Amber B Design Studio

Interior Design & Decoration for the South Florida region

E-Design Before and After {A Client’s Gallery Wall}

by Filed Under: before and after, e-decorating, e-design, gallery walls, interior design, living room


You may have read some of my previous posts about my love for gallery walls… especially asymmetrical layouts around a television. Not only does it allow you to bring in color and pattern to a space, it’s also a great trick of the eye to help conceal the TV. One of my wonderful e-design clients recently completed an arrangement on her media wall and I can’t wait to show you the impact it made! Here is the before picture of the television wall…

Before…


Here is the design plan I came up with for the whole space…

And here is the media wall mock up I made for the gallery wall…

We incorporated her taxidermy art and her lamp, but added some fun new art pieces and a hint of brass in the mirrors. Here is the after…

After


I am so proud of the progress she has made!! You can even see a glimpse into her foyer on the left, with the gorgeous wall stencil. The boot umbrella stand, shown on the right side of the last picture, will go in the foyer. She is almost finished with the spaces, so there will be another reveal coming in the future. Thank you so much to my amazing client for allowing me to share these pictures here. She always has the sweetest things to say and it has been my pleasure helping her enjoy her spaces that much more! We also recently wrapped up her kitchen and dining space, so more designs to show, soon.

{E-Design} My Client’s Gallery Wall Plan

by Filed Under: design, e-decorating, e-design, gallery walls, personal design style


Thank you all for your comments on my post about mixing up your gallery wall frames! There is no definite right or wrong answer on the topic… it’s really a personal preference. I have also been trying to mix it up around here, and have been pleasantly surprised with the eclectic results! So for my client’s television wall, we decided to go for it and install a unique, asymmetrical gallery wall around her TV. Here is the plan…

The Plan


I think I might copy this look in our own house! We started with a blank slate in my client’s living room and her goal was to make it a relaxing, fun place to spend time with her family. She wanted an industrial, farmhouse feel to her home and I think this gallery wall achieves that. I mixed in some vintage fabric with a touch of brass and plaids to give it that rustic, lodge aesthetic. The gorgeous tufted chairs help to frame out the vignette, but also can be moved into the seating arrangement, when guests arrive! Although the plan doesn’t quite show it here, the suggestion was to mix up the frames with wood, metal and black/white frames for a collected look. I can’t wait to see the actual vignette installed!

Mixing Up Frame Finishes on Your Gallery Wall

by Filed Under: design, e-decorating, e-design, gallery walls, personal design style


I was recently discussing this topic with a client for her gallery walls in her living room. In her space, we will be adding a couple of art/photo collections on her walls and I suggested to mix it up with different frames for a collected look. I thought it would be a great topic to bring up here on the blog, because I feel there are times when matching frames are necessary and other times when mixing it up is just right!

When to Mix Up Your Frames

When you have an eclectic space and you are trying to fill it with art in an asymmetrical way, mismatched frames are great! Or like the last above image, filling a corner wall with framed pieces looks great when the frames are mismatched.
When art is hung around a television in an asymmetrical way, mismatched frames are great! For my client, this is what we’re going to try and I can’t wait to see the result! There are also times, however, when I think matching frames are necessary. For this client, for example, we are also working with matching frames in another collection in the space. 
When to Match Your Frames

Matching frames are key when you are doing a symmetrical wall arrangement and would like a clean, simple look to your wall.  A collection of similar photos and scale, like the gallery wall directly above, gives continuity to the art.
I mentioned earlier that we will doing a mixture of matching and mismatching frame collections in my client’s living room. I also feel it’s important to blend the two in one space, as opposed to having every arrangement symmetrical or every arrangement with the same frame finish. We will be doing a symmetrical gallery wall of family photos, that will be hung in a grid like pattern. For this, we will be using the same frame to bring a neat, orderly look to the arrangement. When there is a blend of the two styles, it makes the space unique and personal! 
So that’s what is on my mind this Monday morning!
How about you… do you like to match or mismatch your frames? Are you a symmetry person or like a little asymmetry when hanging art?? Do tell!!

Creating a Gallery Wall Around Your TV

by Filed Under: basement, design, gallery walls


We are slowly plugging away at the basement projects and making this space feel like home. The first pictures went up on the wall yesterday! It was a very rainy day here, so why not install a gallery wall around the TV?!? I have pinned several gallery wall images to my pinterest boards, some symmetrical and some asymmetrical. I decided to work with the various sized frames I had and installed an asymmetrical gallery wall around the TV. Once we find a media console for the space under the television, I can complete the rest. But for now, it’s nice to see this wall take shape…

Gallery Wall Around the TV

This gallery wall definitely has an eclectic mix of pieces inside the frames! When we lived in Europe, we collected artist renderings of the cities we visited. There is also a mix of modern art, watercolors found on etsy and framed pieces of fabric. What I like best about this gallery wall is that there is no rhyme and reason to hanging these prints. I just started on the left side corner and worked my way around. Of course, I needed to step back to see if they all worked together, but there is no special symmetry or specific spots to worry about. I LOVE the symmetrical look, but I don’t quite have the patience for that. Now that the frames are in place, we can adjust the art pieces as we see fit and change them up. Since this is a basement and the TV will allow for many hours of basketball/football viewing, we can purchase sports inspired prints over time and eventually make this a vintage looking sports themed gallery wall. But for now, we can enjoy these prints that have been sitting on our office floor for a month! The fun part will be going antiquing with my mom soon, to see if we can find a cool media stand with some character. 
Have a great weekend and Happy Father’s Day to all wonderful dads, including my amazing husband!!

