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mtnrdredux_gw

DR decor

mtnrdredux_gw
9 years ago

My DR is almost a blank slate. I am not using any WT, to maximize the ocean views. The walls will be Gossamer Blue, to set off the white trim and emphasize all of the windows. The floors are hardwood, the table and chairs are dark wood. I am putting white duck skirts on the chairs. I do not know if i will use a rug. The fireplace is brick.

Here is my chandy; i may or may not use shades

Here are the dr chair slips:

I am trying to decide on artwork over the fireplace. I have gone round and round. I may one day find an original oil, but that is not something one can force.

So I had this idea... what about New Yorker covers that have a summery, or ocean or beach theme? They feature some nice work, are not too serious, and we are life-long subscribers and fans. There are many to choose from.

Here are a few;

If I did use them, would you get them their original size, and so a whole bunch, or get large ones and do, say 3? What frames? Would it impact your choice if you knew that, in the 2nd floor hall, I will be doing a wall of framed maps all the same size, grid style?

I also thought about some Hopper prints, but the ones I like have that brooding quality.

PS Here is the room again. Ignore rug and excess furniture in foreground

Comments (68)

  • busybee3
    9 years ago

    love the new yorker covers but, agree, not for over the fireplace...
    i'd probably be looking at our family's birth years... :)
    i would put a larger print over the fireplace or a great shell framed mirror...

  • luckygal
    9 years ago

    I much prefer personal art and wonder if you have some appropriate photos you could have enlarged, printed, and framed. Perhaps send your kids out with cameras to take pics of scenes they like and choose the ones you and they like best.

    While there are many good choices posted here anyone with disposable income can buy any of them which makes them less special IMO. Unless you really love one of them in which case you would not ask anyone their opinion, you would already have ordered it! :D

    It can take time to find the perfect art for a specific place so I am all for using place holders until that time comes. Of course I don't believe in my decor ever being finished so am content to use place holders and wait for the perfect thing to appear. YMMV

  • luckygal
    9 years ago

    Love your paint color and it has a perfect name - Gossamer Blue. Yes, I'm one of those people who cannot use paints with unpleasant names!

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    Just to clarify, Kevin works in oils, no prints or photos available. He worked under Korczak Ziolkowski in the mid-70s and studied at the Corcoran School of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, and George Washington University (MFA). He is known more as a Mid-Atlantic painter, but I don't think his work is reflective of this area only.

  • Bunny
    9 years ago

    I much prefer personal art

    luckygal, I'm with you on this one. I just looked around my house and it's all personal, but I had never thought of it that way. I'm surprised it took this long for an epiphany. :) I think mtnrdredux's taste is impeccable and I'm sure she will find whatever's right for over her fireplace.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Linelle,
    Thanks for the compliment!

    Hmm, my favorite art is oils (the 3 French still lifes I have in my breakfast room, and the Edward Hicks Peacable Kingdom I bought from the PO and a random horse painting also from the PO --- they had an extensive art collection), a very decrepit horse weather vane in my LR, and a shadow box of quail eggs over my stove. Oh and a Frank Baum oil landscape of PA that my Mom gave me. So, in my case, none of it i personal I suppose!

    Hi Cyn, I liked his Boca Beach, but a Boca beach and Maine beach could hardly be more different. Thanks for the link though, I went through it and liked a lot of it; i have inquired after a still life.

    LuckyGal - Funny, I made my DH number the samples because I am over sensitive to names. My retro fridge color matches BM's "Mexicali Turquoise", and I would never have ordered it if they called it that, luckyily they call it "Robin's Egg Blue".

    As far as enlarging existing photos, I thought of that but have so many to slog thru. Plus I feel that is a little overdone, KWIM? Off the top of my head I do recall a fabulous photo my DH took of a crab in the Galapagos. But I am not sure what I'd pair it with, as I don't think it would work on its own.

    Busy, when you look for a shell mirror, you get a lot of tacky stuff. It's not easy. The Ny'ers come in 7 different sizes.

    Allison, Those are great! Thank you. A definite contender. They are the right mood. It's funny, we were at a huge antique mall in the area last Sunday, and they had something very very similar, which we all liked, but it was probably 5' by 2+", vertical, and we had no place we could think of to use it.

