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!