What To Do, And Not Do, With Family Decor
For the love of humanity please know what not to do with family wall decor. If you want to know how to use it to enhance your home then read and avoid the pitfalls that destroy a homes appeal.
People too often do not know what to do or how to use this properly. The failures need to end.
Yes, what I say will have some up in arms. In fact some may become raging mad. Yet if you are one of those then most likely you are guilty.
It is not often I let my artist flag fly saying I know better but I cannot help it this time. People can worship the HGTV gurus but just remember it is what the artists create that allow them to have their jobs.
So stick around for inquiring minds on how to not mess up your home.
Let’s Equate Family Wall Decor With Social Media
Today almost everyone has some kind of social media if they have a home. Hey even homeless people have social media.
Everyone should be able to get the idea of this example. I am using this because a point needs to be made and often these two actually do connect oddly enough.
Think of the walls in your home as if they were your social media account. In fact if you are guilty of what I am about to present they probably look identical.
Yet if every single post you make is about how beautiful and great your kids are its really annoying.
I completely understand a new mom being excited about having a child. I have children too.
Yet I do not need a play by play account in my media feed of every diaper change, spit up, or pea that they shove up their nose. Its gross. Just stop it.
Now let me convert this into how it applies to your family home decor and walls. If I were to walk into your house are there pictures of your kids and family on every single wall that can be seen?
It is the same thing. Stop it. Your home should not look like this. Why?
Before I get into why let me first say this, we all love our families and especially our children. I get it. I actually do understand why people do this very bad habit.
Yet it destroys the beauty of a space. A room should bring in things which enhances comfort, relaxation, vision, inspiration, and many other aspects from the world around us.
Doing this fosters creativity, health, it broadens horizons and more importantly it helps prevent an ego complex in the child.
How Family Wall Decor Should Be Used
There are many family wall decor schemes out there which come and go in fads and trends. Then there are other principles that never change.
I have said before that a room is like a blank canvas which is to be used to create an atmosphere. I definitely believe that family wall decor has its place within the home, just not on every wall.
There should be select walls which are designated for different things within a home. Displaying family decor or achievements is one of them.
This wall should not be the main focal point of a room or space especially if it is an open space where rooms blend together. Community rooms should have more to offer especially when visitors come because they already know who’s house they are in.
The wall you select can be and really should be within the main community space. Yet family pictures, degree achievements, shadow boxes, childhood photos or similar should be designated to this space alone.
There are very creative ways to achieve this. Some display in a manner similar to an outline of a family tree while others use themes from different periods of time and blend them together.
In this way the family wall decor is more than taking a pot of life and throwing it around to see wherever it lands. It gives structure when done properly and adds beauty to the space.
It also becomes a space of importance and memory with dedication. The appearance and feel holds real gravity rather than the home walls looking like a participation trophy.
A Woman I Cannot Name And Her Family Wall Decor
Long ago I was hired by woman that had just completed her new mansion to help bring things together. These people were very wealthy and the things which were put into the home were only top tier items and it was made to impress.
The events of my time in this work is one in a very long road which led me to want to forever leave the world I was in at that time.
Typically the clients I did work for were very well off. People who are wealthy are typically very down to earth and nice.
They have cultivated themselves over time and earned what they have. They also have developed taste and know how to build a world that is theirs which they enjoy.
Likewise when you see someone who is from the other side of the tracks that managed to slip in through the covers you can pick up on that right away.
The woman’s newly acquired husband had given her everything she could imagine yet it felt as though she were trying to decorate a 800 square foot apartment.
Every contractor she dealt with was in nasty ways that would cause a sailor to blush. In the end the home had such a mixed interior design it was awkward and did not fit.
Additionally there was no art, not even prints of art displayed. The family wall decor was filled with her new blended family pictures in every corner.
It was as if one were trying to make a statement like this is now mine. The world she found herself within was one she had not grown into but rather she dove in by circumstance and opportunity.
