My family room sofa floats in the middle of the room. I used to have an antique baker's rack that served as a bar and was flanked by 2 paintings (3 oils and 1 watercolor) on each side on the wall behind it. Now I have a really ugly piano in that spot. I'll probably be starting a thread about what to do with it any day now!

My living room sofa has a large (40"x40") landscape over it. I can post pictures of the living room later.

I have a wall like that and couldn't figure out what to put there, I finally made some papier mache pieces (2 masks and a Kokopelli) and hung them there.

My sofa backs up against a large window that is the "throne" for our Westie, Dundee. Unfortunately, that window is usually covered with dog nose rubbings, that require daily cleaning - so photos are the LAST thing you would want to see!

LOL, Nanny!

Mine are all floaters, as well. Two in the living room and one in the family room. Can't help you there, but I thought I'd post to bump your thread up to the top again.
I'm sure you're going to get some great ideas from the others here.
Lynn

When I was planning on putting our sofa on the wall I was going to do a picture ledge behind w/ a casual display of pictures.

Here's mine.

What do you do when your sofa does not back up against a blank wall symmetrically? My sofa backs up to a window leaving just a small section of plain wallspace - so if you follow from left to right behind my sofa, there is a window, a curtain, and about 4 feet of plain wall. You can't center anything over the sofa because the window is there. I have nothing there now and it looks like it needs something, but what? (I'll be watching to see if anyone else is in this same predicament)

Thanks Porkandham, I'd love to see a photo when you get the chance.

Ghostlyvision.. how did you make those pieces? They're incredible.

Nanny, LOL. I have 4 wet noses living with me. I'm used to dog snuffles on windows. :)

ttodd.. I'll have to look into picture ledges and see if that would work.

sjt, thanks for posting your photo. That's a big picture. I don't have any that large so I'd have to go with a group of them.

I have some pictures and a couple of mirrors choices that I could put behind there. I just don't know how to place them. None of my other furniture is against a wall so it's just the darn sofa wall that's giving me problems.

Homestyle, my loveseat isn't against the wall, but if you face it, you see a huge window, curtain and then 3 ft of empty wall space so I put 2 framed pictures centered on top of each other there and I also stuck my hanging plant in that corner. The plant gives that corner a little depth.

Living room sofa:

{{!gwi}}

LR:

FR (just a window over the couch, nothing on either side of the window yet):

Thanks Lauriedeee, I just mixed up shredded paper, water and a bit of alum (to stop odors) and mashed it up into a moist pulp and mixed some Elmers and wood glue into it. We had some leftover window screen material so I cut pieces of it to cover the forms for the masks (foil-wrapped bowl for the Akan mask and an oblong basket for the Easter Island mask, a sheet of foil under the screen for Kokopelli). Smoothed a thick layer of pulp onto the screens into desired shapes and let it dry (days and days).

Once dry, peeled off the screens and made Koko thicker and the faces/designs on the masks, sealed with a spray-on water-based poly when fully dry and painted. Although it was quite an investment in time due to length of drying, it was cheap and I really enjoyed it and how they came out. They are much larger than they look in the pic (Koko is about 2 feet long).

Love the paintings over the sofas, and that black brick is utterly cool!

Lauriedee - does your plant hang over your sofa? Or is it behind the sofa? Do you have any pics of that area?

Thanks ghostlyvision! I love your papier mache pieces! I often have grand intentions of making stuff to hang on the walls but never follow through. You might have inspired me....!

Thanks for posting the pics Cat and Pork. Both pictures look great on your walls. I don't have anything that large though and based on the prices of them, I don't think I can afford a large picture like that.

I'm checking into picture ledges. Maybe I'll try that route.

Lisa, I don't have any pictures to show you. We took down the plant and the pictures when we installed the new windows My loveseat was a couple of feet away from that wall anyway.

I had the plant, a spider plant hanging in the corner. As long as your sofa isn't butted up against those 2 walls, you should be able to get a hanging plant in there. You might not want a spider plant because they're wide but there are other plants that aren't as bushy and could hang closer to the wall.

I meant to respond to Ghostlyvisions too.. You've got me thinking now GV. I'm trying to think of things that I could use as a form to make my own papier mache pieces. If anybody has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Masks wouldn't work, not that I have any anyway. I'm more the vintage, romantic, french country eclectic type. LOL and cheap to boot.

catmom, could you tell me the brand of your leather sofa? I have been looking for just that sort of patchwork / pieced / tufted? / look for awhile now.

Mine is currently blank, but I've always loved this display (sorry, dont know how to imbed a photo from a website)

Here is a link that might be useful: sofa wall - Simitree

I just repainted my family room and did a gallery wall behind the sofa... They are all vintage London street scenes.I want to add a large letter L for our last name to the left over the square shade and something on the right, but not sure what.

Jodi-

Go for it Cat mom, it's a really good way to release your creative energy.

You can use almost anything as a form Lauriedeee, I used the screening on top of the foil-covered bowl and basket because I didn't think it would adhere so well that I couldn't pull them apart when the piece was dry (and I had no trouble in that regard). But you could just foil cover anything that's the shape you want your piece to be and leave the foil as the underside backing. You could also put more papier mache over the foil if you want to cover it up and give you a paintable back surface.

Your rooms are just beautiful, Homeagain and Jodi!

kswl--both sectionals are W. Schillig's. The tufted one is called Primanti.

homeagain--I really like your gallery wall! Do the smaller pictures have grey mats or are they "floating" in the glass (with the grey walls showing through)? Either way it's a nice look!

Love the gallery walls, but none of the pictures or mirror that I have are the same shape or size.

