Four black and white pictures

I’d been at a loss for some artwork for our bedroom wall. We had one picture on the wall in our previous house, and that wasn’t right for here so I needed to come up with something else. And I really wasn’t sure.

In the end I took inspiration from an existing picture we had - remember back in March 2020 I shared a photo of mine that finally got on the wall with some help from Photowall?

But I wasn’t sure if where I had in mind would work, so I mocked it up.

And so for the next few weeks or so, I tweaked their positions - up a bit, down a bit, together a bit more and so on. Finally I was happy and then my attention turned to choosing the images.

We had the rocks from our holiday in Cornwall back in 2014, and I knew I had a picture of storks nesting from a holiday in Portugal. But what else? The good news is I found some.

And I used Photowall again, this time paying for my additional three images to be framed.

The service was still good, and it was easy to upload my images and create my artwork, though I hadn’t realised that they’d changed their frames so the three new frames are a slightly different finish to the one I already had. I was disappointed that the frames and pictures came separately though, and I had to assemble them myself once they arrived - not a huge thing, but a definite difference to my previous experience.

That said, I’m still very happy with the end result. Of course when they arrived I spent more than intended on their layout - thankfully for MOH on the carpet rather than the wall (as there was also a difference in the positioning of the sawtooth picture hanger).

I decided on this layout.

And don’t they look great on the wall?

MOH did a great job, under extreme pressure to get the gaps right!!

And as you’re wondering what the images are, they’re (clockwise from top left):

• A view towards Greenwich from the Thames Path

• Storks nesting on telegraph poles in the Alentejo in Portugal

• A flooded field in Elston, one of the villages close to our new home

• A rock formation from our trip to Cornwall back in 2014.

And all are photos we’ve taken ourselves, and there’s nothing better to have on our walls - our memories captured by us - at some point I’ll do a post about each of the four photos we chose and why.

Plant Life Girl: the print that called my name

* This item was gifted by Mode Prints

Artwork is a funny thing, isn’t it? We know it’s one of the ways we can add our personality to our homes, but often it’s a tricky thing to get right, because it’s such a personal thing.  Well, I think that if you’re doing it right it’s a personal thing, the right artwork should reflect your personality, you should like it and you should be proud to hang it on your wall, as if you’re like me it’s not something you’ll change that often. 

It can be tricky when you have different ideas and tastes on decor though.  My style is more modern, whereas MOH’s is on the traditional side, and so often we’ll end up With different ideas.  I’ve written before how MOH and I have found it hard to find artwork we both like and agree on, and how it involves finding a compromise on both sides, as well as some luck actually finding something we can both live with.  I mean, there’s no point having something on the wall that one of you really dislikes, is there?

But sometimes a print just speaks to you and you know it’s meant to be.  And that’s how it was for me with this Plant Life Girl Poster by Mode Prints. 

Yes, it’s yellow. Yes, it features a girl.  And yes, it has plants.

I think that’s a fairly good summary of me.

It’s also quirky, matches our decor, and I knew it would look perfect on our gallery wall in our craft-room-cum-study.

And yes, we’re still having that debate, not actively of course, but at times MOH tries to reclaim the room to work from home in, but then remembers it’s full of stuff (you know, books, craft items and such like) and ends up graciously retreating again.  As an aside, having a place for ourselves is something we’ve realised we need, and something we’re contemplating as an essential for our next house, whenever that might me.  I’m hoping that our list  won’t end up being so long we become one of those demanding and uncompromising couples you see on those property programmes…

It’s the type of print that I can’t help but look at.

It’s one that makes me smile and is a beautiful illustration that provokes your imagination.  I mean, is that one of those traditional souwesters that the girl is wearing, and given the weather this weekend that would be entirely sensible.  And why is she hiding behind the plant?  There’s so many stories and interpretations that each of us could have, and I’m sure that if pressed, each of us would come up with something different. 

To me that’s the beauty of good artwork, we can interpret it ourselves, and as our mood sees fit, and it means something to each of us.

It’s entirely coincidental that this weekend, when I took these photos, was the first weekend I’ve had daffodils in the house.  But a happy coincidence, and once I’d spotted how good they looked together, they were always going to appear side by side in this post. 

