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Decorating Help

I’m asking for help but I’m also asking you to go along with my laziness in decorating. I know that 99% of you would do this the right way but I probably will not.

The mirror is what has been above the main level family room fireplace since we moved in. Jeremy & Angie left it. I had a framed tin I wanted to put there and finally, yesterday, it happened.

The picture is terrible. It will look better once the sun comes up. I had posted about it here in January and had a bit better picture of it. Maybe I’ll remember to take a better photo when it’s light outside and update this one.

There’s a company in Nevada, MO that makes the tin for ceilings and walls (has forever!) and a man from Texas would buy some of them, paint them, stain them, grunge them up – all kinds of things – frame it and sell them. A little gift shop in Nevada sold them and when the Texas man would make a delivery, there would be a line of people waiting to get them. So many houses in Nevada have them and we bought this one probably 12 – 14 years ago. I love it and as I try to use more red to bring the red in the breakast room and the red in the dining room together in the family room, which kinda sits in the middle, this framed tin is perfect. It’s kinda funny that the man from Texas bought the tins in MO, took them back to Texas, did his thing, brought them back to MO to sell them; we bought one, moved it to Texas and now back to Missouri.

You can see the screws on either side of the tin. That’s what held the mirror up. We can pull those out, fill the holes and paint (we do have the paint) or I can find something to put on them. I’d like to hang something long and thin on each side of the framed tin but . . there’s the speaker on the left side.

The speaker isn’t coming down so don’t even suggest that. If it were up to me (it isn’t), I’d take the speaker down, patch that hole, paint it and have the speaker sitting on the end of the mantle if it has to be there. I love the surround sound but that one is kinda in the way.

I would love to find something kinda tall, thin and feathery – maybe that feathers out to the outer side (not towards the framed tin).

With the speaker there, that may look like “what was she thinking?” Should I pull the screws out, patch the holes and forget it or should I look for something to put on each side of the framed tin?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. That’s a great story. I am by no means a decorator, I would suggest a woven wall basket on each side w/greenery vine. Also agree & understand about the speaker.

  3. I would patch the holes and move the framed piece down a little bit. Then, decorate the mantel.

    • I agree. And take down the speaker and put it on the mantel and put something in front of it to hide it. I dealt with two speakers sticking out like sore thumbs til I knocked them behind the too heavy to move furniture so he could not retrieve them. If there is a will there is a way.

  4. I like things somewhat asymmetrical so I would put a tall vase with flowers or twigs…or even feathers to the right of the tin (coming about halfway or a little higher than the midpoint of the tin, something different but shorter on the left and then if you’re into seasonal decorating, put things in the rest of the space underneath the tin that can change with time. Or something else that stays the same throughout the year.

  5. I would patch and paint. Live with it for a few months. If that speaker still bugs you then consider what you might like on the other side for balance. Asymmetry doesn’t bother me most of the time.

  6. I would patch it and leave it empty. If you find something you love, and not just a placeholder that you think “should” be there, then you can hang it next to the tin at that time.

  7. My two cents. When hanging pictures I try to follow the decorating suggestion of hanging pictures at eye level. The tin seems too high. The mirror was hung at the right height. I would patch the holes and just add a vase in front of the speaker. A vase or something could be added to the other side but they don’t have to be the same.

    • We intentionally hung it high because I have other things that go on the mantle. The ceilings are 14′ tall and with the pictre near the mantle, it seemed everything was bunched up with way too much space above the framed piece.

    • I posted some info in a later post about the recommended height above a mantel. The tin is hung within the suggested range, plus, with the 14′ ceilings, it looks way too “squished” with the tin closer to the mantel. The mirror was less than half the size of the tin and with the tall ceilings, that makes a difference.

  8. We accidentally hung a very large watercolor too high over our fireplace; it was so heavy we didn’t want to rehang it so I found some tall pottery pieces for the mantle and used dried eucalyptus and curly willow in the center to visually fill the space. Maybe you could use something on the mantle to finish your grouping.

    • I have plans for what goes on the mantle. I just need ideas for what goes on each side of the framed tin.

    • Filling in the space over the mantel isn’t a problem. I already have what I want for that. I used a cardboard cutout the same size as the framed tin to decide where we wanted to put it so it’s exactly where we planned it.

  9. I think I would patch the holes and not put anything else on the wall. Maybe something on the mantle.

  10. Because of where the speaker is, I think you would need something extremely narrow on each side of the tin to cover the holes. If you can find something the same height as the tin, it would look best.

  11. I lived with unused built-in speakers on the wall on either side of my fireplace mantle for 23 years, until some remodeling happened and I could include getting the team to pull the wires out, patch, and paint the walls while redoing the adjacent kitchen. I HATED the speakers, and “someone” kept promising to do it … I LOVE the result with the speaker gone and the wall looking good! On one side, there is a picture on the wall and the other side is clean and smooth.

  12. Maybe you could put a tall vase with peacock feathers. Tall peacock feathers not the really short ones. They might camouflage the speaker. Or I am sure there are iron filigree hanging things that could be added. It is just going to be tough to find anything especially since your not going out visiting decorating stores. I would think that would be hard to find on line. I sort of agree that it looks like it was hung to high so once you fill in the mantle take another picture.

  13. A couple of tall feathery, ferny, floral arrangements on both sides would look nice and hide the speaker.

    • The speaker is 3 or 3-1/2 feet above the mantle so it may not be easy to find what I’m wanting but that’s kinda what I’m thinking too.

  14. How about a small decorative candle sconce on each side? Maybe like a scrolly black iron type? But not for real candle use, just decorative.

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