2 ideas for hanging art

I spend a lot of time browsing through design mags and online pictures of rooms. I think this could rank as my number one time suck, even above Facebook! Often I'm inspired (and clipping picture after picture for various project ideas), but sometimes I'm a little surprised at what I see, or don't see as is the case here.

The picture above is from bhg.com's decorating gallery (Better Homes & Gardens). I know you all see it too, right? Something is not right. Let me preface this critique by saying that my home is not prefect, and I know some projects are "in progress" but they aren't usually featured in decorating galleries on a magazine's website!

Okay, here it is. The wall over the sofa has a tiny, teeny little wall sconce (can you even see it?) that is clearly going to be taken down and replaced with something larger, right?

Here's the deal:

• The scale is way off between the light and the sofa; one large, one teeny, tiny
  
• I recommend you use a 2/3 "rule" in filling up walls, in other words, fill most of the space available. A common mistake is hanging tiny art on a large wall.
  
• Also, place your art about 6" above the sofa, not too much higher or it appears to be floating alone and we don't want lonely art, do we?
• And finally, that light can't possibly serve a function there. You'd have to sit right under it if you wanted to read a book -- and it would need very large type!
  

Here are a few quick solutions...working with a few pieces of art I found online...thank you Photoshop!

(these three mirrors contrast nicely with the hard lines of the furnishings in the room ~
repeating a similar shape/item creates a clean look)

(a black and white gallery feels right at home here ~
vary the size of the frames, but keep them close together to create one large block of art)

What's hanging over your sofa? (That's the decorating version of "what's in your wallet?") Click on 'comment' below to let me know!