A Wall Grouping in a Master Bedroom

by Kelly Keating on 12/05/10

 

A client in Short Hills, New Jersey was redoing her master bedroom and asked for help in creating a focal point over the bed as it is the first area of the room you see when you enter the room.  The room had a neutral, biscuit colored wallpaper with an overall floral pattern in a faint creamy white; the fabrics were also creamy white with touches of blue and bronze as seen in the fabric of the pair of decorative pillows for the bed.

First, I suggested a headboard, not to big, but with some color to complement the fabrics in the room and direct the eye to the focal wall with color.  In a local auction house, I found a French 1930's/1940's headboard, substantial, but not overwhelming in an aged blue/green color.  It had wonderful gilded accents for that touch of luxury and glamour in a master bedroom.

For over the new headboard, I found and hung a vintage pair of his and her golf prints, depicting a woman in late 18th century costume and a man in 19th century costume.

The client's husband is an avid golfer and these pictures wer a nice acknowledgement of his interests in the room they share.  The gold in the frames of these prints spoke to the headboard and the black of the frames grounded the images and set them off against the paler background wallpaper in a very graphic way.

Between the prints, I used an Italian gilt wood shelf which I found to give the wall some dimension and added luxury.  Above the shelf I hung a small, bevelled mirror in a gilt frame tath the client already had.  On the shelf a vintage 1940's Fenton glass hobnail fan vase in blue was placed.  The client has a collection of this type of glass.  The blue of the vase brought the color in the room's fabrics up onto the more neutral wallpaper and the shiny glass reflected nicely int the mirror behind it, drawing the eye when you enter the room.

The client was quite pleased with the results and it finished the room with a beautiful focal point.  She can now add fresh flowers from time to time in the fan vase to further enhance the look.

If you are looking for vintage or antique prints, engravings, lithographs or paintings to adorn your walls, please contact me at [email protected] and if you need someone to hang your pictures in a decorative manner, I can also assist you.  Go to the "Services" page of my website for further details.

Here is a picture of a wall grouping in my apartment- an elegant mixture of paintings, engravings, photographs and prints- all vintage and antique...