Is it still called a 'gallery wall' if the pictures are random sizes and shapes and aren't lined up? Maybe I'll do a search for 'gallery walls' and see what comes up. I'm so out of the loop when it comes to these decorating phrases. For instance, I never knew my loveseat was a floater, or floating. I always said it was in the middle of the room. LOL

Does anyone have a random bunch of somethings on their wall?

lauriedee,

Yes, it's still a gallery wall if the art is more random. I actually like that look better but wasn't creative enough to pull it off.

There are some great photo's of gallery walls that Allison did on attic mag.

catmom.

The smaller frames are floating glass. I bought them at Michael's only because they were the size and color I needed with the intention of matching the mats in the four larger prints but then changed my mind because I kind of like the look. I think I will still pick up a mat just to see how it changes the effect.

I have very little wall space in this semi-open plan house with lots of windows so my 2 loveseats back onto windows. I do have one solid wall and when I arrange a loveseat on that I've hung a large painting or patterned rug behind it. Nothing very unique.

I don't have a random bunch of 'somethings' on any of my walls altho would like to do a mixed gallery wall. I've saved some pics of wall decor and will post some that might be inspire.

Eclectic mix of items...

Wall shelf...

Rattan trays which the author said were from Value Village...

I very much like these urns which could be cut out of wallboard, plywood, or even cardboard.

Plate arrangement... I've done something similar above a sideboard.

A nice mix...

Mirrors - I think I'd have hung these lower...

This is one of my fav arrangements and could be over a sofa instead of the bed.

This is such a serene arrangement, makes me want to search out paintings of ships!

aha, so a 'random bunch of somethings' is actually called 'mixed gallery wall'. LOL. Thank you. Now I know what to search for.

The mirror I ordered should come tomorrow, so I'll lay all the pictures and the mirror on the floor to try and judge in what order it should go on the wall.

I think the plates look so cute, but my husband has this 'thing' about plates being on the wall. I have a few decorative plates too, but they're on display in the china cabinet. I wonder if I could sneak them into the gallery wall somehow.. hmmmm..

As far as the urns go. I bet I could probably make them using Ghostlyvisions papier mache recipe. I've been looking for a form to try GV's idea and I think that will work. If I succeed those will go in my foyer.

Here's mine:

I love the mixed gallery wals and had thought about doing that myself, but I couldn't find enough pictures/things that I liked.

awww.. I love your pug. He's an oldie, isn't he? I always had pugs growing up and I miss having one. We recently adopted a foreclosure dog, Muffin, she's our sweet little old lady. She's a Shih Tzu.

I like what you've done to your wall. Where did you get those plates if you don't mind my asking?

Maybe one of these arrangements would work for you:

{{!gwi}}

Source: annbeckphotography.com via Dawn on

Dawn, that is so cool! It's going to be a big help, thanks so much for posting it.

I'm glad! I found it on Pinterest and thought it was cool(and useful) too.

Dawn

lauriedee - Yes, she's my little old lady at 12 yrs old. I just adopted a 5 year old French Bulldog a week ago, so she has someone to keep her company now. I got the plates at Home Decorators around Christmas time, so I don't know if they still have them.

This shelf idea is interesting...

Here is a link that might be useful: Yardstick Shelves

Homeagain where did you find the London Street scenes? I really like that look.

Thanks

Mine is at right angles to the wall with an Art Deco buffet behind it.

On the wall next to it is a growing gallery of paintings I like in various frames.

I framed some pictures I took of my children. I used Ikea frames but that did require me to get custom sized pictures made to fit the openings which aren't standard sizes.

There are so many amazing ideas on here. I love the assortment of items that people pull together, it has such a cool collected look.

I needed something large, white and cheap behind my sofa - I bought 3 artist canvasa on sale and then stenciled a sparrow across them. I'd love to replace them some day with an original landscape painting, but its low on the priority list (behind my new front walkway... Sigh)

I have a sectional sofa and the short side is on the wall side, the wall is about 84 from the opening on one side to the opening on the other side, and the sofa consumes about 72 inches on that wall side. My walls are tall, so I have hung a custom piece of art, 72 inches tall x 45 inches wide. My sectional has a low back as do most of them and as my walls are tall, I needed something to fill the space and also I did not want more than about 2/3 to 3/4 of the firm wall filled.
The canvas was purchased locally and #1 son did the artwork, very abstract (totally outside of his usual painting, but very good nonetheless).

Old prints of athletes. (Colors are off)

{{!gwi}}

Lots of beautiful ideas here!

I am playing with the mixed gallery idea too. I don't have it right yet, but I am working on it. I keep mine within the same frame or art colors, but try and mix up the frame styles. Note, this room has no natural light, its a freaking cave. Thus all the lamps and mirrors.

I also may move my green tree painting (I painted it) and have the gallery spill onto that wall as well. But I don't know for sure.

lRuehl, I love your room. Before I read what you'd written, I wasn't sure if it was yours or an inspiration. One of the things I noticed, that I really liked was the gallery wall was complemented so nicely by you lovely triptych. It's big, but not in your face, so it doesn't detract from the gallery, but provides balance. It looks almost like a window to the outside and is reflected nicely in the mirror, at least from the angle of the photo. I'd be worried that extending the gallery might overwhelm the space.

Living room - The heart pillows are only out for Valentine's Day!

Family room - This piano is taller than the one that usd to be there, so I need to raise the artwork a bit. It's a piece of Marimekko fabric that's been stretched on a frame.

Thanks! :) I was having mixed feelings on it. Guess I was over thinking it. Here is another shot of the room. Its a huge room. it is 12' tall. Also the couch is 12' long, so you have an idea of just how big this space is. I has been hard finding something to fill such a big space right.

I have 2 oil paintings of my late fathers, snow scenes in our hot climate is refreshing for us, and up about is a huge niche' with my vineyard vinette.