Beyond Decor Art

Jesse Akre asked:


It used to be kids bedroom furniture consisted of a bed and a dresser. Well, no more. Today’s kids bedroom furniture is an adventure waiting to happen, whether it’s on the high seas, in the jungles of Africa or around the ovals of NASCAR.

About a decade ago, the first race car beds came on the scene, Complete with steering wheel and faux racing slicks, the bed was the first kids bedroom furniture that was functional as well as extremely fun. Kids all over the world no longer dreaded going to sleep. Instead, they hopped into their bed and drove off into a night filled with dreams of winning at Daytona or Indianapolis.

With its success, it was inevitable that other manufacturers jumped on the themed kids bedroom furniture bandwagon. Now there are pirate ships, tree houses, princess beds and beds with slides to keep kids’ busy before bedtime. Plus, it’s not hard to get a child to go to bed on time when the adventure of kids bedroom furniture awaits them.

When creating a themed room for kids bedroom furniture, consider adding other pieces to the room to support the main pieces. This may include wallpapers, wall décor, art or lighting that make the room look cohesive. For example, you can add a nautical lamp to a pirate themed room as well as a wall set that has pirates and even a full sized ship on it.

For little girls, the life of a princess can take on an entirely new meaning with kids bedroom furniture. A canopied bed and matching vanity can work wonders for your little princess and provide hours of play time fun.

As your child grows, of course, kids bedroom furniture can too. As the teenage years approach, chances are your children won’t want themed furniture any more. Luckily, kids bedroom furniture comes in a wide range of styles for older kids too.

If your son or daughter has friends over often, consider a bunk bed. The newer models of kids bedroom furniture offer a twin up top and a full size bunk below. Many even have desks tucked into the end for studying.

New ideas have fundamentally changed the way kids bedroom furniture is designed these days. This is particularly true with the traditional twin bed. Designers realized that space is always a premium for children of all ages and that the space above a bed usually goes to waste.

Their solution: Raise the kids bedroom furniture up on posts and use the space below for additional seating or as a workspace. Now kids have a place to study, play video games and work on hobbies in a space that used to be unavailable.

When selecting kids bedroom furniture for the home, be sure you keep in mind your children’s interests and lifestyle. Choose a bed and other kids bedroom furniture that can grow with them over time or be handed down to their little brother or sister. You’ll be amazed how fast the years go by and having kids bedroom furniture that can grow with the family is a good strategy.

Sarah Crosset asked:


When planning a room’s color scheme where do you begin?

Do you first paint the walls, pick the floor covering, or buy a furniture piece to establish a place to start? Yes, any of those options will begin the color selection process.

Another approach is to start where you may have ended before, by selecting the art for the walls. Instead of searching for decorative art to wrap up your project and fill an empty wall space, indulge your often ignored artistic sensibilities and find a piece of artwork that you love.

Art through the ages has been a means of communication. It may have been an expression of beauty or the documentation of a moment in time. Portraits were at one time the only means to capture the likeness of a person before the advent of photography.

Art can express the obvious, such as a realistic landscape or vase of flowers, or it can also leave the interpretation up to the eye of the beholder, as in abstract images.

The artist in his chosen medium is communicating a message. It is up to you to receive and appreciate the significance of the message. It comes down to- do you like it or not?

Art and the colors used to create it also communicate with us in a subconscious way.

You may be attracted to a certain color or repelled by another because the color reminds you something you enjoy or something you detest.

As you shop for art, notice what images and colors improve your mood. For your home environment, you are looking for an art piece that makes you feel good each time you view it. If it’s a scene, pick one that represents where you would love to spend time, a seascape, or landscape, or city scene. You will be visually transported there whenever you see it.

If you prefer a more random visual display, find an abstract design piece of art with the colors you enjoy and that works to create the mood you want to feel in the room. Cool colors or dark colors for a serene feeling, or warm and bright colors for a more lively feeling.