Having Class With Family Wall Decor
The moral to the story is that it really does not matter how grand a space may be if you do not know how to treat it. The 800 square foot apartment can have beauty and class and in comparison to this woman’s story it would be easy to do.
It does not matter how much money one has. It does not matter how big your home is or how simple it is.
The space is a reflection of self. I am by no means wealthy nor will I ever be.
If you find an artist who is wealthy they are doing something other than art. Station of life does not reflect quality in the individual.
What is more important than having class is that our spaces become that of healing and comfort. With anxiety on the rise and the issues which we face in the world today we need those kinds of spaces.
Natural spaces within natural thinking will give a place to let go and relax. Inspiring spaces will give energy and push us towards being our best. Our homes exist in so that we can create our own world within them.
Real class is found in defining what our little world is to us. Having pictures of our family members on each wall does not help, especially when we are angry at half of them then must sit there looking at them still.
Having a space for family wall decor will allow you to gain that canvass to create to your unique needs in life.
How Many Walls For Family Wall Decor?
I understand that there are some people who just love posting pictures of their family and the same is true within their homes in terms of displaying said pictures.
Much will depend on how large your space is as to the volume of pictures to display. There are techniques to follow which can help.
Within an open space you want to limit the family wall decor to one or two walls at most. Typically an open space will still have some partial divider walls or little nooks.
A breakfast nook is a great space for this purpose. If the open area has smaller divider walls which are used in transitions from room to room you may need to use two to three of these smaller walls.
Meanwhile the larger walls are for your main core themes of decorating.
In more closed spaces you will need to decide what the space is intended to be used for. If it is a community room for entertaining then I would not have family wall decor within that space.
I would keep family theme’s for the room where the family would spend the majority of their time together. Within that space designate a location or wall for the family wall decor.
Additional tricks can be used such as 3 frame or 5 frame systems for breaking up the wall pattern and using other features such as a shadow box that pictures surround.
A progressive time line of life can be used or a blend of themes from major life events may be used. Also a special place can be designated in memory of those who have past.
It is a place of honor and remembering rather than a home gallery of faces.
Using Shelf Spaces, Side Table’s, And Mantles For Family Wall Decor
I have always been a fan of keeping side tables clean and this is simply because when having kids no side table is ever clean. It is a constant fight to have anything clean.
The kids study area can look like a tornado ripped through the room daily. Nevertheless when it comes to family wall decor there are things we can do.
For starters mix it up. Rather than have pictures of family at every turn have the things each family member loves involved in the spaces.
If one of the kids loves planes or flowers then use the theme that they love for shelf spaces or side tables. A mantle has always been a bit traditional in having family pictures and that is fine.
There too one can mix in items from the things which the family loves to break the monotony.
There is a reason for this. It is more than just decorating. Imagine your child having a bad day and they come home. The emotions of young people can swing wildly even more than in us adults.
Yet by them being able to see things they love and which inspire them can help. Knowing how to use non representational art for therapy can help here.
It may not have an immediate conscious impact yet it definitely will give them an edge of comfort knowing they are home and safe. That is the kind of environment we need to provide for ourselves as well.
Forget The Interior Design Buzz On Family Wall Decor
Every tv show built around home design and decoration is really there for one purpose. Ultimately it is to sell you something.
As an artist yes I do indeed love to sell art yet that is a very niche thing. As I have said before no artist is ever rich. Believe me we all live in the real world of struggle.
When I see those television shows which promote the said trends from an artists perspective it makes me sick. I say this because it is a joke and often is nothing more than clever marketing preying upon your hard earned money.
Thousands of blogs then get generated on the hype and buzz words to make a falsetto of what is now the in thing to do.
Take the time to browse my work on this site and you will see a very consistent theme. When I am not talking about artwork specifically I am talking to artists.
If I am not talking to them then I am about creating natural healthy spaces for us to live within. Of course I like to blend the art and spaces but for me that is easy as I can always create more art.
Our life is not a game of marketing. Our family deserves the best we can give them even if it is only the simple home with a simple design of 800 square feet.