Come togetheeeeeerrrrrr. Riiiiiiiiiight nah-aa-oww…. ovah me.
Well, over us.
Shall I explain why these Beatles lyrics are so apropos? I think I shall. But first I shall stop saying shall. Do you remember these puppies that we picked up at a yard sale last year for $10 a pop? They’re old professionally framed prints of the berries and wildflowers of Alaska, which we thought were sweet since we honeymooned there.
So we spray-painted the frames (and mats!) and hung them on either side of our bed. If that doesn’t jog your memory, perhaps this old pic from that post shall will.
Well, recently they’ve – say it with me now – come together.
Here’s how it all went down. Actually, speaking of going down – it kinda started when a certain ram went down during our book shoots.
Since neither all the king’s horses nor all the king’s men could put Ramsey back together again, the space above our bed has been a devoid of anything for a couple of months. We’ve contemplated tracking down a similar animal head (an idea Sherry practically salivated over) but you know we like to use what we have, so we decided we should just try rehanging the prints we already had there. Before making any unnecessary holes, we took them down and just propped them up like this to try to visualize them there.
We originally thought the chandelier might block too much of them, but it looked promising so we decided to just got for it. But this was no easy task because those heavy suckers need two anchored screws to keep ’em in place. Plus we had to be careful to get them centered within the bed and level with one another, all while not putting too many holes in the wall.
Thus began our not-so-scientific, but no-less-intricate system of rehanging them. It started by connecting my existing holes (which I had meticulously measured the first time) with a piece of sewing thread taped to the wall to create a nice level guide.
Just to be sure, I checked that it was level before basing all of my marks on it. Phew. Level it was!
Now that we had the height marked, we had to figure out where the holes needed to go side-to-side so that the frames were roughly equidistant from each other and the bed posts. So I drew a sketch and unleashed my inner math geek. Yep, I think that what I did qualifies as Algebra. Well, except for the part where I solved “X” to equal “7-ish.” Sorry Mrs. Montgomery.
Knowing how far apart everything should be allowed me to start marking. The hole that the ram hung from was my center guide, so I measured out 13.5″ (half of 7 + half of 20) on either side to mark the center of each frame (#1 in the pic below). And since we hang these guys by two screws (it not only supports the weight more, but keeps it from hanging crooked) I made marks a couple of inches out on either side (#2). Sherry wanted the frames to hang slightly lower than they did before (since we no longer had to clear the table lamps and didn’t want them to be blocked too much by the chandelier) so I also marked down a bit using a taped guide on my level (#3).
Confused yet? Me too. So let’s just skip ahead to the after pictures. Okay? Okay. We ended up tweaking things a bit so the frames were a smidge closer to each other, so the space between them is about 5″ and the space on either side is almost 8″.
We’re digging the change so far. We feel like they fill up the space nicely – much more so than the ram ever did (not to speak ill of the dead or anything).
Although the chandelier does overlap them when you face the bed at normal height (these pics were taken with our tripod, which is only about four feet tall) it’s a nice layered look. Nothing too crazy or cramped looking.
Wish we had thought to snap a pic at our height for ya from head-on. We did get this guy from the side though. And there’s always next time.
But yeah, this room is so not done. Look at it wide. Um… we have a lot to do before it makes any sense. Seriously, I know you guys are staring at this bed in a sea of emptiness and wondering what the heck we’re doing. But in the words of $herdog: we got planz for dayz.
In fact, we have a few other things planned this weekend- and you know we’ll keep you posted! What do you guys have going on this weekend? Any house stuff on the agenda? Have you ever had to do math to hang pictures? Or tried using string to keep a level line on the wall? It actually worked surprisingly well.
Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner, click here to see if it’s you.
That fills up the space much better! I always thought they were kind hiding behind your lamps anyway; this arrangement allows you to see all of them. :)
Can’t wait to see what else you have in store.
I totally agree. I think it’s really striking this way and it’s nice to actually see the prints. Great choice for ram-replacement (RIP, rammy).
Agreed, I love the way it looks inline with the bed!
Those look great! We had to do some serious math when we decided to hang up 6 frames in a grid from floor to ceiling (at the end of the below post). It took some head scratching, but in the end it looks great!
http://www.picardyproject.com/2012/02/artwork-up-and-hutch-spruce-up.html
Looks great! Love that line drawing of your house!
xo
s
Totally digging the room. Where is the chandelier from and how much fun is it to dust?