The art and stationery at Mode Prints has a simplicity about it that I’m sure will prove popular.  They’re London based but ship internationally; formed in 2017 their collections feature botanical prints, children’s decor, greeting cards and stationery as well as personalised gifts and homeware.

A look at their website quickly confirms what I already suspected, that they

“love Scandinavian and nordic styles and are passionate about design”

If you’re after some beautiful and modern artwork then do take a look at their website, I think you’ll be pleased with what you discover.

The prints come in a range of sizes, and are available framed or undreamed. My print is the A4 size, framed in black. It’s worth noting that the print is A4, the frame larger.  

While, this print was always destined for our gallery wall I was keen to get it on the wall and start the admiration.  So for the past week or so, it’s been the first thing we see as we head up our stairs.

If you’re keen on creating a gallery wall of your own, but aren’t sure where to start I’ve seen that Mode Prints have a section on their site dedicated to Gallery Walls, where you can buy sets of prints that complement each other.

I also realised that where I’ve had it hanging is a particularly hard space to photograph, as it has little natural light and when it does the metalwork of the stairs reflect in the picture. 

So to show this off at its best, and to do it justice, some staging was needed and the conservatory made the ideal spot as that has similar colours as the decor in the room at the top of our house, which as you can see has a space just ready and waiting for a new picture. 

MOH wasn’t consulted about this piece, and while it’s not his usual style, he agrees it’s a perfect addition to our space.  The wall is one of our sloping walls, so we’ll need to add fixings to the frame to secure the picture both top and bottom.  And yes, why wouldn’t we have a gallery wall on a sloping wall, it looks great and adds interest and momentoes to the room, although I’ll admit MOH took some persuading to start with too.

And it’s just perfect as I thought it would be, what do you think?

* This print was gifted by Mode Prints for the purposes of this review, however all views and opinions are my own.

Finally, we have a picture in our living room

It's been quite a while now since we finished the decorating in our living room. We knew the wall above the sofa needed some artwork but I was struggling to find something that i) matched the new decor and colours, ii) didn't offend either of us and iii) was in our price range. It's quite a big space too, and I wanted a single picture there as having a series of pictures that we'd struggle not quite manage to hang level would have done my head in. I'm a detail person remember.  

Finding something that we both liked, or rather that neither of us found that offensive and something that wasn't totally detached from us was hard though. I've looked at numerous art sites and in many picture galleries and shops, never finding The One.  

In the end I didn't find it at all. MOH did. I think in desperation to get something on the plain wall he'd also started to do research. And what d'you know, John Lewis came up trumps. 

So after thinking about it for a while we ordered it. It arrived and I unpacked it:

The next job was to hang it. And that was more complicated than it should have been. I was surprised that the picture didn't come with wire or a cord to hang it from, but no matter we had some wire somewhere...

The wire was found, but it wasn't sturdy enough for the picture - who knew they came with weight limits? Heavier duty wire was sourced and bought, and a video on how to secure the wire was watched and followed. Holes were drilled and screws screwed in. It was time to hang the picture...

What? What just snapped? Oh that'll be the heavy duty wire... Thankfully it snapped while we were wrestling it onto the screws, and while we still had hold of the picture. Phew. It seems the heavy duty wire wasn't up for the job.  

A week later and I've now bought some cord instead of the wire. It's attached and looks a lot more solid and reliable. So we tried again. And this time we had success. The picture is on the wall, and it's stayed there. Phew.  

The verdict

• I think it looks OK, I don't find it offensive but nor do I think it's overly personal for a living room and I'll quite happily look at this everyday. 

• It reminds me of a trip to York we took a few years back; of the lanes with The Minster in the distance  

• It reminds MOH of somewhere but he's not sure where. Which is better than I expected, I thought he'd say it's just splodgy lines... Although personally I just think he's glad to have got a picture on the wall!

Updated: June 2015

We've had the picture on the wall for about two months now and I'm really happy with it - it looks as if it's always been there.  The added bonus is when I'm in the open-plan kitchen it acts like a mirror and I can get a glimpse of what's going on outside, which is no bad thing!