That Pesky Wall

There is a wall in our dining room that we just can't seem to get right. 

Try #1
When we first moved in, we hung the wall cupboard that Ron had made for the bathroom at The Farmhouse.

Problem: The cupboard was visually "heavy." It looked like it was floating on the wall. A piece of furniture beneath it would have solved that, but there was no room for furniture on that wall considering the length of our dining room table. Also, the cupboard jutted out into the space a little too much, into the walkway towards the hall/bedrooms/bathrooms. 

The wall cupboard ended up in the library over a desk where it lives quite happily holding greeting cards and stationery.

Try #2:

We tried using the three botanicals that had been over the sideboard in The Farmhouse dining room. 

Problem: The Pineapple House dining room has tan (Linen White) woodwork and, as a totally interior room, no windows and no natural light , so the subdued prints and gold-toned frames did not have enough oomph. They didn't make a statement like they did at The Farmhouse.

Try #3:

This was my favorite! I found a folk art portrait of a colonial girl for ten dollars at an antique store. I ordered two primitive tin wall sconces to flank it . . . and I loved that look.

Problem: The amateur decorator who lives at my house pointed out that there were two girls in my dining room. And that was one too many. "Mom, you don't want two girls in one room."

I knew she was right. But I loved that wall. 

(You can see both girls in this photo.)

When we decorated the new guest room, Bekah grabbed the girl off the dining room wall and hung her over the pineapple post bed. We both liked her there.

But then I was back to Square One with that pesky wall.


Try #4:
We hit on the idea of a seascape and began searching, online and in local shops. The ones we loved were not in our price range. Until one day I found this affordable print in an antique store. Sold!

Problem: As much as I have tried to love it, it just feels out of place. It's the right size, but it doesn't seem to mesh with all of my other primitive/colonial pieces. 

Try #5:
Between Christmas and the New Year, we visited one of our favorite local antique malls and found this print, "Peaceable Kingdom," by colonial artist Edward Hicks. We have Hicks' "Noah's Ark" hanging above our mantel in the living room. As it is, it is too small for the wall, so we took it out of its frame. We plan to have it matted at Hobby Lobby and then Ron will make a frame for it. We may hang the primitive sconces on either side of the print. Or maybe not, because this print is horizontal  (the girl was vertical) and that may create too "long" a line across the wall.

I am hoping that Try #5 will be the one that works on this pesky wall!

We'll see . . . 

Note: It may take a few weeks or more to get around to this project because we are headlong into our first big house project of the year! 👀  Stay tuned for the post about our House Project Goals 2020!