    Anele,
    The NY'er covers are produced by CondeNast in 7 different sizes. However, I am not sure if I like using a different size than the specimen.

    A mirror would reflect the lawn and water view, but I haven't found one I love. I will look more. As for an image of the house, we bought the house with contents and among them was a watercolor done from the front verandah.
    It's nice, but maybe a bit too feminine or predictable. I think the fact that the adjoining room is batik and ikat influences me.

    HomersMom, Thanks, I will. I have been looking for Maine painters!

  • MarinaGal
    9 years ago

    I love the wayfaring sea captain inspiration for the living room and think the New Yorker covers in he dining room would be out of place with that ... If it were me, I would wait to find a local painter, or some cool vintage stuff at the many antique places in Maine. Folk art or primitive art might fit the seafaring captain vibe (although I may be way more into that theme than you are at this point!).

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi Marinagal,

    You make a good point; did our sea captain subscribe? Was he a renaissance man? The house is circa 1904 and NY'er started 1925...

    I saw a primitive art thing i really liked, but it was overpriced (iirc 2900) and maybe too primitive? It was a collection of vintage sand shovels, different colors, hanging from a piece of driftwood.

  • MarinaGal
    9 years ago

    Haha - maybe your captain read the New Yorker on his iPad??

    I was thinking of some folk art like this (google Ralph Cahoon) - lots of seafaring themes with a bit of whimsy (and lots of mermaids!)

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I do like some of the folk art

  • deegw
    9 years ago

    KSWL's whale book ends made me think of this print. It has always intrigued me. I don't think it is dining room worthy but might work in a less formal part of the house.

    {{!gwi}}

    Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Outfitters

  • busybee3
    9 years ago

    i have been obsessing about chandeliers, spending way too much time online looking at pics and then trying to see what i can see that are similar in stores- my taste is all over the place...

    anyway, i did notice on currey and company's website that they seemed to be showing quite a few shell mirrors-- which i think could be cool in the right interior... they had a large 'silvio' mirror which has those irridescent shells which look bluish and coral and a surprising # of other shell mirrors-- that's why i mentioned it-- surprised to see so many! i kindof liked an oyster shell mirror they had, tho you need the right house!!

  • nosoccermom
    9 years ago

    I like the idea of the covers, especially since you're a lifelong reader. Also, several smaller framed prints will give it a lighter, less traditional vibe.

    Alternatively, I have bought antique prints from European (UK) Ebay for very little money.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Nautical antique prints on Ebay

  • bbstx
    9 years ago

    I like the whimsy of the New Yorker prints. For a beach house, I think they are perfect.

  • anele_gw
    9 years ago

    RE: a photo of the view-- I wasn't suggesting you do it in a traditional way. I personally like art that zones in on an aspect of life or an object that may seem common/everyday but presents it in a creative or unexpected fashion. Of course, art is highly personal, so what works for one doesn't for another, necessarily.

  • Jules
    9 years ago

    Have you seen the New Yorker beach towels? Linked below.

    What width do you have to work with between sconces? I'd think a single, larger print would have a more dramatic effect. Maybe add a couple framed prints on a side wall that are magazine size.

    I like the lobster for your Maine house.

    I've seen a number of magazine and album covers displayed as art (a New Yorker cover in an NYC apartment as a matter of fact), both as a grouped collection and hanging solo, and unless you have a large wall to work with, I think the solo print works better.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Conde Nast beach towels

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for all the ideas! I always have trouble picking "art". Oh, Cyn, the still life I liked? 20k. I was hoping for something under 5k! No wonder it is so nice.

    Okay, I tried a few mockups. Very crude. I just made the mantle area blue, though the whole room is. I could not find the double sconce I ordered in the right metal, so i mocked one up.

    I think the Ny'er prints, esp a lot of them, don't feel right. It may be due to the frames, but they feel, as someone said, office-y. The LaPlage photo, though it would look better framed, doesn't work on blue; i think it needs a white wall. The mirror, assuming i scaled it in correctly, is working for me. I like the very simple shells, and I like the way the gold in the shell marries with the aged brass light. Thanks, Busybee!


