bcarr.. I do love your cabinet, the new artwork and your kids' pic. However I would recommend a different work for over the fireplace. I picture something with a lot of white space and some sweeping lines.. or something abstract. OR.. I've been on a "tree of life" kick.. something with the lines of the designs on the cabinet but without the strong lines. The point is .. something that is striking but without the bold strong lines and right angles.

I adore the picture of your kids but I think pictures like that have more impact on a smaller wall and more at eye level. I have something similar of my dogs.. two dog butts sauntering off into a field. I tried it big and it just didn't give me the same emotional response.. if that makes sense.

I also still like your artwork.. perhaps you could use it across the room or in an adjacent room to help balance or transition?

I love the cabinet-- is it handpaintd? Did you do it yourself?

Love the art, but it competes with the art on the cabinet. (To me, matchy-matchy isn't bad, necessarily--just when the eye can't land on one thing and keeps going back and forth between two pieces.) I think the cabinet is a spectacular piece--the true focal point of the room because it would not be something I'd see in every home.

Maybe a different kind of art would be better? A flat iron wall sculpture, maybe? Something with a subtle, less-busy design.

I love that picture of your kids and I think it would look awesome over your fireplace, especially if you colorize the red a little.

The art is great but I agree with the too matchy-matchy thoughts. I agree with funkyart about maybe using it in another area to tie back in with your cabinet. I just think over the mantle is too close to your cabinet.

Beautiful room! Let us see the finished product :-)

Okay, I don't like the wall art. I do love the picture of the kids, but....... I really think you need something round over that fireplace - not another squarish shape. Personally, I'd do a round possibly black framed mirror.

Yes, I like Budge1's suggestion. A round black mirror would be perfect.

I do like the picture of your kids though, but I think with the plaid panels and the busy cabinet, a simple mirror would be perfect.

Have you decided on the drapes for sure? If so, I'd go ahead and get those and then do the mantle after so you can see it all together. But did I say I like the idea of a black framed round mirror!? :-)

If you want your house to flow it might be nice to take that matchy print and incorperate it into another room in your home. Dinning room, hallway or even a powder room would be nice. Just a thought

Love the art... but not there. Love even better the idea of the pic turned into "art", but done in more muted tones.

But what I REALLY think is that you need to get your WT done and hung before deciding on anything for over the mantle. You have a very strong geo pattern there and the casegood has the same strong lines, too. I'm leaning more towards a round mirror to echo the round table top and to help break up all the squares going on in there.

Just my $.02.

I agree with everyone else that the artwork is too matchy-matchy. I think a round mirror would work best. I hope I don't offend, but I've never been much of a fan out of putting up large pictures of one's children, despite being a mom of three. I feel that it sort of glorifies them; though I will say, if this is your thing, that photo of them with their backs is very nice as it is not posed, just natural. I much prefer a smaller collection of photographs, perhaps mixed in with family photos. In fact if you were to opt for the mirror, you could do some smaller sized pictures of the kids to put on the mantle--which you could update periodically as the kids get older. We currently have a photo wall in our hallway with each of their latest school picures, plus sports memory-mate (from a year when their Dad was a coach), along with a collection of other family photos. I have plans to redo/expand it at some point to have matching frames. Being a parent now of two teens I can also say thay they have definite ideas of which pictures they do and don't like shown of themselves. Last year we had to choose a baby picture for my DS's 8th grade yearbook and it was interesting to see which pictures of himself he felt comfortable having the whole school see.

I agree that a round mirror would look great.

As for your children's photo, also a fan. However, I have a professionally done, pulled on canvas, beautifully framed portrait of my kids in my LR so I like that look. I don't think it glorifies children but certainly lets them -- and anyone who sees it -- know how special we think they are!

what if she got the picture antiqued to a black and white or bleached out look, with only the red sweaters colored to the red in the room?

i guess i really like the personal artwork and i'm thinking that because of the movement in the picture, it isn't such a square or rectangle-- there is a sideways (bit of a dutch angle) feel to it that gives it a sense of motion.

while it is about her kids to her, i also think it serves as a work of art-- they're holding hands and it is a quiet and sweet moment. it's not like they are facing front and dominating the room...

just my two cents! i hope someone out there can see what i mean by my lacking description.

