Collected Life

I drilled the anchor into the wall; it needed to be strong to hold this piece of history. I hung the newly framed sign from the historic and now gone, Iron Curtain and stood back to take it all in. The collection, the life, the story of one man displayed in this Gardenia bedroom for him and his family to see. Within the story of one man’s life, that symbol represents the story of many men and women whose lives would have been affected by this white reflective piece of metal. What was once a foreboding symbol now seems innocuous as it becomes a seam in the fabric of a life somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• Creating a memories spaceThis-one-more-view-that-gets-the-side-view-of-the-Military-Accomplishments-Wall
This room is a memory room or “I Love Me” room as some have called it.
It can be overwhelming to know what to do with all the memories that tell the story of your life but if we apply some design theory we can get started.

• Group like items together
We started the room by having the homeowner group like items together. His love of trains went in a group. His military art and one very cool rendition of a lighted diner, all looked good together in a group. Finally, all his military accomplishments and family went together as a group. When things are broken down it is much easier to determine which group will be the focal wall and which group will be the supporting walls.

• Focal wall
The collection of military art and the lighted diner were all of similar coloring so they would make a great collection on the focal wall. Though subject matter of the art was different, they could be hung in a collection because the common ground was similar colors. Within this collection I had room to fit the sign and I thought it was a great addition. Framing it was important because the metal sign was heavy! The sign is so reflective that it looks “lit up” in the picture due to the flash of the camera. All these pieces together created a nice focal point to begin the homeowner’s life story.

• Wall shelves
The way to make a memory room come to life is by adding dimension to the walls. We do this by incorporating wall shelves. The wall shelves come from a local retailer and they appear to be floating. We don’t want any bracketed shelves because it looks too busy. We hang pictures like the picture of a train track and place a train on the floating shelf. This makes for an exciting story and better look than just hanging pictures on the wall.

• Use all the walls
Don’t be afraid to use all the walls. This room is mainly for the person whose life is on display and more is more!

• Guest room possibilities
This room is a guest room too! These homeowners have lots of guests and needed two possible guest rooms. They chose to purchase a Murphy bed cabinet. I love this cabinet because it takes up little wall space and it looks like a console in the room.

• Creating a space for yourself
If you are thinking of creating a space for yourself, buy more wall shelves than you think you will need. I can tell you from experience, having more when you are installing the room is much better than having less. Remember, anything that is unused can be returned.

• Other applications
I love to use wall shelves when doing any photo groupings. Floating wall shelves are my favorite. They are clean lined. Unless, your house is on the market, it is o.k. to hang pictures and photo groupings wherever you see fit. The key is to make them coordinated and visually cohesive.

• Different furniture
If this were an office space, as seen in the second picture, there could be a loveseat on the short wall beside the window and the entire focal wall could be the memory wall.

P.S. –Attention, club presidents! I give free decorating programs! It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today or call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.