Wall Collage - Artwork

Something very popular in the decorating world right now is the wall collage.  An area of wall, where instead of hanging just one item & focusing on that, you hang several items, that together become one functioning piece of art.


Some are very neat & organized:

Photo Credit: Link

And some are a little less so:

Photo Credit: Link

Some don't even use art, they just use the frames or even mirrors!


Photo Credit: Link

All VERY creative and very beautiful.  If this is your style, it's easy to do & it can be really lovely.  It allows you to hang up all the pictures that you never get to see as well as display other items.  As I am a huge fan of hanging things on the wall, and freeing up space on floors, counters, tables, etc., this is a great place to add some of those items.  If you are an artist yourself, have a bunch of cool sketches, frame them, add them into the mix.  It's about displaying who you are on your wall.

There seem to be two schools of thought on how to really do this.  One is to go monochromatic:  All of the frames are the same color, similar matting, possibly even all black and white photos/ images.  The other is to go quite the opposite.  Mix and match colors, frames, patterns, etc. 


There are two places in our home where I am considering doing something like this.  And being that I tend to enjoy the more organized approach, I will probably go with that - similar spacing between items, lines carried through, all the goodies.  However I tend to enjoy the eclectic mix of colors and patterns.  Maybe all the frames are browns & creams - but they don't all have to be the same.  It gives wiggle room!


Area One:  Over the couch.
Our sofa in the living room is in front of the window.  There is no other place for it to go!  So there will be no wonderful piece of artwork over the sofa, however, there is a portion of wall over the end of the sofa that isn't asking for one big piece of off-centered art, it's asking for something unique.  I think this is one area where we have an opportunity to experiment.

I think that this wants to have one large piece to anchor it in place, but have several different pieces that make up the "whole".  What that is exactly, I'm not sure, but I think it could be something like this.  Possibly a large print - maybe with a letter, or something graphic.  Next to it perhaps a few photos, or wall tiles, or anything really.  Full of ideas, but nothing concrete yet.

Area Two:  The staircase
Our stairwell tends to be a bit dark and boring.  I think that this might be the perfect area to add a little something and fill the empty wall with some really great art.  A lot of people tend to focus their art over the handrail, so people can view it as they walk up the stairs, however, I like having a display that can be viewed while you are on the first floor or on the stairs.

My husband purchased a set of prints for me that are on canvas and that show a great scene from Italy.  We have no really good place to put them, so I thought that this might be perfect.  Put them in a shadow box, and use it as the anchor piece in the middle.  The prints are black and white, so lets go with that.  Black and white frames, tiles, items, etc.  I don't know that we have 12-15 photos that we want to display right now, but as we grow as a family, we might!  We can put prints, sketches, even patterned paper in a few of the frames for now, and the wall will grow, right along with our family.

The wall behind will be a dark sand color with white trim.  And if we ever get to rip up the carpeting, there are lovely hardwood floors that will really make this area cozy.

So, we don't really have a plan, but we have an idea.  This is something that will probably get pushed back into fall and winter, as the ability to get outdoor work & painting wanes with the weather.  But I think that I love these displays.  And if the interest goes away, it's nothing that some spackle and a coat of paint can't entirely erase.

What do you think of these "art walls"?  Are you a fan?