I really like the artwork with your cabinet. I absolutely, without question, would use the photo in the room as well. Change the window fabric. In my opinion, you don't need everything to match in color. Your cabinet, your choice of artwork, your beautiful photo of your children -- right on. That's all you need in the red/white. Something clean and simple would be what I would put on the windows. I think your choices are lovely.

I love the photo of the children, but don't get it "portraitized", I beg of you. Those conversions (like the fake Andy Warhol silkscreens) nearly always end up looking cheezy. If you want a nice dye-transfer enlargement, get that done, but not the on-canvas transfer.

Your room is beautiful! I like the idea of having the canvas made. I would have it done by a really good lab--make sure it's a gallery wrapped canvas (in which the photo wraps around the edges). I wouldn't do much to play with it--leave it natural--no special effects.

I think it works but doesn't add any pizzaz. It just kind of blends in. Can you put it on a different wall in there or in an adjoining room to tie things together?

Hmmm... over the mantel I think I'd put something with quite a lot of green in it, to pick up the green of your houseplant and give a little interest. The idea of a black round mirror there doesn't do anything for me.

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I really like the artwork. I think it gives a designer touch to the room. It looks like you commissioned a print to be painted based on the design of your armoire. But you have to look at it, what does your gut tell you?

I also love the pic of the kids, but I see that framed and placed on the mantle.

Beautiful room!

It's very coordinated with your armoire. It's also too similar to be right next to it. Maybe somewhere else, in an adjoining area maybe? Connecting and relating the spaces but not competing or distracting in their similarity. It's a bit confusing to see them close together -- they each lose focus right away.

The art work is too much sugar for a dime, plus you need artwork that is taller than the chest (to the left) and the door (to the right) or much shorter since you want to create a wave for interest, up,down,up or down,up,down.

The kids would be my favorite piece to have done in canvas or colorized differently and perhaps done in a lower version or taller version than your doors and recesses. The children are precious and original. No other kids quite like them (or mine). Ours are all originals.

If you want your house to flow it might be nice to take that matchy print and incorperate it into another room in your home. Dinning room, hallway or even a powder room would be nice. Just a thought

Great idea!!

Thank you for the advice! After reading everyone's thoughts and looking at it a bit more myself I tend to agree that it is too similar to the armoire. It does make it confusing as to which is the focal point since they both blend.

I like the black round mirror idea in theory but when I put up the round mirror that I have (could be painted black) it just doesn't look perfect to me -

Maybe it just needs some accessories on the mantel to look ok. What do you think of the round mirror?

As far as the photo is concerned, I don't think that I will use it for the mantle. I started thinking about the fact that we are probably going to have a third child in the near future and I don't want to spend a lot of money on this if it doesn't include all of our children - KWIM? I will definitely hang it somewhere else but in a bit smaller size.

Thanks again for all of your help - I would love any other suggestions or comments on the round mirror.

I like that type of piece in there, although this one is hung too low. While it could be bigger, working with what you have, I think it looks very nice hung higher and with accessories (I've just added an imperfect candle scape :)

Something tall an oval, not so much like the side table shape is nice also.

You want to 'peak' above the two flanking openings (door and armoire/alcove) for center attention.

{{!gwi}}

Please don't think that way about your children and their influence in your lives now. All siblings know that they evolved over time. That lovely photo of your children is a wonderful part of your life now. When you have more children -- do a similar meaningful tribute to them individually or as individuals contributing to your other children. Please tell me you will use that photo in your room!

Thank you so much for doing the photoshopping, squirrelheaven! That helps a lot - it also makes me question the drapery fabric choice. Do you think it is too much going on with the rug being such a big, bold pattern?

Also, if you get a chance and it wouldn't be too hard - would you mind (pretty please?) photoshopping the mantel to be black in one photo and also the trim color (off white) in another. The current brown color is bothering me for some reason.

Thanks again for taking the time to do the mirror and drapes!

