Lesson 6: Adding the Personal Touch
The Importance of Artwork
One of the most significant ways to make your room into a personal statement is by the addition of artwork to the walls.
I am confounded by the numerous rooms shown on TV decorating shows in the "before" stage, in which befuddled homeowners stand in a room totally devoid of art on the walls. It's not necessary to spend a fortune on "fine art" for your home. And it's not even necessary to be an expert on style or artist or genre. In fact, you don't even have to spend more than a few dollars to create your own artwork!
How often have you saved an outdated calendar just because the pictures or photos were so memorable? Here's why you saved them: cut out several of the ones you love most, and frame them in matching frames that coordinate with your decor. Black and white photos look stunning with black or silver metal frames and white mats.
A calendar of your favorite artist provides you with prints of work that might otherwise only be available from museum shops.
If you are a fairly skilled photographer, and have favorite photos of your family, pick out good closeups of your children and have them blown up to 12x16 or 16x20 inch size. Mat and frame these as you please, and place above a fireplace or other conversation area.
You can collect shells, leaves, ferns, or other natural objects and set them within a shadowbox frame. A vintage child's dress, a treasured Victorian fan, a family document of interest - each can be framed and displayed. If you are framing something of value or which might be affected by exposure to sunlight, ask a professional framer to use archival methods to protect the item.
Inexpensive posters are also a great option. I found a signed vintage travel poster, already framed, at a garage sale for 25 cents! You might not be so lucky, but you can go to AllPosters.com or PosterstoGo.com (see Resources) to find something that reflects your taste.
Another great art form for display is a quilt or a fabric hanging. Jeanne Walsh's topic, "Quilts and Quilting", has an excellent article on Displaying Your Quilts.
If you have been accumulating artwork over the years, as I have, you may find you have an overabundance of choices and not enough wall space! I'm addicted to hanging art all over my house but still have a closet full of orphans with no place to be! And I continue to buy more art...a fact my husband has learned reluctantly to tolerate. Hey, it could be shoes...
The solution, of course, is to rotate pictures occasionally. This may be difficult if you are trying to stick with a color theme, but if you collect similar types of artwork (i.e., black and white drawings, pictures of Paris) they will most likely be interchangeable without too much difficulty.
Try to avoid purchasing anything at the "starving artist" sales at the mall or corner. First of all, you're not supporting real artists who are struggling, and secondly these tend to be of such poor quality that you'll quickly tire of viewing them.
Museum shops are actually great sources for prints and posters, as are arts & crafts shows held in your local area in the summer. Do seek out local and regional artists whose work isn't famous yet - someday you might have a valuable piece!
For more information on collecting posters, read Collectible Movie Posters; tips on beginning a fine art collection are included in The (Budget)Wise Art Collector.
