One project Sherry and I have been especially excited about for the office is the artwork. The big blank wall above our desk felt like a huge opportunity—and at the same time it left us completely paralyzed with the “what should we do?” question. A few days ago we were more stuck than inspired. We simply couldn’t agree on a direction. Since we get a lot of emails asking how we handle decorating disagreements, we decided to share the process that helped us move past this art stalemate. Here’s what we did.
For that blank wall above the desk—where we’d be looking for at least 90+ combined hours a week—we both agreed we wanted to DIY something and keep to the green/blue palette that already exists in the room. We liked how those tones worked with our sleeper sofa and the customized bookcase. We also agreed we didn’t want another large frame collage like the asymmetrical grouping in Clara’s room or the framed arrangements in the living areas.
Past those broad agreements, our opinions diverged. Sherry preferred one large piece while I thought two or three items might work better. She favored a photograph; I leaned toward a painting or illustration. I wanted to keep the wallflowers in place; she wanted to move them. Our attempts to talk it through kept hitting a wall, so we decided to help each other visualize different options—since we’re both really visual people. Here are the techniques we used to get unstuck.
Exercise 1: Build a Digital Inspiration Folder — Sherry loves collecting inspiring images online. Once she rounded up a wide range of art ideas, including some that matched my tastes, we could flip through them together and see what we both responded to. There were plenty of contenders, but none felt like the perfect fit (or an affordable one).
Exercise 2: Visit Real Art — We may be DIY lovers, but we still find plenty of inspiration in actual galleries. The recently reopened Virginia Museum of Fine Arts was a great stop; it’s free and the new building is impressive. We found several inspiring pieces there, including work by local artist Heide Trepanier.
Heide’s pieces—paint tossed in motion-filled lines and outlined in black—caught my eye. We couldn’t afford originals, but the style felt like something we could adapt. Sherry didn’t feel it was the perfect solution for our wall, though, even though I was confident we could execute a similar look.
Exercise 3: Notice Art in Everyday Places — Art appears everywhere: coffee shops, restaurants, and boutiques can spark ideas. On vacation at the Delaware shore we saw a coastal blue-green painting at a shop that made us think “maybe we can do something like that.” It was inspiring, but again, not quite the one.
Exercise 4: Look Around the Room — We also hunted for inspiration inside the room itself. The blue-green palette led us to a West Elm pillow with an arching pattern that made us consider a painted wood piece echoing that shape. The main sticking point was scale—too small would look busy and too large might feel overpowering—so we shelved that idea temporarily.
Exercise 5: Turn to Our Readers — We draw a lot of inspiration from readers’ projects. One idea that resonated was a roll-down blue-and-green map used in a playroom makeover. A large map could be trimmed with molding or mounted on wood for a vintage-sign look. We hesitated because we already have map-themed art elsewhere in the house, and again, it didn’t feel like the definitive choice.
Exercise 6: Mock It Up — With several ideas circulating, we used Photoshop to create rough mock-ups on a photo of the desk wall. Visualizing the options helped us quickly eliminate some and refine others.
We first tried an abstract, beach-inspired composition similar to the painting we’d seen in Delaware. Even experimented with adding an anniversary number. We left the wallflowers in the mock-up since I wanted them to stay. The visual didn’t convince either of us, so we discarded it.
Next we revisited the pillow-inspired pattern as a long narrow panel. Interesting, but too repetitive and potentially draining to stare at every day. After that we tried the map concept—blown-up poster mock-up looked more compelling, but our existing map in another room made it feel repetitive. Still, the poster-plus-molding idea remained an appealing, simple DIY option.
All the brainstorming was valuable because it replaced the “I’m right/you’re wrong” dynamic with a collaborative “let’s try and see” mindset. Seeing each other’s ideas visually allowed smarter conversation and quicker decisions. But in the end, none of those rounds solved the big blank wall problem.
Then a surprising moment provided the breakthrough. While at my parents’ beach house, I stepped out of the shower and noticed a recent issue of our local home decor magazine. The cover word jumped out, so I grabbed the issue and later showed it to Sherry. Ten pages from the end we found an image that made both of us excited.
The photo showed an architecture exhibit featuring 100 postcards leaning on a thin ledge. We loved the impact of the whole display and the flexibility it offered. Adapted to our wall, a narrow ledge could hold several photos, postcards, or small prints. We could change pieces as tastes evolved, and we wouldn’t have to fully agree on each individual item—if one of us preferred a piece, it could simply sit on that side of the ledge.
This solution felt like the opposite of what we both initially imagined: not one oversized statement piece, but a collection whose sum is greater than its parts. It also lets us mix photographs, abstract work, typography, and small mementos. We’re excited to build the shelves, devise a hanging system, and gather pieces with enough weight so they won’t blow around. If all goes well, we’ll have an update in a week or two.
Have you ever been stumped on a shared decorating decision? What tips or processes work for you when facing creative disagreements? Share any art sources or ideas that helped you solve a similar dilemma—we’d love to hear them.