    Here is a link that might be useful: shell mirror

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    You obviously picked a good one, Mtn! On their website, I love the one with the white shirt on the chair, white hydrangea, and apple (Colin Fraser). I haven't dared to enquire about that one, despite the fact that I have the perfect spot for it! Some of the still lifes in the gallery are just exquisite.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yup, it was a Colin Frasier. This one:

    I like it quite a bit, but TBH, at the end of the day a still life is kind of a yawn, KWIM?

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    9 years ago

    I like all of Fraser's works. Actually, I love still life. Guess it comes from years of studying art. There is nothing like some of the still life vignettes in the art of Flemish and Dutch painters.

    This one is much crisper and better in real life.

    This post was edited by cyn427 on Sun, May 18, 14 at 19:48

  • nosoccermom
    9 years ago

    I have to say I like the a la plage prints. Something similar if the colors don't work with the wall paint? What about the Montauk or St. Tropez prints?

    Here is a link that might be useful: a la plage

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    NoSoccer,

    I like the La Plage series a lot, but not a bit in the room, alas.

    Pal suggested oyster plates, which I think is a wonderful idea. Of course I have to find a bunch I like that don't break the bank.

  • allison0704
    9 years ago

    I like the idea of oyster plates since the photograph didn't work for you - although I think once framed it would be. Look on etsy.

    Here is a link that might be useful: etsy oyster plates

    This post was edited by allison0704 on Sun, May 18, 14 at 20:37

  • Holly- Kay
    9 years ago

    Ooooooh, I love Pal's suggestion of oyster plates! I really think that is the perfect look!

  • Holly- Kay
    9 years ago

    I love this one!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Love this

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Actually, this may be coming back full circle.

    A long time ago when I was looking for china, Roarah mentioned a source who is a Maine artist. I decided against $85 plates for the beachhouse, but I do love her stuff.

    Here is a link that might be useful: New oyster plates

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Okay, I did this in Word so it's hard to move things precisely, but you get the drift....

  • kswl2
    9 years ago

    That is a neat update of the whole creamware plates on a wall, mtnrdredux. I have never met a plate that didn't secretly long to be on a wall somewhere, so I love this idea. Glad you did the mockup of the NYer covers, as they just don't have the right vibe. And if you someday find the perfect piece of art for that mantelpiece you can move the plates to your kitchen and actually use them.

  • bbstx
    9 years ago

    I have always wanted to have a collection of oyster plates to display, but I just know so little about them. This thread sent me on a hunt for more information. Here is a link to an interesting article

    Here is a link that might be useful: The Art of Oyster Plate Collecting

  • busybee3
    9 years ago

    i'm not a big fan of hanging plates on the wall, but that last mockup is kindof cute... i esp like it because of the 2 plates (?) that look like actual oyster shells...
    i still would buy a couple of plate stands and display 1 or 2 of them on the mantel or sideboard or something tho if you wanted some plates displayed, unless you just happened to have a collection of truly awesome plates... but, that's jmo...

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    KSWL, exactly what I thought.

    BBstx, I came across that, too. Some are gorgeous, some hideous. I don't want to spend 2k a plate, though!

    Busy, I actually have always wanted to do the hanging plate thing somewhere. I think these particular plates are just the right vibe for the room, and good colors, too. We are trying to make the room less formal.

  • Holly- Kay
    9 years ago

    I love plates on a wall. I have floral plates on a pair of alcove walls in our guest bathroom and I plan on using either plates or tole trays behind my bed in the master.

  • busybee3
    9 years ago

    i must say, that is a very nice oyster plate! :)

  • luckygal
    9 years ago

    The mention of seashell dishes reminded me of the company - link below. The woman who makes them is an excellent potter.

    When I had my store I always drooled over these dishes at the Gift Ware Trade Shows but never bought them for resale as they were not right for my inland store.

    A collection of various shapes and sizes of the Seashell Collection would look wonderful on a wall. Prices vary from $58 to $248 each, smaller ones are less altho may be too small for decor. For likely under $1000. you could have unique wall decor.

    Might make a good place holder until you find 'real' art you like and then you can relegate them to the kitchen cupboards to use for serving.

    Check out their store locator as they are in stores all over North America with many on the Eastern Seaboard, maybe even near you.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mussels and More

  • luckygal
    9 years ago

    Here are some of the dishes from the company I mentioned.

