Wall art

I've been changing things up a bit with some different wall art.

First things first....
I'd never really found anything great for this wall in the master bedroom. Temporarily I had hung a wedding picture but despite how big it looked on it's own, it just seemed to get swallowed up on this wall once I hung it. Still, there it stayed until I came across this post from Maillardville Manor a few months ago.
It looked really neat...and even better, very do-able! Just a poster board, a vinyl wall decal from Target and a couple of frames! So I totally copied her. And although I think hers turned out better, overall I am quite pleased with how the finished product looks over our bed.



Next project...the kitchen. Specifically the space between the cabinets and the ceiling.
Originally it looked like this:Not the best of pictures but you get the idea...lots of pottery and greenery. And while I liked the idea of bringing some color into the kitchen this way, I've never been 100% satisfied with it.

I'm a big follower of design blogs. Not that designing and DIY-ing is my forte, certainly, but I enjoy reading about and seeing the pictures of the beautiful rooms and fun projects that others take on. While surfing through some of these sites a few days ago I had a realization. I immediately started hunting through blog after blog searching specifically for "kitchen reveals" and home tours...

Ah-ha! No one really puts stuff above their cabinets anymore. Part of this is because cabinetry is being built taller so there is less room up there. But there is also a trend toward simpler, sleeker lines. Kitchen decor of any sort tends to be on counter tops and table centerpieces.

So I took all my stuff down immediately. Just needed an excuse...
But then wondered if I had done the right thing. It looked SO bare! Was it because I was so used to having decor up there and it was just a matter of getting used to the emptiness? Or did I really need SOMETHING because my cabinets aren't as tall?

I thought on it for awhile and remembered this blog post from A Thoughtful Place. As she writes in her post, she found some awesome botanical prints from an old botany book on-line and printed them to hang in her dining room.

I decided to try it. I printed out 5 prints that I liked (out of over 80), put them in frames and propped them up on my cabinets.
Wow.
What a difference! So much better...in my opinion, anyhow. Less cluttered, more simple. And I love the idea that these prints are from an old botany book. How cool is that?

Next up....I think I may attempt a gallery wall at the bottom of my stairs.