I agree! one of my favorite pieces of art is a finger painting (well-framed of course) by one of my nieces!

Oakley, just curious...why don't you like oil paintings?

My mother was an artist, so I grew up with a lot of original art.

She copied a Fantin-Latour still life in oil, and I have that copy hanging over my fireplace. Rather that choosing art to go with the room, I decorated the room to go with the art.

As far as other art goes, limited edition prints are relatively inexpensive. The most expensive part is often the frame.

I've also got art on the floor - oriental rugs - the handwoven kind - and needlepoint - the hand stitched kind - are also art.

Maybe not art, but something that lets me put things in perspective, is a large photo of the Andromeda galaxy that's on the wall over my desk.

Sculpture and art pottery are two other kinds of art that I have.

And then ... there is this ...

Here is a link that might be useful: I have to call it horrible ...

Pal, thank you for posting such a thought-provoking question. Me? I go 'Wow!' and buy it and then try to find a place to display it. Strangely, I feel no urge to acquire paintings or prints, although 2 elderly framed posters (1 movie, 1 art reproduction) of great sentimental value have positions of honor. Most of the house is filled with 3-dimensional abstract pieces made for wall display: sculptures, pieces of enameled copper, pottery pieces, and 1 enormous textile picture. Yillimuh's walls are more like mine than most.

My toucans

Aztec Sacrifice

Lady Godiva

Entirely personal resonance. If I were single I could eat potatoes for months to save money for something I really liked. Since DH feels very differently (!), I "collect" mostly little items I come across for very little, a big reason why I have plenty of areas of wall with nothing on them, but I do really like everything I have. Some of them I'd leave all the practical stuff behind to run with in event of fire.

I don't think I've ever bought anything to just because it'd be suitable for an empty space. I do know it'd irritate me until I took it down.

BTW, sentiment as a factor in resonance: My daughter and I have items from her grandmother that are special to us not for quality (nicely custom framed prints mostly) but because they were on her walls for decades. They're handsome and tasteful but are really about her now. This thread made me realize that some of those $35 pieces chosen at Home Goods, etc., most for sizes and colors will someday become family treasures. :)

Yillimuh, I love your room and art!

Oh lord! SunnyCottage, do you buy that story? That doesn't really like like an unskilled repair. There's a whole other face in there, in a different plane. Improbable that it happened by mistake.

Also still trying to imagine being reminded every single day about Aztec sacrifice.

The Last Supper Restored.

Much the same as suero's post. This home is completely decorated to compliment the art that I have collected since the mid-late 80's. I no longer add anything but what I have is special to me and my family and I take a great deal of pleasure in seeing it highlighted throughout my living spaces.

I have 35 Native American silk screen prints from Tewa Enterprises , they are no longer in existence. I have linked to Harrison Begay the founder. I have a number of his works as well as Houser's and Nailor's. I also have many Persian rugs . The two cultures compliment each other as they both used native colors to create their works. My wall colors were chosen specifically to show these pieces to advantage.

I also have many turned wood bowls and handmade furniture which I consider art. Additionally I have my mother's and grandmother's glassware .

I feel like my home is a feast for the senses and I enjoy the stimulation and the memories evoked by the pieces.

A wonderful thread. Beautiful pictures posted by many of you. Suero I would love for you to post a pic of that wonderful piece you purchased this year...she is a beauty. c

Here is a link that might be useful: Founder of Tewa Enterprises

Aaaaaaaaaaaand ... we all remember who you're willing it to. Right, Trail? ;-)

Oakleyok, if we could clarify art, we would put paid to a centuries-old conversation!
It's all personal resonance for me, and many things have come and gone as my resonator changed pitch. No one I raised has produced art to hang, and the childhood treasures are packed away in sheaves to be given back when the time is right.

My walls have a ridiculous conglomeration of things on them. I have two inherited portraits, which are, thankfully, attractive people. I bought a little painting of an old rabbi in Israel a million years ago, and I also inherited a decent little painting of water by an American painter. We've bought two paintings, one from a friend whose work we both like, and one from a gallery.

