Sir Octopus is in the house!  I've been eagerly awaiting his arrival, as several other decorating projects hinge on which wall he ends up presiding over.  Here he is leaning on the back of the black sectional in our living room.


He doesn't fill up the wall as much as I'd like.  I figured that would be the case, but I wanted to try him out there just in case.  The other two possibilities are the one empty wall in our bedroom, or at the bottom of our stairway landing.


Let me know if you have any opinions.  Oh, and please ignore the person holding the art in the photos.  I'm trying to get this blog post done so I can get in the shower and then head to the grocery.  I wasn't planning on posing for photos today, but I thought you might like to see all the octopus hanging possibilities.

There's another piece of art that has been considered for those same three wall positions.  I bought it online from Haute Look a few months ago, but haven't decided on a permanent location for it yet.  It's called Atlantis, by Artists Guild of America.  The problem is the wall above the sofa, which I showed you above as a no-go for Sir Octopus.  Here's Atlantis in the same spot.


I like it a lot, but I'm trying to move toward peppier colors in the living room (hence the Matrix-like colorful pillows), and this piece of art has more muted colors.  I'd also prefer to have something larger, to really make a statement on that wall, which you see right when you come in the front door of the house.

Here are some artwork photos I've pinned on as inspiration.



When I said peppy colors, I meant peppy colors!  I'd love to find something with coral and/or red, turquoise and other shades of blue, black to pull in the sofa color, white for some brightness, and maybe a bit of yellow.  Additional colors are optional.  And it has to be abstract, possibly even funky.  Cortney and Robert Novogratz always come to mind.

Luckily we have a huge art fair coming up soon in Louisville.  It's called the St. James Court Art Show, and it's held yearly in historic Old Louisville on the first full weekend in October.  I usually go every other year, or when I'm on the hunt for something specific.  Usually when I finally find a piece I like, it's way out of my price range.  But I think I'm finally at the point that I'm willing to plunk down a hunk of cash to buy a real piece of art.  But it's got to be the perfect thing for me to obtain The Mr.'s approval!  The show runs Friday thru Sunday.  We're busy Friday night and Saturday, and I'm afraid the perfect piece of art might be gone by Sunday, so I'm trying to convince The Mr. to take the day off Friday so we can go.  It's much more likely to get his buy-in if he could see it in person, rather than a photo I text to him.  Wish me luck!

So back to the artwork I do have in my house.  First, I have to decide on a location for Sir Octopus.  Then, if I can find a new piece for the living room, I can move Atlantis to another location, either the bedroom or the stairway landing, depending on where Sir Octopus ends up. 

The rest of my living room decor is in limbo awaiting the wall art decision too.  I've found several pillows I like, but I want them to complement the style of the art.  I've also got an old 2-tier side table that I've been waiting to either paint or cover with wallpaper, but I don't want to pull the trigger until I know what's going on with the art. 

I'm heavily leaning toward wallpaper, but I don't know whether to go for graphic classy, or graphic funky.  Right now I'm using the side table as-is, and it's not-so-pretty up close, so I'm dying to move on with pulling the room together.  Let's hope St. James will be a winner for me this year!