Ka-Pow! Big walls need visual punch!!!

My casa is 103 years young and therefore has lots of high ceilings. which = cobwebs, oh, sorry, I mean blank space to fill in clever ways. But I don't like to just put anything on the walls like large pics or posters b/c your home should reflect what you love and show your personality.  So here are a few ideas I have used to show off what I love (my family), to make it something you want to linger over AND they  fill up those huge canvases of plaster.

Dining Room

I love picture ledges but I gotta tell you, they cost a freakin' fortune for like 2' of wood!

I hope those companies plant some trees with all the extra dollas they make off of those ledges.

Anyhoo, I am a serious "I'll do it myself" kind a gal ( that's why my 3 year old and I see eye to eye) and this is what I came up with.

You just need a 6 ft. length of 1x2, a 6 ft. length of lattice, some wood glue, clamps, 2" L-brackets, and spray paint 

Glue like so and clamp every 6" for 24 hours. Spray paint, attach L-brackets, and mount to your walls.

It is that easy!

I liked the idea of having the family pics sitting on top be matted in ivory and the ones hanging below be all in black.

Liked it so much made two more for my stairwell. These are 3 foot lengths. I had to be a little more careful with my L-bracket placement because the studs were not where I thought they'd be so you might want to use a stud finder and then mark your ledge AND wall so you know exactly where to put your screws. But be careful with that stud finder, it usually has a funny way of pointing to my fella!

Making sure that the ledges are mounted solidly is key especially if you use  frames like I did. These are from Ikea and are all glass, thus they are a might heavy. So measure thrice, mark twice, and mount once. We are going to fill in with other more typical frames to make it fun to linger over and remember when their hands were just "thiiiis big"

 Girl's room

Another problem wall. But now it is pink.....along time ago I found a tutorial on using toilet paper rolls to create a vine http://www.designswan.com/archives/humble-art-toilet-paper-roll-art.html. Inspiration struck and the roll collection began in earnest. "Are you sure you don't have to go to the bathroom?"

I just saved rolls for about a week (just kidding, although doesn't it seem like we go through rolls like crazy with kids and yet their bums are so little....) and then cut them into 1" sections. Then I just started gluing. I love chrysanthemums so that is how these kinda turned out.

Just vary the number of petals and spray paint and hang however you want. I like that they are dimensional also. And if they break, big deal, just make more!



Bathroom wall

How to: I just took the leaves my girls would give me on our walks and saved the best and then pressed them.

Remove the back of a picture frame, these were from the Goodwill for about $1.00 each, spray painted them black and then cut another piece of glass the same size as the one that came with the frame. Sandwich the leaf between the two pieces of glass and hang. Easy peezy, lemon squeezy

I love this idea because I love the the intricacies you can see in God's creation. Each leaf is unique in it's formation and although it might look a bit different form the others, each one serves a purpose on the tree. It reminds me of the special care that He took when He created my uniqueness. Most who know me would  agree He was heavy on the unique =0)

But I have a purpose in this big tree called life and I hope it shows that my purpose is to use the creativity that He gifted me with to bring HIM glory, and not myself.

Love you bunches and bunches,

KIM