I framed two drawings from when my boys were little. They are drawings of our house (from their eyes) One has hearts coming out of the chimney, and the other one has hearts growing as flowers in the flower beds! Even though they were drawn at different times by different children, they are strikingly similar and deliciously sweet. There's something about framed children's artwork that helps you remember beautiful snapshots from a moment in time.

Last night's sleep was interrupted with rambling thoughts of organizational, decorative pieces. In my kitchen I have a garden arbor on which I hang my pots and pans. I was thinking it might be a useful idea in the bathroom with some towel rods and baskets added..
I have been thinking about a piece of artwork lately, which I am going to create from what I have. I saw on Pottery Barn a metal sculpture family tree piece. I have the metal sculpture piece that I bought at TJ Maxx, and I am going to purchase a piece of upholstery fabric to cover a board, attach the metal sculpture to the board and add 3-4" frames with pictures of family members. In my new living room, I have cathedral ceiling, so in my own imagination it will look good on the large blank wall over the sofa.

I love the idea of creating something to hang, but in the end, we're going to finally frame a great black-and-white photograph of the pre-9/11 skyline that my husband bought at the art museum last year. He's from New York, so it really resonated with him.

Today will count as a "free" day for me because my husband and I have already framed and hung our artwork. I think we did it so quickly because the art is from our last trip. A painting from a street artist in Amsterdam, a small tapestry from Brussels and a poster from the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, also in Amsterdam. We were anxious to get them framed and hung up, so we did it right away. I never understood the significance or importance of purchasing and hanging art, but it is so wonderful to look at our walls and see artwork from all of our travels. We are heading to Paris at the end of the month and I can't wait to see what type of artwork we come home with. If anyone has been to Paris, or has suggestions, please let me know! I am looking for something for our bedroom (behind the headboard) and 2 pieces to hang above our little girls' cribs.

@ Tara: The diy artwork I'm planning to assemble tonight is strikingly similar to your 'Can You Imagine' choice, only in reverse. Several months ago I picked up a 16X20 framed oil painting at the thrift store. The colors were nice, the painting not so much. (Maybe why it was on last chance clearance for $3.00?) Anyway, on the way home, I grabbed a pack of re-positionable vinyl letters from the dollar store.

I'll spell out my words on the painting with the letters, tape off the frame & give it a couple light coats of spray paint which I have on hand. Once the letters are removed, the lovely colors of the painting will be revealed. I'm thinking $4 is not a bad investment for a piece of customized artwork.

I've three phrases picked out for weeks now, just gotta make a final decision & get busy. Tonight's the night!

I'm so loving this Cure! On day 4 I was having difficulty removing ugly furniture. Imagine. By the end of the day, after reading all of the blogs, I was so inspired and removed EVERY piece that I didn't like. However, one piece that I love (an iron based round wood topped table) didn't fit in the room. I removed it, and measured to cut the top to a 5 inch smaller diameter. Now it fits! LOVE it. Thank you all for sharing and inspiring.
Today, I adjusted one piece of art "Family Rules". There was space between the title and the first rule "Help Each Other". My husband wanted us to include "Pray Unceasingly" as the first rule, so I used my sharpie and a cool font and wrote it in. You can't tell that it wasn't made that way. Done. So happy.
Now, I'm going to paint an "antique" frame black, and I'll place in it an old Greek cross-stitch that my mom made for my grandma.

I view framing as just as important as the art piece itself. A good frame can really enhance a piece. In Chicago I go to Avrium (I hope I spelled this right) Eisen shop on North Damen. I love taking the piece with me and trying out different mats and frames.

That make me smile.

What a great post! Michelle Hinebrook, who is the artist behind Sugarcoat, has a piece I want so badly called Encrusted. I really love art which makes me smile and seeing abstracts, shapes, or symmetry feels so right with me.

I can't believe how things are falling into place right now for these projects! I received a coffee poster yesterday and was just discussing where I'd like to hang it in the second bedroom while making dinner last night. It's poster sized so framing is going to be DIY but that will be a fun project for tonight. Anything coffee related makes me smile so this is a plus plus in my book. Thanks for the inspiration... truthfully, I probably would have talked about it and then put it off for months before it actually got accomplished.