To create a focal point with your art, consider the size of the wall area where it will hang. Above a sofa or other long piece of furniture you will want to choose a size that is in proportion to the furniture below. A two foot wide picture above a six foot long sofa would appear lost, yet a picture the same length as the sofa would be overpowering.

The most attractive proportion creates an indentation of twelve inches on each side of the furniture piece. In this example, a picture four feet wide, centered above the six foot sofa is perfect. Don’t despair if the artist painted his canvas a mere forty inches wide. If you love the artwork, those inches won’t matter.

Artwork need not be large to make a huge impact. To create a larger footprint with an image, ask a professional framer for suggestions of framing profiles to increase the size and visual importance of your artistic treasure.

Once you have found the art piece that pleases your senses and sets the mood for your room, your color pallet for the other components is easy to follow. You need not use every color in the artist’s pallet. Gaze at your art work and select the colors that appeal to you for the walls, the area rug, furniture pieces and accessories. As with the artist’s touch, you will blend your colors perfectly.

Lee Dobbins asked:


To give your Art Deco decorating theme that finished feeling, you need to pick the proper accessories. To get the feel of the Art Deco era, you should plan to purchase unique with geometric flair items that have a stark geometric look. Choose interesting decor such as knick-knacks, pillows and wall art that balance your Art Décor design style to finish the decor.

Wall art adds depth and drama to any design theme, but you must learn how to hang it properly for best effect. When decorating with art, think like a gallery and place the center of the piece at eye level. If you have numerous pieces to use on one wall, try arranging them on the floor first to locate the most ideal configuration. To add interest to your Art Deco decorating theme, try hanging Art Deco travel posters or advertising simple black frames.

To add softness together with enhance your design theme, decorative pillows may be a perfect choice. You can come up with a use for pillows in every room including the bathroom and kitchen. Arranging them in rows against your headboard can serve to give a professional atmopshere to your bedroom. If you don’t have money for new furniture for your family room or living room, decorative pillows can help give the art deco interior decorating feel to your old pieces. Putting pillows in the bathroom is one decorative touch a lot of people don’t have in mind but you can effortlessly display one on the hamper or in open shelving with towels. To better compliment your room design, shop for pillows that have tufted buttons and fringe.

Look at adding leaded glass, chrome items, and plants for more of a feeling of the Art Deco era. Be certain the decorative pieces you end up with do provide a matching theme or color as well as coordinate with the interior decorating scheme. If you pick decorative items to widely, then you could end up diluting the ambiance you are endeavoring to accomplish.

Finding the appropriate knick knacks to show off your interior decorating scheme can be fun as well as help pull the room together. To augment your art deco interior decorating, make sure you choose those which have a unique with geometric flair feel. Decorating with art deco style porcelain figures displayed in curio cabinets or having alabaster lamps, statues and bookends about the room. Here is where you can really make the room design your own by choosing knick knacks that reflect your individuality. You don’t have to spend considerable cash to buy the best things, try locating a consignment store in your area and you’ll be surprised at the good quality accessories you can buy for very little cost.

Enhancing your Art Deco decorating theme with furniture and accessories with geometric lines can help pull your room together. You ought to be certain, however, that you don’t go out purchasing things wily nily or you may end up with a jumbled mess. Size matters, so go around the room and measure the size of your accessories and paintings you should have and purchase them accordingly. Choosing accessories which look pleasing together will help make sure your interior design really pops!

Edwin Mah asked:


Many people believe that when they choose a frame for an art print, they should pick one that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. While aesthetics is important, many overlook the true reason for framing an art piece – protection. A well chosen frame will not only enhance the art work and make it look good; it will also protect the material and increase its lifespan for the years to come.

A beautiful art piece, when left unprotected, can sustain unsightly damage over time, and become an eyesore in your home.

Here are some of the more common damages to your art print:

A decorative art print, when simply stuck on the wall without any form of framing, could start to show damage in as little as a few weeks. The material could tear along the corners or edges. This is because the print has been in a rolled up state for most of its life – when it was in the merchant store before you bought it. When you try to spread the print open to stick on the wall, the paper is still trying to roll into itself. The adhesive tape that you’ll probably use will not be strong enough to prevent the print from creasing in on itself, thus causing the tears.

