Something I have done with kids is buy the ready-made plain stepping stones from the home improvement store. They have lots of shapes and sizes. Mix cement mortar into a toothpaste consistency. Spread the mortar over the top of the stepping stone with a spatula. Let it set for 3-4 minutes and then let the kids draw pics with pretty much any object (skewer, pencil, screwdriver) or let them push marbels, small mirrors, seashells, etc. into the mortar. (Be sure to have them wear gloves. The cheap ones you use for food service or hair dying work fine. The mortar dries the skin out really bad.) The one Christian likes the most he made is made from different size stars that glow in the dark. He loves to check it out at night. There are cheap (99 cents a bottle) paints out now that are permanent on outside items. Some have to be baked on in an oven to 250 and/or air dried. I have experimented with these and they really do work. I have used them on terra cotta without any preparation to the pot (just clean) and the paint has lasted over two years outside winter and summer so far. There are some several clays on the market that don't have to be fired in a kiln...either air dry or bake in a 250 degree oven. Check with a larger hobby store. Sculpey is the brand I prefer. It comes in lots of colors. The hobby store will also have books of tips and projects. The kids absolutely love to put it through the pasta maker to flatten, make hair/fur, etc. Like someone stated earlier, not art for art sake but something the kids can see an end result in a couple of lessons. They will be learning the whole time but hands-on learning and not so much like 'school work.' Check with your local library. They should have a lot of books on this subject.

Add me to the list of those who love this thread. Five or so years ago I found myself at a New Years Eve party at the home of a sculptor and painter. Within a few minutes of arriving, I understood the joy of living with a lot of art. A number of my friends are professional artists, and I'm fortunate that they've been generous. Plus my mother was an artist, and I'm an avid photographer. So I have lots of meaningful pieces on my walls. But this house doesn't have all that many walls (some were removed, plus we have big windows), and now my cousin, a painter, has started sending me wonderful portraits of the two of us as children, as well as paintings of my gardens. And I've been working on my dad's eminently frameable b&w photographs from the 1940s. Oy! Where will I put everything?? With your help, I'm sure I'll think of something.... Susan

I love the first and last stripe! I like the way the line draws your eye up and the last one is simple enough to not compete with the rug or the armoire. the one I picked was tough; there were so many that had your colors in them at Horchow! That one seemed to go more with your rug (which looked red, gold and brown on my monitor!)because it didn't have any green, but in the end I was thinking it had a subtlety that might work. having all of the colors represented is probably your best bet, though- it definitely brings your eye all the way around the room in a nice way. IMHO, you can't make your walls look too tall. Drawing the eye up is almost always a great thing. And I think some height will balance out the weight of the armoire as well. but only you can see how things look in person! clearly you have great taste!

I went looking for images of those elements. Ribbed glass panels in cabinet doors is easy enough. Here's one in a bathroom vanity: Ribbed glass (or ''seeded'' glass) is also often found in period light fixtures: As for marquetry countertops, if you asked most kitchen cabinet makers for such, I imagine they would gape blankly at the gabbling woman. But there are plenty of companies doing stock and custom hardwood marquetry inlays using CNC laser cutters. Here's the thing - they are doing it in floors. Google ''hardwood floor inlay'' and see. Yes, many of the rosettes are infeasible for a 26'' counter, but look for the ''border'' designs - or create your own. Assemble a 26'' wide section of inlaid ''floor'' on a 3/4'' plywood substrate, encase it in Waterlox, and I do believe you'd have yourself a marquetry countertop. Another option - perhaps cheaper - is stenciling on hardwood, of which this is an example. And so is this What else? Beveled glass is readily available, as is chrome countertop edging, and any furniture or auto upholstery shop can cover a panel of 1/8'' plywood in soft butterscotch leather framed in silver studs (maybe not actual silver, but close enough). I don't know exactly what version of Art Deco you are headed for, or if you even like butterscotch, but the point is, you are not doing yet another white kitchen, you're doing something that isn't being done by the mainstream, so the ordinary kitchen sources are not making this stuff. Sure, there is cool Art Deco hardware around, but what passes for ''Art Deco'' kitchen cabinetry in the online catalogs is . . . disappointing. You are going to have to make it, or at least source it, yourself - and I think if you're comfortable outside the painted lines, you can. You'll find yourself hiring a floor guy to work on a countertop, hunting down the local hot rod upholstery shops, telling your cabinet maker to fit bathroom vanity faces to kitchen cabinet boxes - they'll still look at you like you're crazy, but you'll know you're not. Go for it, girl!