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Saturday, February 16, 2008

Designer Challenge

Today's episode of Project Heidi features a Designer Challenge.

Barb from I Was Just Thinking... commented on the silhouettes of my children as a group of three. She wondered if she should ditch one of her four children so that she wouldn't have an even number. I think she was just teasing me, but I decided to take the challenge. Although the Rule of Three isn't an unbreakable rule, I thought it might be helpful if I could show you a few solutions:


Add a fifth element.

If I was hanging 4 pictures in a long verticle or horizontal space, I might add a fifth element. With my silhouettes on canvases, I could paint an extra canvas adding a design in the center, possibly like this (ignoring the tacked-up extras...):


(I placed five corkboard squares in a long horizontal space above my piano. This is the center square.)

This technique would work just as well with framed prints. Just place the decorative design in the middle with two silhouettes on either side.

Anything that you can fasten to the wall could be placed in the center. A larger item would look nice as a focal point. A family picture. A beautiful white platter. A child's masterpiece. A black and white wedding photo of the parents. A tin star. A mirror. Let your imagination go wild.


Alternately, you could group the items to make one focal point and add two more elements.

Group the four silhouettes to create a square or rectangle similar to this effect:



You could either let the grouping stand alone as a focal point or add something on either side. If the silhouettes were above a shelf, mantel, or other flat surface, items could be set on the surface rather than hanging on the wall, such as the tall lamps flanking my silhouettes.

For the visual learners I am including my quite unscientific layouts. If I happened to be technology-minded maybe I could have created incredible, graphic designer-ish, print-out-ables. But no, it's just me, and this is what I was capable of today. The black squares represent the four silhouettes. The colored cut-outs represent the added elements:


I know that I have made many decorating/designing/crafting posts lately. I promise I will continue homeschooling and life posts for those who prefer those!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh my gosh....i love, love, love how you post the decorating ideas. you have me working on my house again....my kids are enjoying it too (even though they may not say it out loud).....thank you for the push!

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Angela said...

Keep the decorating ideas coming- This homeschool mom comes here for a break from reading about explode the code,,,if I could ever get my bedroom clean and I am going to send you a shot for the design challenge!

Angela said...

and who the heck is jason-??

Heidi said...

Kambria and Angela~ I am glad you are enjoying the decorating ideas!

(and Jason is apparently an annoying spammer!!)

Barb said...

Sorry for getting spammed. You may need to add those letters for commenters to add when commenting.

Thanks for quoting me....I really, really, love your design ideas. You found a niche to blog about. Your talent and ability to teach come through.

Heidi said...

i was just thinking~ Thanks for the compliments! (and I added the letters for commenters to enter, so hopefully that will make Jason go away. :))

Jen Rouse said...

Thanks for the layout tips (and the object arranging tips in the previous posts). I feel like I tend to arrange my pictures all in boring straight lines, so I liked seeing some other possibilities.

Unknown said...

Heidi, this is just great! You might just give Ree a run for her money....before you know it, you'll be up to the almost 75,000 views Ree gets daily. (Actually, that comment is coming off as a joke, but I really mean it!) Keep it coming.

Anonymous said...

So what would you do if you had 7 children like me?

I like the idea but hate clutter and business!

Anonymous said...

If I had 7 children I would make one long framed piece with all 7....what an family heirloom that will make. Hope it is o.k. for me to chime in!

Heidi said...

Jennifer~ If I had 7 children, I think I would find a long, horizontal space and place all 7 in a row. That would make quite a statement! I'm thinking up high, maybe over doorways or cabinets, or...

Anonymous~ It is always okay to chime in! Make yourself at home. :)