The other concern you should be worried about is fading or discoloring. If an unprotected art print is exposed to the elements like direct sunlight, the ultraviolet effects could cause the paper to discolor and become brittle, thus tearing easily. Over time, dust and moisture in the air will also cause a great deal of damage to the print.

Here are some things you should do to prevent damage to your art print.

Choose a professional framing service to frame your art print. Note that some framing materials contain acids that may cause damage to the art piece, so make sure the frame shop provides acid free backings, mats and mounting materials so that damage to your art print is avoided. Choose a UV filtering glass to give the art work extra protection from ultraviolet light. Make sure to use proper hanging materials to mount your art on the wall.

Never display your art piece in direct sunlight or near a heat source. UV light, as mentioned, will certainly cause fading and discoloring of your art print.

Maintain your art piece regularly by cleaning it with a soft and damp cloth. Never spray cleaning fluid directly on the glass. The fluid may seep in and cause damage. Get rid of the dust and clean the glass to remove any stains like grease or fingerprints.

A simple decision in framing will certainly go a long way in preserving the life of your art print. It truly is a small investment for a lifelong return.

Happy framing!

Copyright 2007 Edwin Mah

Decorative Concrete asked:


Decorative concrete is in the news everywhere these days. Varieties of decorative concrete are used everywhere from private homes to public squares. Its use involves many types and styles including overlays, stamped concrete, polished concrete and the use of a variety of colors and textures.

One quaint town along the famous and well-traveled scenic Route 30 along the Gulf coast of Florida, Rosemary Beach, has literally been built around the idea of a Caribbean village with a town square. The atmosphere in this town that reflects and is inspired by the qualities of the town of St. Augustine, the West Indies and other classic Pan-Caribbean areas.

If you have never traveled to the Caribbean or to Rosemary Beach, they are both inspiring. The streets in both places are actually mainly for pedestrians. In Rosemary Beach, they are composed of bricks, cobblestone and stamped concrete, surrounded by the walls of homes and businesses that reflect the hues and the textures of the Caribbean. Each street/pedestrian path leads to the beach at one end and the public square at the other end.

The interior that surrounds the public square, frames it with concrete finished to resemble the stucco textures and colors of the Caribbean. The pillars that help create the atmosphere of an easygoing Caribbean beach town rise up and melt into graceful arches which give one an easygoing, calm feeling.

The public square is the hub of all activity for the town. With its interactive fountain, grassy areas and Dutch West Indian architecture, it is filled with shops and businesses. The square draws you into its ambience and atmosphere with its cool decorative concrete turned cool earth toned stucco shop fronts.

The design and artful West Indian atmosphere of Rosemary Beach could not have been achieved without the use of decorative concrete. By using concrete creatively, the seaside town – especially its public square – is a work of art that is both stunning and durable. What is even better about the way that the concrete was used is that when it is time to spruce things up over the years, there are many finishes that will do the job without having to destroy and rebuild or re-pour.

Rosemary Beach is a tiny, seaside town centered around a public square and built artistically to resemble the Caribbean by using various methods and forms of decorative concrete. Your project might be much larger, such as a hotel/conference center or smaller, such as a private home. Regardless of size and scope, decorative concrete can be poured, shaped, stamped, polished and molded to turn your finished project into whatever your vision is. The ideas are virtually limitless. They can be created as far as your imagination can travel.

Meena Kumari asked:


Most decorators traditionally recommend a minimalist décor for many spaces, particularly small spaces such as apartments and guest houses. Unfortunately, many people believe that this means that the walls should be kept completely bare for a minimalist décor to work. Aren’t pictures too flashy for a minimalist décor?