It’s from Ikea! And in over a year I have yet to dust it once! Haha. It swings gently when we open the windows or walk by briskly, so I can only guess that little dust particles can’t really glom on for very long, haha.
xo,
s
ha ha! I was wondering where the chandelier came from as well. My friend has a similar one from Ikea! I want!
Oh man, i like them together so much more! I’m in love with that furry little pillow, too!
It’s from Target! It was $12 a while back- I think they still have it!
xo,
s
LOVE the way those look over the bed! We have no art (or a headboard for that matter at the moment. This has given me a few ideas though.
Man, ceramic animals are not safe in your house! Which means they would probably not be safe with clumsy me either. Sigh.
We honeymooned in Scotland and brought back a sweet little painting of one of the castles we got to visit. It makes me happy every time I see it.
Seriously! I like to think that this house is haunted. Haha. We never broke a single one in our first house in 4.5 years, but in 14 months here we broke two!
xo,
s
I’m sorry about poor, broken Ram, but the pictures look AWESOME hanging over your bed. I prefer them, actually.
I look at your bedroom and I have such square foot envy! Can’t wait to see what you do next!
Me too! I love the prints there instead–and I also envy your square footage. Our bedroom is only large enough for our queen size bed and two small end tables. The room IS the bed, basically!
Aw, that was like our first bedroom! The funny thing is we felt a lot more cozy/settled in that small room and we sort of scratch our heads and wonder what the heck we’ll do with this bigger room. Haha. But finally having a bigger closet is much nicer!
xo,
s
They look 29823948239 x’s better together! Don’t you wish you would have done this a long time ago! From far away, those frames look dark blue, I kind of dig it. :)
This weekend I’ll be helping my boyfriend brew beer, and getting new tires on my car since my tire popped yesterday thanks to dry rot & the heat. boo! (http://mailboxjourney.com/2012/05/18/just-some-general-life-updates/)
Ooh, happy beer brewing!
xo,
s
Did I miss the post on changing the bed frame posts?
I just noticed the gold!
Oh yeah, that’s mentioned here: https://www.younghouselove.com/2011/09/side-tables-and-other-bedroom-tweakage/
xo,
s
I like the way that gets framed inside the four post bed. Pulls it together, like you said. And that measuring trick is really helpful. I’ll be employing that soon.
Our bedroom build-out is under way. Actually working on it right now. We live in a tiny one-bedroom apartment, but we’re converting the room so that it has two extra “rooms” inside it for our toddler and expected second baby (July!). http://www.thebookofjimmy.com/bedroom-build-out-framing-lorens-room-2/ We aren’t going anywhere, so we figured we might as well try to make it work as comfortable as possible.
That’s so exciting! Good luck with everything!
xo,
s
I think they look 100 times better there. Great use of using what you have :) We just switched bedrooms due to our new furniture not fitting in the room we originally used, so I have a blank canvas. I’m excited to decorate again!
I really like this a whole lot better! They look great!
Oh my gosh, it was beautiful before but this is such a major improvement! And the striped pillows are even more beautiful than the last pillows! Amazing how small changes make such a big difference.
I like the prints there much better… they are more of a focal point. And i love that they aren’t matchy-matchy. This weekend: tons of house stuff! window cleaning, deck sprucing up, prepping for a holiday wknd camping trip, putting in 2nd raised bed, planting 20+ veggie plants for the kitchen garden, and de-cluttering our back room. Our back room is craft room, yarn * fabric storage, golf club landing space, printer location, CD collection, 2 random chairs and a book case. I need to be ruthless. :)
Omigawd… I’m insanely intrigued as to what the “planz for days” are, because a big part of me really like how it looked BEFORE you moved the pictures inward…
But then the OTHER part of me knows you guys have a habit of making everything look amazing in the end, and you probably wouldn’t have left so much wall space with intentions of just LEAVING it like that (permenantly)…
I think…?!
Haha- we got plaz, yo!
xo,
s
They look great, I have to admit when i saw what they looked like originally I wasn’t convinced but once they were up they look lovely, together or apart.
This weekend we will hopefully give our front door it’s second coat of paint, it has been without any of the hardwear for 3 weeks now since we gave it it’s first coat….oops!! xox