apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Drapery hung at the ceiling.

Otherwise, nothing. I don't see the point in putting art so high you need to crane your neck to see it. I think nothing should be higher than the top of the windo alcoves (aside from drapery rods).

Blank walls are not (always) a sin.

I would loose all those nick nacks and invest in one large piece of art. That entire wall could be painted another color too. Take off those corner shelf things with vases, just too weird. The drapery idea is good as well.

I don't think you need anything up there. In fact, I think you should remove something from the space above the fireplace - probably the print at the top - so it doesn't look so completely filled (it makes the space above look extra empty).

paint the tee, cut back on the tchotchkes and put in a much larger art piece. (group the kid photos into one large piece)

You mean in addition to what's there now? I already think you have a lot going on.

I agree that one large thing on that wall is all you need, period.

I think all the elements you have below are emphasizing the emptiness above.

I would paint either the nooks or the T, or both... even put some wallpaper in the nooks for some texture and put one large art piece in the center.

first i would get rid of those corner shelves and paint those niches a different color. then i'd remove everything above the mantle and just put 1 painting or large mirror and candles on the mantle.

I would consider wallpapering the entire wall except for the window recesses or painting an accent colour. I'd also lose that little shelf over the fireplace if possible--it's at a really awkward height--then you can do a big picture or mirror over your fireplace instead of all those small competing elements.

I wouldn't put anything on the wall up high there as I don't see any reason why you'd want to draw peoples' eyes up that high.

I agree w/ the others - You have waaaay too many ditzy little things there. You need to declutter and get a few larger-scaled items in your display, such as one large piece of art or a big mirror on the ledge and a couple of big candlesticks and a topiary on the mantle (placed non-symmetrically)

I'd get rid of those little corner shelves in the alcoves too and replace them w/ drapery hung from the top of those alcoves to the floor.

Long term, I would consider having built-in window seats installed inside those alcoves as well with storage for out of season items, and having the sheetrocked chimney breast extended all the way up to the ceiling (That ledge above the mantel is just awkward) and putting some crown moulding around the room at the height of the tops of the alcoves to bring the eye down: You'd paint the area above the moulding the same as the ceiling and the area below another color.

Like above, I would remove all of the clutter above the fireplace, put a large piece of art there that does not go higher than the alcoves. I would then remove the corner shelves from the alcoves and paint them a warm gray colour, almost charcoal. I would make little storage benches under each of the windows that match, out of a warm wood, and upholster the tops for extra seating.

Put the poster in a frame or get it off the wall. Put it somewhere else. The little corner shelves have got to go. You want to do something dramatic with the upper wall, or just fill in the space? It looks like you are after the latter at the pace you're going. Teeny tiny little teapot on the mantel - why? So many things, I can't tell if you love them (aside from the children) or get itchy when you see an empty space and fill it. I like bepsf's plan for the space, but a good idea is to take everything away for a few days and gradually add things to it. It needs editing before you fill it all up. Please don't hang a rug runner on your wall.

You want to add more to that wall? I think that simplicity is best here. The architecture of this space is busy enough. Remove the clutter.

It looks like you have a traditional fireplace mantle as well as a shelf above the mantle which looks really odd. I think you should choose to use one or the other. In this case - do not put anything on the mantle itself and hang on large piece of art or mirror in the center of that area.

I also like the idea of adding window benches at the bottom of those windows and painting the niches a dark color.

Oh and remove those shelves in the niches! They add clutter to the architecture and they are hung at a weird height.

I would remove the shelves in the nooks, as others have said. They detract from the elegant lines you otherwise have going.

I'd paint the fireplace wall a nice color going straight up to the ceiling at the edges of the nooks, but NOT the area over the nooks. (Break up the T.) You could just tape it off or you could edge the stripe with molding. (I'd just tape.)

Then I'd hang draperies in the nooks the full width of the areas right to the ceiling of the space that are the same color as the paint. (I might go with a Ralph Loren metallic moss green paint and a similar silk dupioni (look) drapery... but that's me.) Or possible a stripe that includes the wall color.

Finally, I'd hang either one large piece of art, one large mirror, or a grouping of four identically framed photos (the three you have plus one more) in the space above the little ledge, ignoring the fact that it is a ledge. Maybe put a vase or a couple of candles on the mantle...