Art Prints: Perfect Complement to a Minimalist Decor

In a word: no, pictures are not too flashy to use with a minimalist décor. In a few more words: art prints are not too flashy for a minimalist décor, as long as you select your prints carefully. In fact, in rooms with minimalist decor, art prints add character and highlight the fact that the decor really is minimalist and not just neglected.

The trick with choosing art prints carefully is just to pick one print, or pick a few prints on a highly related subject or in a similar style, preferably all by the same artist. In a room with minimalist décor, the prints will easily get more attention than anything else in the room, so you want to be careful that the prints do not conflict with each other. An obvious example: if you really like Monet’s paintings of water lilies, you could get several prints each of a different Monet painting of water lilies.

There is a special concern if your décor is not just minimalist but strikingly modernist (for instance, lots of simple furniture with clear angles or curves rather than carved woodwork). In a room with a particularly modernist décor, prints that are from an earlier era might seem out of place. Go with prints that were created more or less in the era in which your furniture was designed, or in which your furniture’s design was most popular.

Obviously, there is a lot of room for personal judgment as to what goes with what, since modernist anything always was designed not to look as though it belonged to a particular period of time. It can be even more confusing if your modernist-looking furniture was really just designed to look spare in a general way rather than to hark to a particular school of design. In those cases, just try to go for something that looks like it matches, sticking to prints of artworks that are modern but that are not immediately recognizable as belonging to a specific decade.

If your furniture leans toward the 1950s and 60s style of modernism (the kind of playful curves that would be at home in a room with a sunburst clock on the wall), try prints of the work of a period artist such as Jackson Pollack. If your décor’s modernism leans toward the seventies or eighties (e.g., glass-topped coffee tables and very spare design, you might be better off with Jasper Johns than Jackson Pollack.

Choosing Art Prints for Rooms with Multiple Colors

* Minimal does not necessarily mean subdued. Just look at the vibrant paintings of modern artist Mondrian, such as “Broadway Boogie Woogie”, composed entirely of interlocking rectangles, square, triangles, and circles. If you’d like to keep your décor simple even with a striking color scheme, art prints can actually help. Here’s why:

* Art prints pull together disparate colors in a room. A print gallery or website will be able to recommend the best art print based on the colors in your room. Some sites even have search engines that match a room’s color scheme with appropriate art prints.

* When the furnishings in a room attract attention art prints make sure the walls provide visual interest, too, so the eye is not pulled relentlessly downward toward the furniture or rugs. Of course, you have to be careful not to give people a headache. As a rule of thumb, the more riotous the play of colors on the ground, the more orderly the play of colors on the walls should be. If the vibrant colors of your furnishings tend to swirl together, lend the room calm with artwork that takes those colors and presents them in neat lines and blocks.

* Art prints make it clear that your colorful décor is a well-rhymed composition, not just a loud burst of color. Visitors to your pad who see a blue couch, red end tables, and yellow lamps might well wonder what you were thinking–until they see a print of “Broadway Boogie Woogie,” or other artwork that shows how these disparate colors really do belong together.

* In the end, there is beauty in the simplicity of a room with a minimalist interior design, and there is beauty in the art that takes the same simple approach. If you keep that fact in mind when choosing artwork for your minimalist room, you can make sure your décor is more than minimally beautiful.

Alyssa Davis asked:


The interior wall of a room, house, or office is practically a blank canvas. By putting some artwork on it, you can add character to any place in the house. That artwork can be a beautiful design painted over a part or the entirety of the wall; a sculpture, a painting, a picture, or a mosaic hung over it; or even an artful display of light projected on the wall.

One of the best themes of wall décor art is a tropical theme. This theme goes very well with houses, condominium units, studio rooms, and apartments on the beachfront.

There are many decorative wall décor items on sale that gives a wall a beautiful tropical theme. Here are some of them that you can order through the Internet.

1. Palm Grove Wall Art Set

This is a two-piece wall panel set from the Palm Grove Collection. The resin set features Sago palm shaded with warm, tropical colors of palm green, sage, and bisque. The frame is bordered square shapes made of faux coconut shell. A set costs around $129.

