by Shari Hiller
Co-Host of
Room by Room My partner Matt Fox and I are always trying to come up with new ways to do...well, just about everything. This time we were working in a very large room with 12 foot ceilings, and we were brainstorming ways to accessorize the walls so the ceiling didn't look too high, and the artwork too puny. Those of you living in homes with the new "great room" concept know just what I'm talking about. We get questions all the time about what to do with all the wall space. Well, here's one idea and the materials you'll need.
Materials:
decorative trim, enough to make a very large rectangular frame
miter box and saw
wood glue
"L" shaped mending plates and screws
picture hanging equipment
a variety of artwork and accessories that coordinate
There are a variety of ways to deal with large and high wall spaces. Putting up a collage of artwork is one of them. To create a collage, start by collecting a variety of art pieces. It's nice if you have a couple of prints that go together to make up a grouping or series within a collage. These help keep the collage from looking too random and uncoordinated.
Another unifying factor would be the use of all ornate gold-toned frames, or all contemporary silver frames. Tying the frames together can pull the whole look together even if the subject matter of the prints is completely different.
Or make a conscious effort to bring together subjects that tell a story. For instance floral prints with dragonfly and ladybug prints make sense, so their frames can be slightly different, and they will still get along. Another great unifier is color. If all the prints in your collage are pastel watercolors or all charcoal or pen and ink, they can make a magnificent display when seen all together.
Another great addition to any collage is dimension. Most artwork is rectangular and flat, but by adding a wall sconce with a candle, a hanging glass container of potpourri, even a mirror or clock can bring added dimension, color and movement to a static display.
Once you have all of the items gathered, lay them out on the floor to create your arrangement. Generally, geometric shapes like ovals and rectangles are good shapes for arrangements. Our arrangement for this particular room ended up rectangular, which is when we thought of actually framing the entire collage with some additional decorative molding. Once everything we had selected was hanging on the wall, we measured the length and width of the collage, and then added several inches around the edges to act as a matte.
We marked our trim pieces and cut them to length using the miter box and saw. It was more convenient to paint them before assembling the frame, so that's what we did, being careful not to get any paint on our miters. When the pieces were dry, we used wood glue at the miter cuts and clamped the trim pieces together. We also added "L" shaped mending plates to the back, to ensure tight corners.
To hang the frame, we screwed sawtooth hangers to the back, and the entire frame hung nicely around the collage we'd already created. The frame was a nice addition that might be considered a little unexpected.
Another method to handle long, tall walls is to add a border at normal ceiling height, and paint a lighter or coordinating color above the border. Sometimes larger pieces of artwork, quilts, or tapestries can be a dramatic way to bring attention to the beauty of the architecture. If you don't want to attempt something that may take you more than three steps up a ladder, just fill the room with larger scale furniture that fits the spaciousness of the room, and select your artwork accordingly. Normal sized art can work placed at eye level, with taller accessories on top of armoires or entertainment centers to bring interest to the upper reaches of the room.
Don't let those high ceilings and big, blank canvas walls intimidate you. Just go with the flow with large artwork ... divide the wall and conquer ... or let the accessories on your taller furniture pieces create the interest you're looking for.
)