70s Redo Living Room Update: That Darn Wall!!!

Ok, so I've rearranged again (lately I've been doing it every couple of weeks just to give new things a try) so that the sofa would be across from the windows & we can enjoy all the changing leaves outside cuddled up instead of in separate chairs. (castered sofas = AMAZING for this!! ;) ;) In all of this rearranging I've learned that some arrangements photograph better than others (of course) but that sometimes the ones that photograph the worst are my favorites! haha like this one:

Which leads me to "THAT DARN WALL!!" argggg(above) It's been driving me insane as you probably remember. It's a tough imbalanced wall because of the angle of the ceiling... First I just tossed up some flea market paintings & a mirror we had up on the walls & while they look cozy & warm in the photo, there was way too much dead space on the wall so I knew the fix was only temporary. (Still planning on having mirror set into the fireplace box- on my to do list for this month)

Next I tried these huge mirrors from Ballard. (below) I love that they add to the height of the space but the black is getting to feel too harsh for me in here as it's getting colder. I had still planned to work in something around the mirrors but the arrangment in my mind bothered me. (And I have the perfect place that's begging for them in my entry... They remind me of a window & my entry is dark so they'll reflect a lot of the light from the LR windows.)

So, we've finally decided to do a gallery wall ... which was what was originally planned. (what goes around comes around I guess.) I know lots of people are 'over' them, but I've never had one long enough to get sick of them. We've got a bunch of Leonard Da Vinci sketches & drawings & we're going to frame them in matching oversized frames with oversized matting. (30!!!) I want to go as close as I can to the ceiling & take it down almost to the ground. I think it'll create a modern-feeling gridwork pattern but will also warm up the space at the same time... Below is a photo of a mid-sized gallery wall I did in a client's home:

I haven't ordered the frames yet & am hoping not to spend an insane amount. I found some possible online sources & will share when I decide which I'm going with. (priced under $20) I worry though because I haven't seen them in person. The store I'm really thinking of going with doesn't offer samples... So I'll let you know how it goes! For now though, here's what's going on in the rest of the living room: I'm waiting on some pillows (using a green & white floral I'd had around for years!!) for the sofa and I can't wait to add a little more pattern in this space:

We finally added the bookshelf lamp to our "cluttered" & loved bookshelf:

And because green is my favorite color, I keep finding green things to bring in here ( = free!!) My best friend gave me this cozy green throw & I love cozying up under it:

And the camel saddle has become a great ottoman:

I love having walnuts around in the Fall and here's a shot of the white urn they're hanging out in right now:

And the gilded chair is still alive!

And my dining room chairs are also still on the "to do" list... Slicovered linen parsons chairs are where they're headed, but for now I pulled in some garden chairs from outside in galvanized steel... As you can see, some fabric is needed over here in the dining room (come on parson's chairs!!) so I pulled in our little friend, the ottoman for the pic so it wasn't so cold. Now Christian loves it there & makes himself at home with his toys on the table. Works for me!

I'm still crazy over that piece of wood & the vintage chemistry beakers... I mixed them with a glass orb and an inexpensive beaker-like vase from Ikea:

And the storage space has been awesome in the $165 sideboard I found. It's also a nice 6 foot expanse of display space- yay!!

If you want to see the "before pics" of the living room & the changes we've made, you can go here to view it. So , what are your thoughts on a gallery wall& parsons chairs? Any good sources for me?

xoxo,

lauren