2. Finches in Tropical Foliage Metal Wall Sculpture

This beautiful sculpture features three Gouldian finches top of foliage of tropical plants. The foliage includes papaya colored orchids and fruitwood for added dimension. The tropical wall decor, which costs around $94, is handcrafted and hand-painted by Joanne Ferrara.

3. Tropica Three-Piece Wall Art

This framed sculpture consists of three panels with stunning works of art. Lush tropical leaves are formed from welded metal with shades of greens, browns and tans. The frame is made of bronze with an antiquated tone. A whole set includes one large 31-by-19-inch frame, and two smaller 31-by-11-inch frames. A set costs $56.

4. Beach Room Faux Window

Even if your home is not in the tropics or is not located on a beachfront, you can still incorporate a tropical theme to it. The beach room faux window frame constitutes a tropical beachfront view through an open window. In other words, it is like looking through a tropical ocean through a window! The artwork is original and features a pretty color palette.

5. Sea Shapes

This simple but handsome décor features a nautilus shell. The border is silver in tone while the background features a calm sea green color. It is covered in tough clear acrylic which is shatterproof.

6. Three Dimensional Tropical Fish

For a really unique tropical wall décor, try this new Outer Edges home décor. The set, which consists of sculpted wooden fish, is hand painted and three dimensional. The colorful tropical fish can be installed on any wall very easily. When placed on wallpaper with a marine theme, it would look like fish swimming on your walls. This is indeed a very unique décor.

7. Isle Tropical Mural

This large mural can cover an entire wall. That means, every time you wake up facing the wall, you will face a peaceful lush seashore with tall palm trees, blue waters, verdant hills, and cotton clouds. It can act as a wallpaper.

Angela Dawson-Field asked:


William Morris was a British designer, artist and craftsman whose designs for art and the decorative arts helped create the arts and crafts movement during the Victorian era. Morris’s talents were endless and he turned his hand to poetry, illuminated manuscripts, printing, wallpaper design and many other decorative elements. He is best known, however, for his impressive revival of the ancient art of tapestry design.

Although he initially studied for Holy Orders at Oxford he soon embraced art after meeting his lifelong friend Edward Burne-Jones. Deciding to instead become an architect he embarked on a lifelong pursuit of artistic freedom that would lead to the creation not only of some of the Victorian era’s most famous works, but revitalize and recreate the arts and crafts movement.

Through an early love of poetry he soon taught himself printing and from that learned to weave and work a loom. It was the latter pursuit that would come to demonstrate Morris’s talent at it’s most impressive. His spectacular tapestries became his most famous creations.

Morris developed an array of skills. He learned to embroider by unpicking antique pieces to learn the stitches; he set up a loom in his house and taught himself to weave with only an 18th century French manual for guidance. Within a matter of months he had completed his first tapestry design.

In 1861 Morris founded Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company along with friends Peter Paul Marshall and Charles Faulkner and subsequently begun the Arts and Craft Movement. Together with Edward Burne-Jones and fellow artists Ford Maddox Brown and Dante Gabriel Rosetti, the group produced some of the most creative tapestries and wall hangings the Victorians had seen.

It was Morris’s ambition to breathe new life into the art and he achieved it. Morris’s wall hangings and tapestries still remain an important influence on design today. His most famous works generally featured figures drew by Burne-Jones. Morris would design the background and the tapestry would be woven by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & co, which became simply Morris & Co in 1874 when Morris took sole control.

One of the most intricate and beautiful creations from the company, known as “the Firm”, is the Tree of Life tapestry. Designed by Morris it demonstrates his talent with patterns and his awareness and appreciation of the use of color. Symbolising growth and continuous life, the Tree of Life wall hanging is still one Morris’s most recognised works.

Morris & Co.’s most popular religious tapestry ‘The Adoration of Magi’ was first produced in 1890. As well as being Morris’s most ecclesiastical it was also the most complex. At least ten similar versions of the tapestry were woven between 1890-1907. Originally designed by Burne-Jones the tapestry depicts the Nativity scene.