Time for Some Equestrian Art

by Filed Under: art, equestrian, gallery walls, personal design style


Now that we are getting our basement finished, {are you sick of me talking about this yet??} it’s time for some shuffling around and moving furniture to different spaces. Our old sofas are going down to the lower level, making way for our new family room sectional. {More on that, later.} When I was looking at our large gallery wall of photos above our family room sofa, I knew I wanted a fresh start there, too. Instead of a gallery wall, I want to hang one large piece of art. I am leaning towards a black and white horse print! This might sound silly to those that know me best, considering I have hardly ever been on a horse, much less talk about the beautiful animal. But there is something about art and large scale photography that makes me lean in this direction. Art is definitely subjective and sometimes you know it when you see it! In this case, I’m not sure I have found ‘the print’ just yet. I am just thinking about this style of art. So here are some great spaces that use equestrian art to perfection…

For my space, I am leaning more towards a vertical print, since I have two floor lamps on either side of the sofa. A vertical image would draw your eye up and nicely fill the space. If you love equestrian art, this etsy shop sells beautiful prints with so many sizes to choose from. I was also browsing allposters.com and narrowed it down to these two beauties…

Or maybe this…

So how about you… do you choose art that you just love or do you stick to meaningful pieces?

{Before and After} E-Design Gallery Wall

by Filed Under: before and after, design, e-decorating, e-design, gallery walls


I have really been in the before and after mood when it comes to my recent posts. I think we all love to see how a space can come together, especially when you’re able to see where it began. My client wanted to add some modern elements to her beautifully finished basement. She already had the television and most furniture pieces, but wanted to make the space truly complete.

Before

When I saw her TV wall, I immediately thought of surrounding it with a symmetrical gallery wall of framed art. Here are the inspiration images I used…

Inspiration

My client did an amazing job hanging this symmetrical gallery wall. I love great symmetry! Here are the afters…

After

The new bench can be pulled out for additional seating when needed and also helps fill this space when not in use. The framed botanical prints are actually from a wonderful coffee table book. I suggested that she use the prints she liked best and that best matched the color scheme for the room. Over time, this gallery wall can also continue to grow with more botanical prints and make the art extend towards the floor. I think the new art wall does a great job taking your eye away from the built in wall speakers. My client is so happy with the results and glad that she hung the gallery wall. I am so happy that it worked out!

If you would like to work together to create a space you love, visit my design services page to get started! I am currently booking clients for the summer and even have a couple of spots open in May.

An Easy and Inexpensive Way to Hang Art

by Filed Under: e-design, gallery walls, organize


I love the look of gallery walls and the creative, eclectic way art can be displayed.  What I don’t love, though, is the cost of all of the frames. To make some gallery walls appear as if they have been there for years, it can be expensive. A cost effective solution for some of the pieces is to hang them with art clips. I am currently wrapping up with an e-design client and used this easy solution for her space. I suggested to make a gallery wall around her tv in her master bedroom, to help disguise the tv as art. A great way to display an eclectic gallery wall look is to use different frame finishes, a mixture of black and white prints with paintings and the use of art clips for hanging. Here is the art clip I suggested:

 via
This site shows using them with kid’s art, but it can really be adapted to any space. For her room, I suggested spray painting these clips black, to blend in with the other gallery wall suggestions. These clips come in a pack of 3 and include mounting hardware. To ensure the art does not fold or curl on the ends, I suggested to mount the art/photos on canvas boards. Canvas boards can be purchased at Jo Ann Fabrics for $5 for a 3 pack. I started looking through pinterest to see if I could find any images of this idea and here is what I found:

Have you ever tried this idea??
Are you looking to make simple and beautiful changes to your home? Click on the ‘design services’ link at the top of my blog to get started!

Gallery Wall Great Debate

by Filed Under: gallery walls


Gallery walls are a fun, chic way to display art, special photos and personal memories. There are so many unique ways to hang art- you can create an overall shape or scatter them in a fun way. For me, I usually eyeball it and just wing it! It might be lazyness or pure excitement to see the finished product. Either way- I love the look of gallery walls in any form. Here are some of my favorite, via pinterest:

Source: None via Simple on Pinterest

I love the look of all of these gallery walls. Whether the art is symmetrical or not, gallery walls take time and thought when considering placement. I said earlier that I usually just wing it, but I also love and appreciate a perfectly symmetrical gallery wall. I think it is so chic and beautiful. One of these days, I will get out my leveler and try it! I have recently heard when watching HGTV, that you can take packing paper- tape it to your wall, trace your frame placement and mark a hole in the wall where the nail would go- then you just hang with ease! I might have to try that.

What is your favorite: symmetrical and planned or do you eyeball it?

To check out my other gallery wall pins, visit my pinterest link on my sidebar or go here.