    Oyster dish 20.5" long:

    Mussel dish 20.75" long:

    Clam dish 14.5" long:

    Scallop dish 11.5" long:

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Lucky,

    Those are nice! I think this is one thing I will have to buy in person ... the ones i posted are only an hour or so from me, I will look for a source for the ones you posted, too.

  • ArlingtonVAremodel
    9 years ago

    mtnrdredux: You may already know this, but I wanted to alert you that Gossamer Blue may appear very differently on adjacent walls. I have it in my master bath, and I love it, but at various times of the day, you can look at a corner and honestly wonder whether the painters accidentally used two different colors (they didn't). One wall looks a lot bluer, the other a lot greener. So if you haven't already, before you commit, I'd paint a large swatch on each wall of a corner, right up next to each other, and make sure you're okay with how that works in your particular room and lighting.

    All of that said, it's a beautiful color, and I think it will look striking in your DR!

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks, Arlington, for the warning! Truth be told, I was kind of tired of looking at umpteen blues and just said, the heck with it. When I was looking at artwork on it in this thread, I was starting to think, hmmm, not sure I like the color!

    The house is over 3hours away, and I think the painters have already painted it. So let's hope I like it in situ! Thankfully, one wall is almost all pocket doors, two are almost all windows, and the remaining wall has the mantel, flanked by a closet door and a door to the butler's pantry. So whatever it looks like, there won't be a ton of it!

  • outsideplaying_gw
    9 years ago

    Arlington, so glad you posted about Gossamer Blue. My DD just went thru this with re-painting her LR. Thought she had a winner in Gossamer Blue to go with a new chair and an existing leather sofa. Oh so wrong....it was exactly as you described. Some walls were more green (like the existing color on her walls) and some looked good. She ended up with Wythe Blue, a little darker than she originally planned, but it looks great.

  • bananafana
    9 years ago

    I bought these fish plates for my daughter last Christmas and we hung them over her fireplace. They are pretty cute.

    Here is a link that might be useful: fish plates from rsh catalog

  • oldbat2be
    9 years ago

    A mirror made out of this wonderful Bendheim glass? (I am determined to make use of this in our home somewhere, may redo the glass in our linen closet).

    Restoration Mirror.

  • palimpsest
    9 years ago

    I don't really mind colors that look different on different walls or a lot different at different times of day or year, as long as the overall effect is good.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oldbat2Be,

    I have Bendheim glass! In my kitchen cabinets and doors between the K and DR here in CT.

  • oldbat2be
    9 years ago

    Neat! Do you have the restoration mirror? I have a small sample and really like it. Thinking about what would be reflected in this room, I picture the ocean and beautiful trim work. There's just something wonderfully old fashioned about the glass which I love, and which may be in keeping with the historical feel of your house.

  • mtnrdredux_gw
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    No, it's restoration glass. And I went with the very subtle stuff on the cabinet fronts (you certainly can't see it in a photo), and something more noticeable on the DR doors.

    I love it but I don't know that anyone notices!

  • peony4
    9 years ago

    Since you're emphasizing the windows and view, I think a Bendheim glass mirror per Oldbat2be is a great option. It doesn't compete with, but rather complements, the focus of the room.

    I find the oyster plates a nice idea in theory, but too "busy" in your application. I lean toward a single, larger piece above a fireplace, esp. one with sconces.

  • radley
    9 years ago

    Wow, it is a great idea. New Yorker prints are brilliant.

    KSWL had the idea of distressed frames - maybe in the blue - and that would be great, with a cream/white mat behind non-reflecting glass. I'd make the frame pretty simple - about 3/4 of an inch and a generous mat of about 3 inches with an interior mat in a 1/4 inch in some neutral like the grey of the driftwood or your wall tone.

    I think you have room for 3 above the fireplace and any of them would be wonderful. I'm especially partial to the first 3.

    The chandelier looks perfect. Together they evoke tradition and whimsy.

    Post pictures as a follow up!!!

    radley

  • loribee
    9 years ago

    So now I'm really excited to see this paint!! :)

  • Holly- Kay
    9 years ago

    I am anxious too Loribee. When I finally get around to redoing my master bath I think the Gossamer blue will be a contender.

  • chloenkitty
    9 years ago

    I love the New Yorker magazine cover idea.