Ohhh Fudge.

I screwed up. Maybe because I was trying to hang a picture at 7 am before work. Maybe because I was tired. Maybe it was meant to be. Yeah that. I tried to hang Grand Central Station, and obviously, it is WAY too  high. Darn. Here now, if my dilemma. My husband would kill me if I made Swiss Cheese out of the wall, and I wasn't so hot on just one picture perfectly centered and nicely house above a sideboard anyway. (so there.)

Here's my solution. Make Swiss Cheese another way. Collage time! I kept Grand Central and added and added and added. What I love about this is, that the wall is not in the "beaten path" of the home. You really have to be in the dining room to enjoy it. It's like a little treasure waiting for you. I have tons and tons of black and whites and I am happy with my composition of collages. (Read: I don't slap shit up and expect everyone to marvel)

Here is the result:

Don't mind the table, or the lack of color. I want to deign this room to be black, white and gray and then figure out a perfect color to make the room shine. To be announced...

Quick Tips on wall collages:

1. Collage frames don't have to match. The subject matter doesn't have to match. Somehow, HOWEVER, they have to relate. Scattering frames must read in a way that the frame edges align somehow, or there is a series, or color or some minute theme or idea, that may or may not be consciously perceptible.  It'll still look random, but the viewer won't be distracted with bad composition.

2. Lay out your collage on the floor first. Once you have your template, measure the distances between the frames and more importantly between the hardware on the back of the frame or media.

3. Don't limit your collage to just pictures in frames. You can add plates, multi media, art without frames, etc. The sky is the limit!

4. When working on your composition, after adding a piece, step back. Look at the "negative space". See what the blank space wants to have fill it. Something round, a portrait, a landscape shot, a series of something. Something small, something large, something sideways. You get the idea. Have it speak to you. 

5. Finally, measure thrice. Hammer the wall once. That one is for Nate.

Other people's fantastic wall collages:

Source: peoniesandpoppies.tumblr.com via jody on Pinterest

Look at the top right corner, how the font runs out of the frame. Yum!
The painted on text and numbers on the bottom left. Great stuff!

Source: johnnyinadress.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

Look at the randomness...or is it? This looks like the artist started with a few pictures in the center and filled vacant spaces throughout. They were not afraid to fill that wall!

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Jamie on Pinterest

Above: This is typically not my style, but it looks great. The artist used the colors pink and yellow to pull together this wall, which spills onto the bed. It's fun, clean and creative.
Below: The elements are arranged using the midpoints of adjacent frames or media.

Source: tumblr.com via Alexa on Pinterest