A merlin. Or a canoe. Or one giant painting instead of all the little knick-knacks.

those corner shelves in the alcoves are just weird. the items displayed on them may be lovely, but putting them on those shelves isn't showing them to their advantage.

how's the natural light in the room? do those little windows in the alcoves contribute much to it? if so, i think the idea above about wallpapering the alcoves would look great. if not, definitely hang some drapes, mounted as high as possible.

the scale of this wall and the size of everything on it don't work. you need one large piece of art above that ledge. i agree with bepsf that some tallish pieces (candlesticks, etc) displayed asymetrically would be better on the mantle.

and definitely leave the wall above the alcoves blank!

Can someone offer a picture with these tall draperies they keep mentioning? I am not picturing it. I can't tell what the rest of the room has going for it except a lot of tan. I don't think there's anything wrong with taking everything away and adding one dramatic piece up there. Art isn't necessarily something you have to crane your neck to see. I'd like some kind of textural sculptural thingie, maybe made of metal.

Oh you poor poor dear. These folks could have been nicer. This area needs loads of work. If at all possible ask someone to come over and help you with it or hire someone to help. Otherwise take everything down including the things that hold the vases and just leave kids pictures. Those you are safe with.

I'm wondering what's going on with those skinny-minnie windows. Are those ... pull down shades with mullions over the top half? Am I crazy? I swear I see a little daylight peeking out from one of the corners.

I am with LoriSF on this one. Paint the hearth a color, not neccesarily dark, clear the mantle and hang a vertical piece of art. Maybe the back walls of the windows could be painted to look like bigger windows (or alcoves), the grid is really distracting.

You seem to like Japanese art, so why not remove all of the items above the fireplace and hang a vintage kimono from a bar above it? The Kimono will form a T and follow the form of the wall. If you still want to display something on the fireplace mantel, choose one or two special items -- perhaps the vases now on the shelf brackets. Keep it asymmetric, and simple.

I would remove the small shelves from the corners of your window alcoves and install very tailored window draperies from the top of the alcove space. Tie them back, over sheer panels.

I would agree with everyone on taking down the corner shelves inside the nooks and removing all the nick-nacks. Leave the kids photos where they are and add a nice, big, framed mirror above (round rather than rectangular would be a nice contrast).

Take everything off of the walls and the shelves inside of the window nooks.

Paint the wall a dark color (navy blue, deep grey) and leave the nooks unpainted (white) or do a shade 50% lighter than your wall color.

Consider putting only a couple knickknacks back, and when you do make sure to do groupings (3, 5, 7) of complimentary items, vs. spacing all of them equally as you have done before.

Good luck-post pictures when you're done!

Hard to tell what the rest of the room is like. But I would take everything down. Paint the nooks. Lean a large picture or tall mirror (perhaps with an ornate frame) on the fireplace ledge (the top one, above the photos). And consider the nook bench idea.

I agree that there's kind of a lot going on there, and that decluttering is a great idea. You've got some fanTASTic architectural details to work with -- the stepped mantel, the alcoves, the matching white window frames... play that up! That's all the "design" you need. If it were my room, I'd do this: http://flickr.com/photos/70191341@N00/3304419629/ .

Huh. Apparently Torgny and I think alike...

You have too much going on already, you need to edit! I kept the kids photos and added some drapery panels in the window niches - not the nicest but its all I could find quickly ;)

Just an idea

I don't know what happened to the link to my picture...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tehfunkybunch/3304470487/" title="room redo by TheFunkyBunch, on Flickr">

You had the right idea, but the execution of it is all wrong unfortunately. Those corner shelves w/ the vases just don't cut it at all, for starters, they are much too high and just look awkward. I like the idea of draperies, even if dummy panels w/ benches underneath and painted so they stand out a bit from the room.

That top ledge, it looks to be part of the wall construction so nothing can be done with that but do agree something tall like a fun candlestick on one side and either a large mirror or bold piece of art just above it, even if leaned up against but I'd rather hang it and have it's bottom edge just inches from that ledge, like no more than 3 inches at most above it.

Also, the children's pictures, best move them someplave else, but leave then how you have them hung in that new space, either vertical or horizontal, doesn't really matter just as long as you keep them as a grouping but not where you have them now. It's adding to the chaos that is there now and move all those smaller items to a more intimate area, such as a shelf in a bookcase where they are not trying to compete with the larger items nearby.

Again, you had the right idea, just it's execution needs work.