But I really prefer watercolors, prints (as in printmaking), and drawings, many of which I've bought from the artists.

For me, it's all about how much the image pleases me. Much of what I really love is so far in the upper reaches of cost that it will always be out of reach. (Cloudy Christine, I am right there with you on "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.")

So I've been known to spend $75 to frame a wonderful handprinted Christmas card, and a lot more to frame a set of decent reproductions of antique etchings of fish that came in plastic frames from Ikea.

Some of my favorite things include a pair of watercolors that my mother brought back from Spain in the 50's, and a group of six original etchings of Paris architectural landmarks that I bought from the bouquinistes along the Left Bank in 1967.

We have a big original movie poster that someone gave my DH in California, a wonderful ink and watercolor rendering of a playspace from a friend of his who was a designer for Old Chicago, and a marvelous ink and water color drawing of irises that my high school roommate made in art class.

There's a pencil and watercolor rendering on trace for a guesthouse on a Paris estate from the late 19th century, a letter to my grandfather from someone who later became President, a group of four decent but not great Hiroshiges, and a couple of other good Japanese things that my aunt brought from Japan in the 60's.

There are a couple of hilarious cartoons of cats behaving badly ("They stayed up late! They trashed the house! They were...BAD KITTIES!") which my sister-in-law bought for us from the artist, and some lovely old photo portraits of various ancestors of ours.

And a lot of other stuff, too.

To a conoisseur, it's really an unholy mess that has somehow happened over time. I really should get rid of a lot of it. But mostly I just move it around and stash what doesn't have a place in a closet.

"I'd rather have a good reproduction of a subject & style I love than bad original art (and there's lots of bad original art, let's be honest)."

I agree with AWM03. However, I don't think I have any real art on my walls. I have a huge map from 1798 (which I have had for 15 years) that was an old school map. I love that the shipping routes are shown and some states don't exist yet. On the backside is Europe (it was a map you could flip on a special pulley system) so its framed with plexi on both sides. And in my office I have a lot of stuff I picked up on business travel - my hamsa from Jerusalem, a cloisonn� plate from China, batik from Malaysia, etc.

Our walls a amazingly devoid of artwork, though. I keep meaning to address that but other concerns like window treatments, furniture, and structural renovations keep taking priority.

haha...sc...pen in hand...writing now. :)

Jen, I know there are a lot of artistic pieces, but when referring to art on walls, I think of oil paintings. Where I live, we call the stuff on our walls "pictures." Even if one of those pictures cost a gazillion dollars. lol.

Cyn, I think it's the texture of oil paintings I don't like. I don't know why, but I prefer prints, watercolors, gyclees and pencil. Which I have a lot of.

I do have a couple of expensive lithographs though. Bronwynn, I think my walls are like your's! I love a little bit of everything.

One of my favorite pictures is a 5x7 $15 framed print. I'm easy to please!

Wonder if the real story will follow regarding the Christ restoration. No one would let the first stroke be put down without looking at it. The story eludes me. As if it was a hit and run when no one was around.

I have paintings and photographs which are loved for various reasons. They do go with my decor because neither changes and both are the same "sort of" style.

Countrygirl...lived in Corrales and there were never too many art shows to go to. My love is pastels, they are mine though. Pastels by other artists are my motivation to see beyond. The desert scape is far brighter than most realize.

I collect original artwork. When I got my first professional paycheck, I bought 2 pieces of art with it (to be precise, I asked the artist to set the art aside until I got my first paycheck). I don't buy art to "go" with my house--I sort of see my house as a gallery for the art. I have all kinds of artwork, some oils, some watercolors, etchings, sculpture. I have a large piece of pressed tin with a beautiful (to me) splash of golden paint, stacked over a large painting (it's a high ceiling). A small, very tiny, oil painting of an insect in the corner of a room. Four oil paintings of industrial settings by a favorite artist; portraits (my favorite); and a few photos by a photojournalist. Eclectic, which pleases me. I move the art around periodically to see it afresh.

I only put up stuff that I like.

Probably doesn't match. What kind of decor does a bronze goat actually go with, anyway?

