apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

At the moment, they are hanging in the dining room. Side by side with a small award from a society I was part of.

Buried in the back of the closet, in their original protective packaging. If I were to apply the same rules of editing to my diplomas that I do to my other never-seen possessions, they'd be gone by now, but that seems rash and, who knows, maybe one day someone will request to see them for some reason.

I bought diploma frames from my university bookstores and have the MA and PhD hanging in my office at work. The framing is nice, and each has the university's name & seal embossed on the mat. You know what's extra-cool about a PhD diploma? It's BIGGER than the other ones.

The BA diploma is in a leather portfolio on a bookshelf at home.

I'm struggling to find a place to display my diplomas. Mine are nicely framed and attractive, but, really, a diploma? I'd like to find somewhere that says "These are accomplishments but my edumacation doesn't mean that much in the scheme of things. I don't take myself so seriously that these define who I am or my value in the world." I'd like to avoid "Nayh nayh I am smarter than you are." I'm thinking the back wall of a coat closet or something.

If I had it to do over, I would never have framed and matted them in the first place. What a waste of money I didn't have at the time.

I want to hang mine up, maybe near my computer desk, which is in the living room.

Mine are in a grouping in coordinated frames on an upstairs hallway wall between bedroom doors.

When I was in high school I acquired a lot of trophies. What I wound up doing with the ones that I ultimately didn't care that much about was rip the face plate off and donated them to my local Boys/Girls Club. Got a couple boxes out of parents' garage. =)

My mom is the master at incorporating awards in with decor. My father was a collegiate track star and later coach so her challenge was to incorporate/celebrate his acheivement with her flair for design. The result, which has evolved over the years, are shadowbox frames interspersed with framed photo collages. The frames and shadowboxes all work together without being matchy matchy, she has the patience to get the negative space right, and she frequently changes out pictures from her collection of old family photos (not cheesy poses of me in school pics but black and whites, sepia tone, ect). When I go home for a visit I find myself lingering over a photo I've never seen or haven't seen a while contrasted with one of my dad's ribbons or medals.
As for my diploma, it came to my parents' house that being my "permanent" address at the time and she had it framed in the simplest blonde wood frame imaginable with black matting. I have it snuggled into my black bookshelves next to the books I actually read in college and it's never once felt out of place or showy.
I'd like to think that we can all celebrate our accomplishments and the accomplishments of our loved ones in a way that doesn't fly in the face of good taste :)

in the bathroom over the toilet - always gets a chuckle

Mine is nicely framed but it's under my bed. I have a one room studio.. I just don't have a place for it right now. One day, if I have a home office or a real office at work, I'll hang it there.

Well, I don't really know where the diplomas are...But the artwork I did when I was getting my MFA is up all over the place!

I have no clue where my diploma is. Oops.

B.S. and M.Ed. are in their cases. One's on a bookshelf (M.Ed.), the other is in a box. My aunt gave me a plastic frame with a niche for my tassel. That went to my roommate who squealed when she saw I'd never opened it, gushing that she's always wanted to frame her diploma and tassel. I had a bunch of spelling bee trophies. I'm keeping the one mounted on a black and white base; it's the prettiest and one of two not broken. I swear my mom just threw all my trophies and ribbons in a box and tossed it in the moving van. Half the poor bees have lost wings.

My college diploma is somewhere in my mom's garage. I'm finishing my Master's degree soon (knock on wood) but will probably just put the diploma in the closet. I totally wanted to display Gregory's childhood trophies, though, and was so disappointed when I discovered he'd gotten rid of them! :D

I like ShainLA's idea. I could put them in my office- a lot of my colleagues do - but to me it seems a bit redundant. I mean, I wouldn't be here in my office on a university campus, if I didn't have the degrees that go with it. I've got two pretty fancy diplomae in latin. I love the idea of putting them in the bathroom, but I'm a little worried about the water damage. Right now they're in my bedroom (which is also the guest bedroom) in my parents' house.