A New Hang-Up

Sometimes I have a wee bit of trouble making decisions. I can get, shall we say, “hung up” on things and ponder the possibilities much longer than necessary. Case in point, I’ve been in my place for 7 months and I’m just now getting around to furnishing my walls. This is what my sad little living room has looked like for the past few months.

I know, chastise me now…

I had some standard “this goes here, that goes there” art that I’ve been dragging around with me for about 7 years now, but really wanted some new pieces in my new place. I started my search by going for the gold and looking at a few aspirational pieces.

I’m a huge admirer of AK Daves’ pieces. While I was working at Table Matters in Birmingham, I had the good fortune of meeting her. I must say I was a little star-struck. She had just been featured in In Style and I was borderline obsessed with her abstract pieces. I soon realized she was as down to earth as they come, which made me admire her even more. We talked about linens and I helped her select some items for her registry – so fun! Anyway, I absolutely adore her work. In particular, I have my eye on Peacock Room #2. Check out more of her work on her site Art and AK or at Ugallery.

Peacock Room #2

[image: ArtandAK.com]

One day, I’ll own an AK… In the meantime, I had to get busy and find something that coordinated with all my white furniture, lent itself to the open, airy feel I like to have in rooms and fit my budget. That’s when I ran across this project from Little Rock’s own Tobi Fairley. I’ve been told she’s a fellow Jadeite enthusiast and I love how she used the plates in this color-fun living space.

[image: AY magazine]

After finding the inspiration, I used a few things I had laying around the house (yes, you have seen that frame before; no, i never found a place for it…until now) to recreate a similar look in my living room. I decided to use four Jadeite dinner plates and two dessert plates to border a flea market frame I had painted in a sea-chic shade of grey. Hanging multiple objects (not to mention plates) in a collection can prove to be a bit tricky at times. So I employed the old newspaper trick.

I found the center of the sofa and hung the frame first. Then I traced four outlines of the plates on to newspaper and cut them out. Since I was working alone, positioning the circles and moving them around based on my measurements helped me to hang them more accurately…and prevent a motif of nail holes from covering my wall. This is a great trick for positioning and hanging any framed collection. Et voila…

You wouldn’t believe the difference it makes in the room’s presence. While it may not be an AK Daves, it certainly brightens my day to be greeted by a few pieces from my collection.