Happy Wednesday to you! I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to dig into our holiday dinner tomorrow. Turkey is kind of “ehhh” in my opinion, but I heard a rumor that there was going to be broccoli bake, which I am ALL over.
Before we get to that though, we must make it through today…So to tide you over, I have a simple “Before and After” for you. This is one of those projects that sort of snuck up on me – I absolutely loved the oversized Central Park photo in our living room. Like “loved” it so much, I probably would have yanked it off the wall and shoved it in the trunk along with our pets in the event of an evacuation. But one inconspicuous afternoon, I looked at it and realized that it was looking just a teeny tiny bit lonely above the couch…
The only way I think I’m really going to get you on board with this thought is to slap you with the “Before and After” in quick succession. So here we go.
Before…
And now after…
Granted, the “Before” shot was also pre-new chairs and pre-new pillows, but I think you can see just how much more of an impact the art has now that it’s been beefed up a little bit. Isn’t the difference a little mind blowing? Maybe it’s just me. But as soon as I tentatively held up that framed magazine cover on the right, I knew that I was having a personal revelation and in came the other two new pieces of art on the left.
That one on the right, the framed and matted vintage magazine came from a consignment shop in Richmond, Virginia. While visting my best friend (who just bought a GORGEOUS home) we decided to do some shopping for art to go in her home. After setting aside armloads of purchases for her, I spotted the framed magazine and couldn’t say “no.” Luckily it was more my style than hers, so she was a-okay with me swiping it for myself. I love how the mat is almost a perfect slightly darker match to our existing teal wall in the living room. The graphic type and even the rest of the color scheme are so spot on, I couldn’t have planned it better.
As to the other two framed prints, you may recognize them from Monday’s post when I revealed my Olive Box goodies. We’ve got the lovely “Folk House” print by Lisa Congdon and the postcard by Quill & Fox. I love the eclectic feel and the fact that they aren’t so matchy-matchy with the rest of the space. Personal opinion here, but I think it’s good to have a little variation in your accessory color palette, otherwise things start to look a little forced and less lived in. These two prints round out the new gallery wall and balance the overall feel.
One thing that I DID try to keep uniform was the framing. If you notice, the New York park print is in a silvery aluminum frame, while the magazine cover has a brushed silver finish. And the Folk House print also has a silvery metallic frame to keep the finish scheme going. The postcard is in a black frame, but it has such a thin edge that I don’t think it detracts from the collection.
Isn’t it crazy the difference that just a few extra pieces of art can make?
P.S. As one last preamble to the fast approaching holiday, check out my round up of 5 delicious soups for the season over on The Glitter Guide. Bonus: All are pretty darn healthy as well!