This is perfect-I just chose a print I found on etsy the night before last, and it should be arriving soon. I love having original art in my home, and have so much "favorited" on etsy that it's nice to finally be able to get one and hang it on my wall.

Narrowed my choices down to two small Japanese prints or a photo of a crocus peeping through the snow, both of which I've had for ages (so the price was right!). The final decision about which to hang first will be made after I scout out the right frames in the coming week.

Yay! I just went out and bought a big frame and mat (16x20) to put with a piece of artwork that my husband gave me for a Christmas gift - from Etsy, which I love for artwork. I haven't matted or framed it yet, but this will feel like a free day for me because the matting and framing are the easy parts.

Done; sort of. I have framed art of my own, but like the couple in Germany with cement walls, I have stucco/very old cement walls. So have resorted to the hated art on the floor against the wall. Picked up three green metal Christmas wreath hooks for 50¢ each today & have one pic hanging on a closet door & one facing out on the inside front door (and visible to me when the door is opened. .

Perfect? No, but it's something.

Had never considered it before but pretty much every painting, poster, print in our house makes me smile, especially the photo wall of family pictures going down the stairs. The only picture in the house that doesn't make me smile is a very strong red and black abstract painting over the fireplace done by an artist friend. It definitely makes me think - mainly I wonder what was making him so mad while he was creating it!

I think I will be a January Cure Addict.

all of the posts and sharing is so inspirational. I was behind the curve yesterday because I was feeling overwhelmed by my project list...how to decide on one? I'd already accomplished a few small ones, so I thought it had to be an Important Project. Reading all of the posts made me relax a bit.

Today was easier, since I brought three pieces to the framer last week to be refreshed - pieces I love but 2 of them were framed 26 years ago and they looked both dated and tired, one from a few years ago, a Chinese brass lock already matted and framed when it was given to us. The matting overwhelmed the lock, so I'm having it mounted on fabric and put in a shallow shadow box. I'm very excited to see it finished!

We've lived in our 'new' house for a year and a half and I have almost nothing on the walls. I'm really looking forward to hanging lots of stuff on the 29th and making myself 'at home'.

Pretty much every wall in my home is covered with artwork, either a painting I made, a photograph I took or pictures of my family and friends. However, I have this one piece of artwork that for some strange reason, never had framed. It is a 11x14 caricature of my husband and I, which I love! I am finally going to get a frame for it and get it hung up! I am loving the January Cure!

Beautiful original prints from a 19th Century astronomy book: framed.

Now, I just have to put them on the wall. Are there any rule to hang artwork above a bed ? (except for the safety concerns, even if I'm absolutely not in a seismic country, I'll hang them very well). At eye level seems to high for me, but lower may be weird. ANy suggestion ?

I took a wonderful photograph of a child I met in Brasil. He taught me how to ride a horse and after the lesson, I was able to snap a shot of him sitting stoically on his. The image takes me back to such an amazing journey and one of my most favorite memories. I ordered a 20x30 print from shutterfly (hoping the resolution will hold up) and I've already chosen a frame for it.

I'm also going to frame two artifacts from my first two years of teaching: one is a drawing of me as a man and the other is a non-apology note a student wrote after she cursed in my class. Both are a little bittersweet - one was supposed to be a cruel joke, the other has a lot of anger in it - but both remind me of how far I've come in this profession.

Great idea! I always mean to repurpose thrift store art. I hope you'll share after photos!

Awww, I'm so touched! And so glad that my advice was helpful.You'll be proud to know that I finally made my Day 1 Cure list of things to fix around the house and the hubs and I are going to start tackling them this weekend. Maybe by the end of January we'll finally hang the 5-6 sentimental framed pieces we DIY framed at the Brookline frame shop last summer. What an amazing thing this January Cure is. So, so happy you introduced me to it, and can't wait to see your newly restyled apartment at the end of the month!

I recently framed various sizes of mostly-older maps and hung them up in my kitchen dinette area, which is a cafe au lait color. Frames are all black, the maps vary but have a good deal of blue (and I've carried the blue thru as accents in the kitchen). They are states I've lived in and countries of my heritage, including an old map of the county in Ireland some of my ancestors are from. They are all personal and meaningful. I got most of them on places like ebay. It was fun finding them and I enjoy the display very much!

Love the picks! I chose a gift bag that I was given to adorn my closet. http://katskull.com/tag/the-january-cure/