A Post for Sandra

Today I will interject in orange.

Christine,

In the room we call the library, I would like to have built-ins on both sides of the window with maybe a window seat. My question is: would this look out of place with the arched window and if not, how high up should the built-ins go? I want the shelves for both books and to display special items. No- I don't think they will look out of place. I would bead board the wall up to the angle in the ceiling. Add your shelves and window seat. Enclose the sides of the shelves where they meet up to the window- including the curve in the arched window. Do not treat it like it doesn't exist- going straight up- but rather follow the curve. Finish with crown moulding- following the line of the ceiling where the angle begins. Put some greenery on the top of that last shelf.Lastly, do the wall hangings look too cluttered along the back wall? They have somewhat of a relationship, except for the shelf. I haven't found the right item, yet. I'm looking for wild life. Am I too far off target?
Sincerely,
Sandra

Sandra- you know in your gut that something is off- or you wouldn't be asking me. Let me tell you what is off.

1. You very carefully lined up everything in a straight row on the bottom. I would have you carefully balance your different items, some higher, some lower, the lowest being somewhere in the middle- not on an edge.
2. You have more small items on the right- I feel a lack of balance there.
3. Do you see how all of your wall art is above the chair line. We need a visual overlap. I discussed that in this post- and this post.
4. If this were over a sofa- it might work better- but- you have two chairs and a table- then you have the multiple items above. There are a lot of different items here- You need a unifier. (If this were over a sofa- the sofa itself would be the unifier.) I would add one large item to the wall. Perhaps a mirror. Add an item large enough to go lower than the chairs, and wide enough to encompass both chairs in the overlap. I would move the large bird picture to another wall, and finish your wall with four of your pictures- one small and one large on either side of the mirror. There is nothing inherently wrong with adding the shelf. I like where you were going with that- I took it out just for balance. Play with which items to put on which side by laying out your collection on the floor. Not too symmetrical- but still balanced.

The mirror below is 43 x 35- by Uttermost. This is probably a good size. Is it clear what I mean by adding a unifier? Can you see the difference even just with my black sharpie unifying mirror? You are one Saturday away from a terrific wall! Good luck Sandra!