The Ledge Shelf + Sophisticated Art Work

Our living room addition has been done for just over a year and I've kind of been a weird-o about decorating the space.  I guess I've learned to take my time to get it to look the way I want it to rather than spend a whole bunch of money to just be moderately happy with how it looks.  However, this ledge shelf about my couch was definitely something I wanted but the thought of putting screws in my new walls kind of freaked me out because if I ever wanted to move the shelf or re-arrange the living room it would mean that I have to fill in big holes and really, who wants to do that?

Here is what the room looked like before the shelf was hung.

And after...

Just before my maternity leave ended and 2 days before Gabe's baptism, I got my ledge shelf.  My husband said, "ok, let's make it" so I showed him the Chris Loves Julia Ledge Shelf tutorial and $30 and 45 minutes later I had my shelf. (Yep - my husband is handsome and handy!) Our only argument was how high above the couch to hang the shelf.  He thinks anything on the wall should darn-near touch the ceiling, I believe it should be "eye-ball" height (or around 60" from the floor to the center of the print.) 

The funny thing was, he assumed I had stuff to put on it. Of course I had things I could put on it but my style has evolved over time and I wanted more grown up and sophisticated artwork instead of all typography and abstract prints.  I wanted the art on this ledge shelf to be interesting yet inexpensive.

Art can be super expensive, especially by the time you frame it, so I faked it.  I purchased digital downloads of art and had them printed locally.  My two favorite places to look for printable art are Juniper Print Shop and Etsy.  For $20 or less per print I got the mix of art that I wanted with multiple ratio files to get the size of prints that I wanted.  I sent my files to a local office center in town and for just under $40 I got 6 pieces of art printed. From there I was able to find a few frames around my house and picked up a couple of poster frames from Target. This way of getting art is seriously so smart and cost-effective!

My boys have had their grubby little fingers on the shelf and art a few times but fortunately they find it un-interesting. Except for the No. 5 print - Colton thinks it's because he's going to be fine and Adam had no idea why I would frame a "5." Well dear, it's because we have 5 people in our family. Sometimes I just shake my head.

Here are the art sources:
Salt Box
Peachy II
No. 5
Rosy Street
A Meditation

12X18 Frame
16X20 Frame