Postcards on the ledge

As you know, I’m a lover of all things colourful.  So the decision to paint my open plan kitchen/dining room white when we moved in was a bit of a shock… even to me!

My reasoning was that I wanted to let my Ferrari Red kitchen worktop stand centre stage, and add some funky retro furnishings and pop art accessories, but then I started to get twitchy and painted the wall by my dining table a striking charcoal grey to help separated out the dining area and make it more cosy.

I’ve been really happy with the results, but what to put on the wall???

Fast forward 2 years and I was still at a loss…

ph: Pinterest

I’d seen picture shelves all over Pinterest, Instagram and home ware magazines, all styled beautifully with photographs and quirky knick knacks (of which I have plenty).  This was definitely the solution for me, and I can change things to suit the season or my mood.

Personal touches

So I dug out all my favourite postcards, mementos and prints, and started mood boarding my new display 🙂

I picked up two Mosslanda picture ledges and a variety of black frames from Ikea, and painted the ledges the same colour as the wall so they blended in perfectly.  Then I just started playing with different pictures and layouts until I hit on the right combo.

Message and peg boards are everywhere these days and the new must-have for your home, so I picked up an inexpensive one from Clas Ohlson and sprayed the frame gold for a touch of opulence and as a contrast to the other frames.

Flamingo String Lights, Very £9.99

I also wanted to add some accent lighting to give the wall a pop.  I fell in love with the idea of leaning some star frames against the wall and wrapping some thin wire lights around them.  There are a lot of pre-lit star frames available now, but I wanted to have the flexibility to take the lights off if I wanted a change.  I’m really pleased with the finished look, and the lights emit a lovely warm glow (perfect diner party mood lighting).

Rusted Metal Stars, ebay / Gold Pineapple, TK Maxx / Cactus Jar Candle, Primark

Now after nearly 5 years, I finally have something on the wall that I’m happy with (until I inevitably change my mind and switch everything around again 🙂 ).