Dreaming of an Art Wall!

I know, here I am talking about an art gallery wall and I realized I have never even really showed you my house since we bought it 2 years ago!  I am working on a whole "house tour" thing for the blog. 

And, well, today Im going to start by showing you one little corner of our home.  

Remember my mint green dresser-now entry console?  I finished painting it back in April, hung my huge gold mirror and it just needed to be styled.  Here we are 6 months later and the only style it has (if you can even call it that) is a stream of framed (and unframed) art leaning against the wall waiting to be hung.  

This look doesn't bother me too much, but the constant clutter that is in front of it does.  Oh I was so excited to have all these drawers at the door.  There will be a place for everything! I thought.  Isn't that was organized people have?  A place for everything?  What unorganized people can't grasp is that you have to designate a spot....and then put it there!  Guys, I have 13 drawers and 8 baskets in the living room alone. Well, at least I have the space to make it happen...someday.

Back to the art wall.  While working for Delta Airlines I traveled a lot and unfortunately, only the last few years did I start bringing art home with me...Duh!  So many missed opportunities.   Nonetheless, I have collected some cool art over the years from various parts of the world, art shows around Atlanta and of course etsy.
Check out this world map print from Jessica Durrant (right here in Atlanta!) Notice how it's in my favorite colors.  It's just waiting for a nice gold frame.

Also love this Michelle Armas print (or any of her others) but sadly, I don't think this one is available anymore.

I already have one of her prints and I would love to grow my collection.

This beautiful peacock by MaiAutumn will be on the art wall as well.  This print was featured in West Elm, so it may look familiar.  Again, with the colors...and you know how I feel about peacocks.

In the last year, my time of perusing Etsy has been less and less.  This is why I am happy that I found The Jealous Curator.  (thanks to Emily Henderson) Her whole blog is dedicated to introducing you to cool art.  I have several things on my wish list due to her introductions.  Check out my "art" board on Pinterest.  Although art is totally subjective and personal, who knows, you may like something I pinned.  My absolute favorites right now are by Lisa Krannichfeld from her "Glass Managerie" series.  She sells prints of the original paintings for a good price.   These will be on the wall as well. 

{Whisper and Twenty-eight}

Even with all of this, I plan to mix in some DIY art, and maybe a typography piece or a silhouette of my babies. I will need a few more pieces to create the look Im after. 

Here are a few inspiration photos:

{via Oh Joy}

{From the Right Bank via New York Times}

{via Niji Home}

I love these art walls because they mix frame sizes and color, and look organically thrown up there (I'm sure they weren't). Plus it is a great mix of artwork. Ceiling to floor art? Yes!

So let's take a look at my wall again, shall we?

Since I do already have the huge gold mirror up, my "plan" is to just work out from there. One piece on the left and then one on the right, etc. and balance it with my eyes. But that could go wrong 10 nail holes in.  So I was thinking I could use Picasa's collage maker (which I use frequently) to lay out the art before hanging.  Just for a rough idea of what looks good together.

Ok this is not really to scale, but i think it will work.  I can already tell this wall is going to make me happy.  It is a lot of wall space too, so this way I can add to it as I get more.  More is more, but budget is reality.  Promise to show you when it's underway. Im close to pulling the trigger.