I will definitely use the photo in the room, just not as the main piece over the fireplace. I understand what you are saying but I just don't want the main piece of artwork in the room to be a photo of some of my children and not all. I would hate to have to change it in a year or so when the next one arrives.

For God's sake, these are not portraits of her children and could be anyone's children and the piece of work is priceless, even if they were someone else's children. They are original and they are the best thing anyone can have in any room. Even if they were oil portraits, they are still worthy of a significant place in the room. This is a magnificent piece of work, not just the art, but the children. They deserve a place of honor in the mother's lives and ours as they represent us and what we might or might not be.

bcarr -- I love that photo of your kids, but if you're planning on having a third, I totally understand why you would want to wait. We have a really cool portrait of our feet done in black and white with our then 1-year-old DD's feet (sounds weird, but you have to see it to get it). It hangs over our bed. But now we have DD and Ds, and we really need to redo that portrait because of its prominence in our space. That canvas portrait is different than the smaller photos -- even the professional ones -- that we have of our DD or even other family members. We are now making arrangements to redo the potrait to include everyone. :-)

I'd probably do something solid on the drapes. Maybe a beautiful texture like a velvet :)) They need to balance the armoire, too. Not really looking at color, but the burnt red is nice.

Darker stain:

Deep stain:

{{!gwi}}

Black paint:

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Deep stain and beefing up the sides of the mantel if possible. Impression of placing some decorative tiles across the face to fill the wide void above the firebox and give the fp more visual bulk. Large oval, wide dark frame, candle scondes to the side (just sorta, here :).

{{!gwi}}

Can hardly see the trim, but an off-white would be my pick with your room : )

I actually like the mirror.. wasn't sure I would but I think it works nicely. I am sorry, I don't like the candlesticks on the mantle though. It gets too visually busy.

I need to say too that I like the brown mantle too.

What about the oval mirror on it's side?

I love the pic of the kids. The red sweaters and the greeeen in the backround is what, IMHO, the room needs.

What about drapes similar to the wall color to keep the space from looking "choppy?"

the large oval mirror looks great, if you don't want to use the larger pic of the kids, since you feel there may be an addition soon!

i actually like the square fabric for the windows, but i think it is hard to get a real sense of it with photoshop, because you can't see the pattern size as well as you can IRL.

it would be great to see those colors in a subtle stripe fabric for drapes, so it wouldn't compete with the armoire design, but would still bring those colors around the room.

here is an example of a stripe-- but there are many others with more exact colors. i picked this one because the smaller red stripe mimics the smaller red outline in the armoire. there isn't any green in this one, but there is a gold which seems to pick up the yellow green in the armoire. again, there are others with more exact colors which you may prefer.

Here is a link that might be useful: example of striped drape

I think your room can take that plaid fabric quite easily; the round mirror works well , a thicker framed mirror would be nice also. I think you should wait until the drapes are in before selecting artwork for your mantle.

You have a clean and uncluttered look, I would not place objects on the narrow mantle.

keep us posted, I just love your armoire....

I love the new print, however, I would have to suggest the same idea of putting it elsewhere in the room. It is too matchy-matchy with the big cabinet. I think that the mock-up of the larger black round mirror is perfect, however I would put some kind of wispy branches or greenery to the right of the mirror (taller than the mirror) and something smaller (like the fabulous pic of your kids in a beautiful frame) on the left. I love the way you rearranged the furniture, too.
LOVE what squirrelheaven suggested re: darker, solid drapes (even though I LOVE the striped ones).
Please let us see the finished product. Your taste is exquisite!

Thanks again everyone for all of your help. I love the large oval mirror idea but may have to make do with the round one that I have until I run accross an affordable (and large enough) oval one.

I don't think that I will use the plaid fabric on the windows with the current rug. I feel like I need to decide which one I like better and go with one or the other. If I keep the rug then I will probably use the plaid fabric for some large pillows for the sofa/chair.

The solid red drapes are a bit harsh to me. My adjoining kitchen has red walls (previous owner and it's wallpaper so a major undertaking to undo - on the list) and the red drapes right next to the red walls seems like overload.

