section of wall above it. (Sand and repaint, so that this gap disappears).

    Find two sets of frosted glass french doors for each opening, get a nice door trim for the openings (this will create an illusion and make two visibly different rooms disappear). Yes, that little red based lamp has to go. You could then use one large centered piece of art in the triangular section above with two smaller pieces on either side of it. On the section of wall where the couch used to be, find a taller credenza that fits the within the width of this section of wall. Accent with a vertical lamp (will lift your eyes up) and a plant or vase.


  • songbird07
    6 years ago

    No art above the trim. Hang pieces 6-8 inches above back of couch-- assuming couch is staying there-- and keep the pieces about the same distance below the top of the doorways so that the grouping is centered at eye level. I know you didn't ask about this but is that wall really the best/only location for the couch?

  • hatetoshop
    6 years ago

    I would go with one or just a few of your larger pieces. I think all the art, plus what's beyond the two openings, would end up looking cluttered/busy.

  • palimpsest
    6 years ago

    I would go below the trim and plan it out very carefully with things hung close together.

  • littlebug zone 5 Missouri
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I have read that you should decorate the places where we live - in other words, below the trim. Plus, artwork is supposed to be a eye level.

    I wouldn’t hang anything smaller than 14x14 or so, unless it’s displayed on a shelf like above (touching other pieces).

  • deegw
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Make your life easy and find one (or three) good size peices of art, place them under the trim and leave the peak empty. Gallery walls are very difficult to pull off. TBH, we see many posts of homeowner done gallery walls and most of them look terrible. They are often askew and the scale is off.

  • apple_pie_order
    6 years ago

    Cut out newspaper the size of your artwork and tape it up with blue painter tape. Move it around til you like it.

    Do you have a close up of the horizontal trim piece? Is it really picture molding with a place for old fashioned big picture hooks to slide into place?

  • Deborah M
    6 years ago
    Pictures first: I would find a place for the large night sky on a wall somewhere by itself where it is low enough to locate known constellations. The other pictures look like they will group nicely and fill the entire wall. Only go above the trim of the grouping looks right, otherwise think of adding a lower floating shelf among the larger prints with smaller pictures cleverly standing against each other to make what you have work together and fit. Now the room: I’m guessing the sofa is across from the mantel (where you’ve stacked the pictures). Is your sofa floating away from the wall, creating a walkway behind the couch? In that case it would look fine centered...but if not, the sofa is a bit large. If it can’t float, try a sofa table behind it instead of the shelf I mentioned to pull it away from the wall a bit.
  • PRO
  • Cheryl Smith
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I collect dog figurines and pictures and had my husband install a narrow shelf above the windows in our sunroom (dogroom). its nice because you can move them around, edit and replace. maybe you could do this along the darker line above your doors. with the vaulted ceiling it will give some interest instead of looking at a blank wall and add more shelving below. its not for everyone but works for me and I like gallery walls. we are still moving in and finding places for everything.

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