Come On In To My House

I’ve finally got my Wall Collection hanging, and I’m ready to show it off.  We’ve lived here for six years, and up until now a very big wall in my kitchen has been completely empty.   It’s the biggest empty space in my house (no furniture covering it up or anything), and it really kind of intimidated me.  I was afraid that whatever I did would not be enough and it would end up looking dinky, and to further complicate my brain, the ceiling is sloped and I could not figure out how to deal with that. But then we took Lexi downtown for her Matilda Jane session, and I knew I was going to have to figure this one out.  We didn’t intentionally shoot this to match my kitchen… but it does.  Perfectly.  So, I sat on my countertops for an hour one night staring at this huge barren wall and formulated a plan.  Once I had the diagram in my head, I went to the garage and grabbed a role of wrapping paper (if you’re anything like me, you have tons upon tons of Christmas paper) and began measuring and cutting.  I knew I wanted to print these canvases as gallery wraps, so I did not have to add any extra space in for framing.  Once all of my pieces were cut, I taped them on the wall like this:

then I went to the computer and looked for the right images to go together.   I knew I wanted the 24×36 to be a full length shot and I really wanted the red brick wall since it would go so well with the room, then I worked the others in the series around that one.  And I layed it out on the computer like this:

Then, all I had to do was size them correctly and place my order.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

I am so impatient…

then they finally arrived.

And the angels sang.
ok, maybe they didn’t sing, but I did. I put my husband to work measuring and hammering. And when he finished I cried. I am such a sap. I love how the colors match, I love her expressions and her poses, and I love how it is sloped to match the line of my ceiling.  It all goes together fabulously!  For real — they look amazing! Pretty much, I’ve shown it off to anyone that I can drag into my house this week.  And I had to keep my mother-in-law from stealing the 16×24. Now she is demanding copies. Tons of copies for anyone that ever cared to look at my daughter’s pictures. hehe, I love that about her. 🙂 I digress… so, without further ado, here is my new wall in all it’s glory. I love it, and no matter how many kids we have… these are important and will stay in whatever home we happen to be in. They show her ‘two-ness’ so very well. Here is Miss Sassy Pants herself:

I realize the canvases look a little distorted, they really aren’t.  But I had to use a very wide angled lens to be able to fit the wall into the shot.  And the color is a bit off due to the kitchen light… but the red brick wall is exactly the color of the red paint on the wall.  I love happy accidents like that 🙂

Anyhow, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my process, and maybe this will help you get brave with your walls too.  It is an investment, but a worthy one in my opinion.  This is art that you never get tired of looking at.

And, don’t forget, our next Matilda Jane Trunk Show is this weekend.  Come and bring a friend, these clothes are made for amazing photographs!