Maybe I will do something closer to the wall color but add some tassel or such to bring in a hint of the colors of the room - how does that sound?

Thanks again for all of your help - my husband has long ago stopped listening to me ramble about this room so I love having someone else to bounce ideas off of.

Maybe these will give you somewhat of an idea on the drapes:

{{!gwi}}

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Squirrel, I really like these last pictures... you're so darned good!

Such a beautiful room! Do you have a Homegoods near you?
GREAT selection of mirrors...and I love the pic of your kids! :)

Thanks Oceanna! Drapes more the wall color was Patricia's suggestion, though :) I think it needs something more weighty in color to balance the armoire and fp, but then we can't see the whole space : )

annie1971 - I completely agree with you. I'm from a large family and grew up with different framed photos of my siblings throughout our home. We all had pictures put up. It was neat as a child to see "the older ones" when they were younger.

Amazing photoshopping. I vote for the mirror or the kids picture. Out of nosiness, are you able to photoshop the kids pic in a round or oval frame with the pic as it as and then adjust vertically to see how that looks.

Okay, I shouldn't be saying this, cuz I already posted it-- but what about the striped curtains? They have the weight necessary and they bring a very subtle color to that side of the room...I know the ones I linked to were expensive, but if they worked, I am sure we can find them elsewhere:-)

i really like your cabinet and the photo of your kids. the only way it would be too large would be if it were larger than the actual children (i was in a home that had a portrait of their child like that once). if you have another child, you can move the portrait somewhere else. FWIW, i do not care for the plaid drapes with the squares on the cabinet. also, the round mirror is nice, but i think the style of the cabinet is more traditional, and so if you had a more traditional frame on the mirror it would coordinate better. i don't like the wall art at all, sorry. even if i liked it, multiple circles IMO clashes with the multiple squares of the cab. let the cab and the kids be the stars. BTW, there was a very famous art photo in the 1940s of two kids walking off like that....i believe in life magazine? kren

Thank you again for the photoshop help, squirrelheaven! That makes it very clear and I agree with you that I need something with more weight on that end of the room. What do you think of this fabric -

The windows are quite tall (105") so would a stripe make them look too long? Thank you for the stripe idea, decorpas! I love the ones that you suggested but when I look at the fabric in the actual room the colors are just a bit off. The style is gorgeous, though.

Or what about this - too small scale? I am working with Calico Corners so I am looking at the fabrics on their website.

Another -

I love the first and last stripe! I like the way the line draws your eye up and the last one is simple enough to not compete with the rug or the armoire.

the one I picked was tough; there were so many that had your colors in them at Horchow! That one seemed to go more with your rug (which looked red, gold and brown on my monitor!)because it didn't have any green, but in the end I was thinking it had a subtlety that might work. having all of the colors represented is probably your best bet, though- it definitely brings your eye all the way around the room in a nice way.

IMHO, you can't make your walls look too tall. Drawing the eye up is almost always a great thing. And I think some height will balance out the weight of the armoire as well. but only you can see how things look in person! clearly you have great taste!

Oh yes! You are on a great path.. I too like the first and last stripe (though I lean more towards the first). Your room is beautiful now-- these extra touches will make it all the better.

Okay, I'm sure I can't offer much help, but I just wanted to say...Nice couch and chair (I have the exact same ones!)haha! And while I like the art, perhaps you could use it on an opposite wall or adjoining area to tie the two rooms together? And as for that GORGEOUS pic of your kids...I love it and I would kill for some curls like that!!!

Here's an oval mirror! Just love Squirrel's virtuals -- the one with the oval mirror and sconces PLUS the black fireplace surround was wonderful!

Here is a link that might be useful: Oval mirror

It's not a portrait of the children, but it is a picture of her children. Blow it up professionally, as large as you can and put it somewhere in the room. I agree, it doesn't need to be (and probably shouldn't be) over the fireplace. Get ready to add a similarly lovely picture of your next baby (put a red sweater or blanket or booties one him/her) and add it to the room later. You've made a great start on a warm and lovely room.