Good luck

I appreciate all the suggestions, but I'm not taking my "ditzy" ceramics down or covering the picture windows, sorry!

The ledge above the mantel is a built-in element, i.e. it can't be removed (you can see it's part of the wall, and that's how the builder made it -- I'm not asking them to remove it or "fix" it). Every corner is rounded, so painting the recesses a drastically different color will leave a ridiculous line. Painting the T will also leave bad lines, especially because the right side extends to the wall where the railing is in the photo and into the next higher-level room. Dark grey or navy would look really bad in these spaces.

Oh well.

Ok... well then leave it alone and don't add anything else to that wall.

Stickyrice, I think you've got an audience full of minimalists here...

I understand where you're coming from. I, too, love the ceramics collection, but I think having so many small, strong pieces sprinkled over a large, beige space doesn't do them justice, and it detracts from the wall itself -- which has terrific details! Seriously. I would *love* to have that wall.

Having a couple of small clusters of the pieces -- three together on a mantel, three more on a tabletop -- would bring them down to eye level and make them a focal point.

You say your corners are rounded -- but I'm guessing only the exterior corners? The seams where the window-walls meet their side walls seem to be sharp. Adding a stronger color there JUST on the flat part of the wall (like the blue-grey in your throw pillow) might help anchor things.

The only other solution that comes to mind, assuming you don't want to paint that entire wall, is to go all the way and turn it into the VISUAL CHAOS wall. Remove the shelves from the alcoves. Put those ceramics on the ledge. Hang the plates higher on the wall. Add /more/ plates. Seriously, cover the whole wall with Neat Arty Stuff, any shape or color you can think of. Pack it on. But the key to making that workable is that everything else in the whole room has to be absolutely stark-simple-plain. No other little fiddly bits, framed things, dainty lamps, profusions of throw pillows. If it's crazy and crowded enough, it becomes a sort of pattern in its own right.

Get rid of all the crap & put up the Union Jack.

I say move the pics of the kids up to the ledge (they look a little low as is) to draw your eye up a bit.

Relocate everything else, especially the little shelfs with the pottery. We all have our own styles and collections, but all put together as they are it doesn't look cohesive and is visually cluttered. This is causing the wall where all the stuff is to look heavy, thus making the blank upper part look more...blank. I think if you simplify, the top part of the wall won't look so out of place.

Good luck.

I'd get rid of the nick nacks and put window treatments that span the entire length/width of the recessed areas.

Or put a big sunburst mirror where the nick nacks are and put really large graphic numbers or letters or something above. And window treatments, too.

You asked for advice, then don't fill that wall. Don't do anything. You're happy the way it is, or put up more stuff and it won't make a difference. It won't matter what you fill in that space. Whatever is making you rigid about the contents of that space will compete with whatever you decide to place on the wall above all that.

I would remove the corner shelves from the alcoves, and move your collection of blue china onto the fireplace mantle. I would lower the poster to lean on that wall ledge. I would move everything else somewhere else. Like this:

http://flickr.com/photos/33142866@N08/3305446931/

P.S. I would never take a photo of that room from that angle, and would occupy my eyes by watching things at my eye level, or below.

I agree with what some other are saying. It might be nice to paint the wall around the windows another color. It doesn't necessarily have to be too bold either. Something neutral will do just fine. Simplify your display. There are too many things going on there. Definitely take down those shelves near the window nooks. they kind of break up the space in a dischordant way. Right now you have pottery/glass, photos of you kids, and the Hokusai wave painting. Pick two things from those three and play around with the arrangement. Put your kids pictures above the ledge and switch the glass/pottery to where the pictures used to be? Put the Hokusai above the ledge and the pottery/glass below? Etc. just simplify and you'll have a beautiful space.

How about a giant, tasteful, style-fitting mobile?

So rare is it appropriate to use a freestanding / free-hanging sculpture in a residence -- but this seems to be one such opportunity.

Not to mention your recessed lighting would illuminate it nicely.

Just a thought.

Is "stickyricemama" Jennifer? If so, I'm sorry if it bothered you that I suggested you take down your shelves. It's just the way I would solve the wall arrangement.

Do you know what Japanese Boys Day banners are? One would look great above your fireplace (it's the photo on the upper right):

http://www.japanesetextileart.com/Sensational%20Japanese%20Decorations/Sensational%20Decorations.htm

Here is a place where you can buy them:

http://www.saberdesigns.cc/banners.htm