Maybe Bigger Really is Better...

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... in the case of pictures.

So last weekend I finally gave into the fact that my cute arrangement of white picture frames above the buffet just weren't working.  You may remember from this post that the picture frames were actually just an assortment of random frames that I spray painted white and hung prior to getting the buffet.

Different sizes, different textures, and I couldn't even keep them straight long enough to take this picture.

They were... fine. Just... fine. However, slowly, the fact that they were never straight started to grate on me. The stairs are right behind that wall, and it seemed the the frames were never, ever, EVER straight - no matter how often I painstakingly straightened them. And yes - I know I could have used some sticky stuff to keep them straight, but I really just wasn't sold on the overall look anyway, so I didn't really feel like taking the time for that!  I also think I was still hating that the one anchoring spot on that wall continued to be that damn thermostat.

So. What to do?



Did I mention how much I hate that thermostat?

Still not straight. Probably because I just ran down the stairs with the camera.

After a lot of debating on what we wanted to put up there, we ultimately decided to buy a cool, colorful world map, and make a frame for it out of moulding.  We seriously spent 4 or 5 nights looking at the different options on Amazon, Zazzle, AllPosters, etc trying to pick the perfect one to be featured so prominently across from our front door.  It was actually a really difficult decision - we wanted it to be colorful, but didn't want it to clash with the colors already in the room... and we wanted it to have an interesting border. And it had to be a specific size to dominate the wall by itself - but it couldn't be too tall since it had to fit above the thermostat and we didn't want it to be much taller than the hallway doorway, and... and... and... you know how it goes!  Finally after going around and around and pinning a ton of options on Pinterest, we decided on this beauty: World Map

Pretty right?!

While we waited for it to arrive I made a trip to Home Depot and picked up the moulding to frame it out.  A few days later it showed up, and we opened it, loved it and then set it in the guest room to wait  patiently for the weekend to get.here.already!  On Saturday morning I pulled down all of the old frames and smacked a little drywall mud in the holes and then ran errands while it dried. 

When I got back, I gave each spot a gentle sanding and then pulled out the sample paint jar and did a little touching up. While waiting for that to dry, I took the map and used some spray adhesive to attach it to a piece of poster paper to give it a little added stability. My thoughts were that it would keep it from wrinkling up on the wall.  Once everything dried and J got home, I put a couple of pieces of painters tape on the back and taped it up to the wall so we could get a sense of what it was going to look like. And then we both stepped back... and simultaneously wrinkled our noses.  Neither of us was digging it. Womp womp... 

I should have taken a picture, but I was too disappointed with it to think about pictures.  Well... except that I was thinking about a specific picture - the one that I had just finished hanging in the living room, in fact.  You see, the previous weekend, I had made an Ikea run and picked up three large picture frames to accommodate prints that I had  ordered from our recent trip to New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.  And as I stood back and declared World-Map-Failure, one those prints that I had recently hung in the living room caught my eye.

10 minutes later, we had this:

SUCCESS! 

WINNER! WINNER!

It's just so much cleaner. And fresh. And stylish. And perfect. And I barely even notice that stupid thermostat. Unless it's because I need to change the temperature or turn off the air because it's feeling more and more like fall here everyday (whoo!!!). Then I guess I'm glad it's there.

p.s. Do you like how the walls are a different shade of green in each picture? Someone needs to work on white balance and ISO on her way-to-awesome-for-her camera...