filling the walls

As you may have noticed if you've perused the "Before and After," our living room walls look a little empty.

 A big reason for that is we've been awaiting an art piece that Mark's cousin Jon has been making just for us -- how cool is that? And at last we know what it will look like. Here it is, "Passage of Time."

Now that we've seen it (it will ship soon from NYC) and know how big it is, we can starting planning the "final" wall plan (is anything ever really final?). Our vision has been to put a big mirror over the fireplace, to help expand the space, and because something visually opaque would look odd on that weird, diagonal wall. A mirror also usually doesn't read as visual clutter, assuming it's a simple design, so that should maintain the cleanness of the space, which I love. So the three-piece collage (did I mention I love it?) will go over the slipper chair and lamp, on the narrow wall at the far end of the room. That is where it fits best, but it also means it should make a big impact when you first walk in the front door.

Next question is... do we hang it landscape, as above? Or go for a more portrait orientation?

I really like the way the vertical lines look like a forest when it's oriented portrait-style, and I think I'm leaning that way. But, if we do that, the height will be all out of balance with the rest of the room, and we'll need to add some taller elements elsewhere.

During my recent trip to Denver, Jenn and I went back to the poster and map store in Boulder that I love for its selection of vintage-style travel posters. And I got these two blue posters, thinking about them living in a future, much larger home.

But, as it happens, they have dimensions similar to the triptych, and a similar color palette. We could put them over the sofa, replacing the photographs that are there currently, and adding more balanced height to the room. That would, of course, fly in the face of my desire for no words or numbers in our main spaces (too "thinky," not relaxing!), and it would be a whole lotta blue. But it could also really help fill the space and make it feel more "lived in."

We've recently added some green touches to the room that I'll reveal soon, so I'm less worried about the assault of blue. But because all of what we might put on the walls is darker than the blue furniture below, I'm more worried that it could feel a bit top-heavy, as though the art is looming.

What do you think? What would you do if this were your room? Stay tuned for our decision...