Gallery walls aren’t the only way to fill up a big, blank space! Today I’m sharing the new large-scale artwork we picked out for our living room and how I hung it from the ceiling for an even bigger statement. This post is brought to you by our friends at Minted!
Okay, so we tackled the big makeover of our living room earlier this year, and I’d say it’s about 85% finished. All the major things are checked off the list like board and batten walls, DIY farmhouse coffee table, feed sack-inspired pillows, and a big, chunky-framed floor mirror. I just haven’t finalized all the little finishing touches just yet. Sometimes you need to live in a space for awhile and soak it all in before you can decide what needs to happen next, ya know?
Once we added the board and batten treatment to the walls, I knew I wanted to keep this space open and airy and not clutter every single wall up with something. So rather than put back up the gallery wall we had in here previously, I opted for a large-scale piece of art on the wall behind the big couch that would make a huge statement in the room, without adding the cluttered feeling of a gallery wall.
In keeping with our signature farmhouse style, I picked out a black and white bull with a gorgeous horn silhouette. This guy is HUGE… I’m talking 40″ x 54″ huge. It took a few days to get used to a giant bull sitting with us in the living room, but he’s part of the family now, and we lovingly named him Beau. The first thing you see when you walk through our dining room into the living room is Beau the bull, and I love the big statement he makes in here. But once sweet Beau arrived on our doorstep, I had to figure out how I was going to hang him on the wall with about 2 inches of trim sticking out from the board and batten we added to our walls…
My solution: hang him from the ceiling! Beau could float just in front of the board and batten trim on chains, which would add a cool industrial look to the artwork. I used 2 ceiling hooks (with wall anchors), 2 eye hooks, 2 S hooks, and a couple feet of chain. All of them were originally bright, shiny silver, so I spray painted them all matte black before getting started.
I very slowly and very carefully pre-drilled 2 holes into the top of the frame (about 6″ from either end), just big enough to screw the eye hooks in. I put my hooks closer to the back of the frame just to make sure I wasn’t going to disturb the glass or the artwork at all. Then I used the S hooks to attach the chain to the eye hooks, put the wall anchors and ceiling hooks into the ceiling about 3 inches from the wall, and hung the top of the chain on the ceiling hooks.
Jeremy is seriously itching to put a couple steers out in our big barn within the next year, so I figure I’d break myself in slowly to having livestock by adding Beau to our living room. At least Beau makes a lot less mess and eats a lot less food than the real thing. 🙂
I’ve also switched up the decor on this little side table recently, adding some old photos of my Grandpa Bob that I found. I swear, my Grandpa and my youngest, Wyatt, could be twins!
I’ll be sharing the final reveal of my office makeover in the next few weeks, along with the kick-off of our master bedroom makeover… so stay tuned!
Now it’s YOUR turn to share! What do you think of Beau? Do you have any large-scale art in your home? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!
More projects from our living room:
This post has been sponsored by our friends at Minted, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. You can visit them on Facebook and Pinterest too! Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible!
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Your Beau is very handsome! I am inspired by your choice to hang him from the ceiling, as I am faced with a similar dilemma in our family room. I particularly adore your grouping of pictures that include your Grandpa, the frames are lovely….where did you find them? Liz I truly enjoy every single one of your decor posts, your style is impeccable! I look forward to many more 🙂
You are too sweet!! I found most of those photo frames from Hobby Lobby, and one of them might be from Target. I just love the texture they add, especially with the old photos! Thank you so much for following along, my friend!
Great look…love the Longhorn and using chain is genius. I’ve ordered from posters.com as well.
I just purchased a very large (and colorful) metal crab. I am waiting for my upholsterer to come get my furniture before I decide where to put the crab. I think it would be really cool above the couch but it may also look good in the front hall on the red wall! Hard to choose. But I’ll know once the new upholstery is in the house. I love your farmhouse style – I live on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay – this big old crab may need to be named Beau Too!
what a cool idea to hang it Liz I love it!
Where is the frame from?
Hey Tara! You can actually purchase Minted prints with or without the frame, and since this is such a large print, I decided to have them frame it for me. They have a few different frame options, so you should be able to find one that is perfect for your home!
I’m drooling over your beautiful living room. What color are the walls? Is the artwork purchased or is it a modified photograph? Seriously! Love it!
Hi Judith! The walls are painted in Woodlawn Colonial Gray by Valspar, and the artwork came from Minted.com. They have a ton of great art pieces framed or unframed… you should check them out!
Hi there!
Love the way the room turned out!! Everything looks so beautiful together! Where did you get that large rug? I am dying to have one like that that adds texture without being too overwhleming
Hey Chase! This cream rug came from Hayneedle… you can find it here!
Thank you so much for telling me!! Happy Tuesday!!
Hi! I found you on pinterest and love following all your décor and diy projects! can you tell me where your couch is from? I die every time I see it!
Hey Katie! The couch is from Ashley Furniture Home Stores. Thank you so much for following along!
Love that couch – what is the style name of the couch? Thank you!
Hey Danielle! I wish I could remember! We purchased our couches years ago, and all I can remember is that they came from Ashley Furniture!
Hi there! What size print did you order? Looks amazing!
Never mind, just found it 🙂