Design Dilemma:: TV Wall

For reasons that I can't quite remember, we opted to hang our giant flat-screen TV on the wall in our family room rather than going with my first choice, hanging it over the mantel.

Hanging the TV over the mantel would have been extremely difficult and expensive.  It had something to do with the wiring.  The details are fuzzy for two reasons:  One, when the electrician came to hang the TV, I had 18-month old twins who were running around, and I was pregnant with Nathan, so I was t-i-r-e-d, and TVs weren't top on my list of priorities.  Two, I didn't want a giant TV in my family room in the first place, and I was bitter.  I wanted a small TV that could be enclosed in an armoire or TV cabinet, out of sight.  So when the electrician tried to talk to me about it, I was all spiteful.  "Yeah, whatever.  Hang that monstrosity where ever you want."  The electrician assured me that within mere weeks I would absolutely love having a giant TV.  Let me tell you, I can't say it's happened yet.  Nonetheless, the TV is here to stay.

So for now, we have a giant TV hanging on our wall, and nothing else.  I've been searching for some solutions to take the focus off the of the TV, so it isn't such an eyesore.  We have the canvas artwork to hide it when we want to:

But I've been looking for something more permanent. Here are my ideas so far:

1.  Add Shelves Around the TV::  It would be easy enough to add shelves on either side of the TV to draw the eye away from the TV.

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I particularly like the second photo with the cubby shelves.  Seems a bit cozier to me.

2.  Create an Art Wall Around the TV::  I've been wanting to do a gallery wall for some time now.  This would be the perfect excuse!

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                                           contemporary family room design by charlotte interior designer Emily A. Clark

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3.  Paint a Contrasting Color around TV::  I found several photos of TVs that were framed out in a contrasting color or design.  Interesting idea.

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Those last two have the contrasting color AND shelves, which frames the TV nicely and makes the wall look much more interesting, and not as stark.

I already know which option I'm leaning towards.  What about you?  What are your thoughts?  Do you have any ideas for making a mounted TV look less austere?

DIY Oars, Pottery Barn Style

You may have already learned that raising children is not cheap.  First there are the diapers.  And the clothing that they outgrow every month or two.  And the food that they consume -- I swear, the amount my children eat rivals that of large teenage boys.  And then there's the daycare issue.  So when we decided that it was time to get Charlotte and Gavin out of their toddler beds and into "big kid" bedrooms, we knew we wanted to do it on the cheap.


Michael and I love working on a project.  In fact, I often tell him that I think our marriage is best when we are working towards something.  It could be anything: picking out a new perennial for our garden, looking for Christmas decorations, whatever.  We love having a goal.  So the two of us (okay, mostly me)  were giddy with excitement at the thought of decorating the kids' rooms.  A project!  And a fun one!


I've been spending the last few months scouring flea markets and Etsy looking for treasures to make the rooms perfect.  I definitely could blow hundreds of dollars, easy, on Pottery Barn quilts and bookshelves.  But that doesn't fit with our whole three-kids-in-daycare situation, so it was important to do it on a shoestring budget.


Neither room has a "theme", exactly.  Gavin loves being outside, so we decided to decorate with things you might see at a summer camp.  I decided that I really wanted a pair of oars hanging over his bed, like these from PB:

But Pottery Barn is not cheap (side note: how do they get away with those shipping charges?  Ridiculous!).  So after a few months of looking (I never thought it would be so difficult to locate a pair of old oars!) we scored a pair for $18.  Here they are as they looked when we bought them:

We are using primary colors in Gavin's room, so I bought some Rustoleum spray paint in white, navy, and red.  I painted the larger oar white:

And then I added some blue painter's tape so I could paint some random red stripes:

I wanted to personalize the smaller oar a bit.  First I painted it navy, and then made a stencil of the number 5 to paint on the paddle.  I printed a 5 I liked on the computer, cut it out, and then traced around it with pencil:

Then I painted the five with yellow acrylic paint.  The nice part about this is that I knew I wanted to distress the oars, so I didn't worry too much about paint drips or perfect lines:

 After the paint dried, I got out some coarse sandpaper and went to town on those babies.  Here are my little beauties now:

We're heading to the Depot this weekend to find appropriate hooks to hang them with.  I can't wait to see how they look on the wall!  And we're one step closer to finishing the room...can't wait to show you!

Lamp Lust

I'm starting to plan Charlotte's Big Girl Room. Considering my recent obsession with Tar-jay's Liberty of London line, I'm thinking I may need to incorporate one of these little beauties into the design somewhere. Aren't they cute? (It makes me laugh that I said "design." Like I am capable of designing anything.)

My other idea was something like this little jadite number from The Lovely's shop at Etsy.












I have no idea what to do with the rest of the room, but I figure a lamp is a good enough place to start! What do you think?