I have both original art and reproductions and pieces I printed from the internet. I like everything I put up (otherwise why would anyone hang art that he or she did not like?) Much of the original art is mine. Four of these pieces I drew while I was in college. From previous house:

I am not really asking whether people actually put up art that they Don't like, but rather--how much they have to like it, might be a better way to put it.

But I do know that some people buy art primarily for investment purposes or the cache of owning a certain type of thing. I know someone who has a cross section of a number of well-known local contemporary artists--artists that are "listed" and have at least some national recognition and pieces in permanent collections here or there. But if you look at the pieces they have...I don't feel that they are particularly Good works buy those artists. It's as if they said 'Oh I want a Qwerty...and at the gallery say: "show me the Cheapest Qwerty you have."' They like the art they bought for the reasons they like it, but it may not be a primarily esthetic reason.

When my SO was in the restaurant biz, they had a regular customer who they called "Double Duck" or "Double Des". If they had duck she ordered a double entree, and often a double desert. They had a rotating menu, so if there were a number of new things, she would ask "What is the LARGEST entree on the menu?" And order that. She loved the food at the restaurant, but part of her love was that she could order a double entree, or there were many Different things she could also eat, predicated on if they were Large enough.

So I think some people may Love a painting because it goes well with their Persian rug, and then if the rug is too large for their new house, don't love the painting as much.

I am not criticizing it, it's just a way of liking something for a different reason.

OK, I have to like it to buy it first of all. It can be an original, a print, or whatever, but it's got to draw my eye. We typically collect local artists but I have also looked for small prints in my travels that I can bring home. I also went thru a period where I was on the hunt for antique maps of a certain type and until I found the ones I wanted it was fun looking at all sorts of things and I found interesting things along the way. Often I do look for something of a certain 'size' to fit within a bound or scheme I need but usually I already have it or can group something together to work. A lot of our art is of nature-inspired subjects if you really dig for a common theme. And I have one favorite original that is a bit reminiscent of Grandma Moses. But the real tipping point is 'do we like it'.

Actually, it's reassuring to read about people enjoying a painting or print simply because it goes with the decor. In college, my closest friend was an art history major who went on to become a museum curator. He used to sneer at what he called interior decorator art [we were in our high & mighty stage, you know, 21-years-old :) ] That intimidated me for many years. I was afraid my friend would visit and roll his eyes at my "art"! We used to be friends with two university art professors. Same thing, though they would have been too polite to say anything negative.

One nice thing about getting older, you do care less & less what other people think of your lifestyle & stuff.

"I've been known to spend $75 to frame a wonderful handprinted Christmas card"

Bronwynsmom, I spent about the same to frame a very amateurish watercolor I did in a class which is a glaring example of my lack of artistic talent! Unfortunately I don't even like the frame anymore so it's going bye-bye.

This thread has made me think about the art I have and also the art I'd like to find. I have some art I usually think of as decorative accessories. There are several ceramic tiles I bought in Europe and had framed. They are not originals but repros of original hand painted tiles. An art card a friend sent me which I framed is a pretty card but also has emotional attachment. China, ceramic, or pottery plates can be art and I've often hung them on the wall so I can see and enjoy them. Handcrafted pottery either thrown or formed is art as is my art glass even if not one-of-a-kind.

While I completely agree that there is a lot of bad original art, there is even more bad reproduction art simply because there is more of it. I also agree it's very subjective. My criteria is that if it looks as if I could have done it, it's not very good, or at least I'm not going to pay the big bucks for it.

LOL, I spent around $60 each on some fun frames for some art I had 3 of my grand-kids paint for the lake condo. I had them paint some 'lake scenes' and I wanted it to be something they could enjoy when they were here.

Art - this is where i have the least confidence and make the most mistakes. I have no training or education --- come to think of it, I ought to take an art appreciation course! I take my kids to the Met or MOMA once year, and always do the museums when we travel. I like the self guided audio tours so we do more than just walk around and say "i like that" or "i don't like that".