The Quest for the Holy Grail, currently exhibited at the Birmingham Museum is one of the most well known works of Morris & Co. Like many of the others, the tapestry, which depicts the fascinating story of the search for the Holy Grail, was designed by Edward Burne-Jones. It is one of six wall hangings illustrating the story and was woven in 1895-96.

Possibly the most captivating and charming of Morris & Co.’s tapestries is the Ehret die Frauen. Designed by Marianne Stokes the hanging was inspired by a quotation from Friedrich von Schiller’s 1796 poem “Wurde der Frauen” (Women’s Worth), which appears in the upper border: “Honour the Women, they broid and weave heavenly roses into earthly life.”

One of William Morris’s most enduring legacies is his revitalization of tapestry art. By the mid-19th century wall tapestries had become just another mass produced item. Driven by the need to demonstrate the importance of the individual over the means of production Morris used tapestry and textile design to revitalize the central importance of creativity in art.

Its effect was not only felt during the Victorian era, but also well into the 20th century influencing many modern graphic designers to experiment in new areas of design. Morris’s approach, to assume all aspects of a work were open to experiment, has become more commonplace, but was unusual for its day.

Morris was one of the most prolific artists of the 19th century. The works of William Morris are proof that real beauty can be timeless. As popular today as they were over a century ago, Morris’s art has continued to inspire new generations of artists and craftsmen to reach beyond convention and genuinely create.

Copyright © The Tapestry House, all rights reserved.

Angela Dawson-Field asked:


The Middle Ages saw the beginning of early tapestry decoration and where wall hanging emerged as an authentic form of decorative art in the home. The Gothic style of Medieval tapestry has always prevailed with decorations of flowers, religious subjects and mythical creatures. They were thought to be the epitome of a tasteful home and even today continue to bring pleasure to the modern house. Nowadays tapestry is more affordable to people whereas it was once the domain of the very wealthy.

The imagery of medieval tapestry conveyed messages of love and redemption, of the senses and perception and deep religious meanings. A combination of the cultures of German and Roman Art ensured that religious themes remained a pillar to artistic development during the Middle Ages.

Medieval wall hangings have retained their popularity and are an exciting addition to the modern home. Classical designs from this period continue to please today and are charming pieces of wall art.

During the Middle Ages the Wool Season from June to July was an important time of year. This is depicted in the elegant tapestry, Travailler des Laines, showing a 16th century scene from the Loire Valley. Wall hangings were used to communicate and the work shows Tomas Bohier as adviser to Charles VIII supervising peasants. In those times people like Bohier would not have been directly concerned with the peasantry, however the tapestry has provided a resource for historians through time. This type of work would have been commissioned by the wealthy and offers a glimpse into the everyday world of the peasant.

The Lady and the Unicorn remain a classical set of Medieval tapestries that weave the senses with myth and legend. They can now be seen in the Cluny Museum in Paris and had almost not survived history, being restored after their discovery in damp conditions in 1844. They are believed to have been commissioned in the late 15th century, and their origin is unclear. This series contains the mille fleur pattern throughout which is a common feature of medieval tapestry. The theme for each hanging is slightly different and features a lady, a unicorn and a lion. Each tapestry is believed to represent the senses of taste, sight, touch, love, hearing and smell.

Les Vendanges is a charming medieval tapestry, complete with mille fleur decoration and shows peasants gathering grapes for the harvest. Medieval scenes were relatively rare and capture a vision of how life was in those times. This art from the gothic age was often bold in colour and really shows the level of creative artistry practicing at the time.

Medieval wall hangings continue to bring pleasure to the modern home. Their weave helps lift the colour and adds a warmth to the home. People are often surprised by the distinctive nature of a wall textile. There is so much choice in the medieval range of wall hangings that someone looking to enhance their home will not be disappointed with the selection of elegant wall hangings that are available.

Copyright © The Tapestry House, all rights reserved.