I didn’t have time to read all the comments on yesterday’s post about my new floral wallpaper in the entryway, but I was able to read most of them. But apparently my mother had time to read almost all of them. She came over yesterday, and when I asked her what I needed to do to finish this wall, she said her favorite suggestion from yesterday’s comments was to remove the sconces and use table lamps instead, and then there would be no need to hang anything on the wall between the sconces.
My immediate response was, “Well, it’s too late for that. I’ve already cut holes in the wallpaper to run the wires for the wall lights.”
But of course, keeping the sconces meant I would almost certainly have to hang something on the wall between the sconces to make them make sense, and whatever I hang there (even a round mirror) would obscure my favorite reddish-pink flowers in the middle. As I showed you yesterday, the only round thing I had on hand to try out this idea was my sunburst mirror. It would need to be hung higher on the wall and you can see that anything that size, like a 36″ round mirror, would obscure these flowers.
But the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I could somehow repair the wallpaper where I had cut out the holes for the sconce wires. As someone rightly pointed out yesterday, I really should have junction boxes in the wall for the sconce wires. But I can say that this time I’m really glad my sconce installation wasn’t up to code.
I removed the sconces to get an idea of ​​how to repair these holes in the wallpaper. The wallpaper under the sconce on the right has a hole that is about 1.5 inches high and maybe 1 inch wide.
The one on the left is a little bigger. It is approximately 2 inches high and 1 inch wide.
And then I thought I might run into another problem trying to close these holes. While my lack of junction boxes for these cables is not up to code, burying cables in a wall is definitely not up to code and can actually be quite dangerous. So I thought I might need to actually add junction boxes and then use these solid junction box plates to cover those holes so the wires are still accessible.
But then I realized that’s not necessary. As long as I completely disconnect these cables from the light switch, they can be easily buried in the wall. As long as they are not connected to electricity and there is no risk of someone accidentally flipping the switch and sending electricity through these wires, there is absolutely no harm in burying them behind the wall.
So that’s what I’m going to do. The switch needs to stay and I will paint the switch cover to better match the mural. But I’m going to completely disconnect these wires from the switch, push them behind the wall, and then repair the small holes in the wallpaper. And luckily there is a lot going on with this mural. So I don’t think anyone will ever notice them once the holes are covered and I paint a little to blend these areas into the mural. And those cords and switch will still be there if I ever decide to use wall lights again.
Once that decision was made, I started playing around with items I already need to see what this arrangement could look like. First I borrowed the lamps for the music room. To be clear, I won’t be using these lamps in the entryway, but I only have three matching sets of lamps – these white ones from the music room, the orange ones from our bedroom, and the navy blue ones from our previous bedroom. I thought this would be the best option to try out this idea because I think these are the best size to try out.
I didn’t actually have anything to test for the center of the console table. I wish I had something like a long, large dough bowl, but this was the best I could find with what I already have. I also removed the baskets from the bottom shelf of the console table as several of you suggested.
And then I wondered what it would look like if I had something long and low that I could lean against the wall. I didn’t have many options for this among the items I had on hand. To try out this look, I used one of the curved mirrors I had previously used on this wall. Of course, if this look worked, I would find something better. This mirror is just a replacement to test the general idea. I like the idea, and I think whatever I use there might even be a little taller. I don’t like that this mirror height is pretty much the same as the bottom of the lampshades. I think something taller would look better without obscuring the flowers.
And then I thought I could even do a layered look. Again, I’m just using what I have to test the general idea, so I used one of the bird pictures that were previously on this wall. Of course I would use something different, but I wanted to see what a layered arrangement might look like. I think I needed more than one item on the mirror, but I only had six of the same size. For a nice layered look I would need different sizes.
But overall I really like this direction. It makes all the difference to start with table lamps instead of wall lamps. With wall lights, I feel like I have no choice but to hang something in between on the wall. With the table lamps I don’t feel like I have to hang anything on the wall and I can show off the pretty flowers.
Now I just need to find the right lamps and other items to create the look. I think I like the general idea of ​​white lamps, but perhaps something in a simpler form. And of course the biggest challenge will be repairing the holes in the wallpaper. I may need to cover the holes myself and then bring in my personal on-call artist (e.g. my mom) to paint the picture so they match the mural. This could be a team effort.