Art has to work in the spot AND resonate with me. If I had a more extensive art collection, i think "working" would not matter, but if you have a few pieces I think it does. The PO here had a wonderful art collection, including pieces they had on loan to the Met, and spanning nautical oils, Asian acupuncture forms (the real deal), folk art paintings, photography, prayer rugs, balinese doors, huge turtle shells, and preColumbian sculptures. It was one of the things I loved about the house when we saw it, and I wanted to emulate. In fact when we first closed, and long before we moved in, I spent a lot of time looking for art, wanting to replicate the somehow harmonious visual clutter they had. I gave up, and it isn't really me anyway.

I did buy two paintings from them, and I am very happy with them because they very much fit an antique Connecticut home. One is a large Edward Hicks oil , and it was a scene in Bucks County, PA, which is where I am from. I also love its birds-eye maple frame. The other is not a known painter, it is just an oil of a horse. I just adore the painting because it has a plain sunny cloudless sky, that looks only sort of of white until you look at it and marvel and the shades of very very subtle color to make the sky come to life.

I bought four framed English hunting prints at a school auction, which were a steal, for a good cause, and fit perfectly in my office.

I framed the kids artwork at Michael's in plain black frames for a long hallway we have that is kind of skinny and charcaterless on the way to the pool.

I fell in love with a huge print (like 6' by7'?) of the old Sutro Baths, for our pool. Since our pool is indoors I thought that'd be cool. But not $28,000 cool. Plus the pool air would ruin it. I was able to buy a large print and frame it birds eye maple ... it looks great and it is just in the hallway as you get into the pool.

In the pool bath I have old beach tags on the mirror.

I have three oils that I bought over 10 years ago, all small, dark still lifes in ornate frames. I think they look very museum=y, and I am happy with them though I am sure some might sniff that they are more decor than art. They look great anyway, in my breakfast room.

On the stone wall next to my stove i have a specimen box of quail eggs, which I just love to look at. One my daughters has specimen boxes in her room, with seashells. The other has a wall of horse art, all form Etsy and framed at Michaels'. DS has a collection of license plates from countries we have visited.

In our DR I have an old b/w print from a local photographer who was famous.

In the living room I have various prints or paintings from some of the places we have travelled. One of my favorites though is a map of an island in Japan my Dad was stationed on as a young man. The map has his hand written translations on it. That's the kind of "art" that never has to "go".

In the same room I have a rusty old horse weathervane. I got it when I went to Sheffield, MA to pick up a table, and found out we were in the same town as the dealer with the original Sutro Baths print. The dealer and his wife have a gallery in their gorgeous modern home, and we had a fun afternoon visiting with them. It's a nice reminder of that serendipitous day.

Bumblebeez.....you crack me up.

I saw that article on the fresco in Spain I believe yesterday in the NYT.

Here is a link for those who didn't see it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spanish Fresco

Here's my thought. And I know nobody really cares but I'll share anyway!

Whatever I bring home and put on my walls has to speak to me. I just can't buy a piece even if the colors are right if it doesn't talk to me. I am happy buying an original piece of artwork as I am paying $50 at Home Goods for a piece that really grabs me and matches my room. If someone were to give me an original piece done by one of the masters, and I didn't like it, I don't really think I would display it. I'd probably hustle it off to an art auction and take the cash. I want my artwork to make me happy.

I love the photographs I have taken that I have blown up and framed from our travels. A wall of photos of doors from Mykonos. The gondoliers taking naps while resting in their gondolas in Venice. These have meaning to me. There is an artist in Barbados that my dh and I love. The few times we have been there, we go find him and buy some of his work.

I have a big crate in my basement that I keep "out of circulation" artwork in. It is stuff I still like but don't want to hang now. Although, in this house I have a lot more wall space, and I"m sure it all will be going somewhere.

So, I guess my point is that for me, it isn't about the price, if it is original, a signed print or a piece from Home Goods, if it speaks to me and works with my space, it comes home with me.

Bee, your photos sound great. I like your "out of circulation crate". I feel as though I need to hang everything or else get rid of it - silly. Ive been feeling guilty about things I don't have up. But if i think of them as things I am storing for the time being --- that will make me feel better about it!

"I think you can have an attachment to a reproduction."

I have some art that my parents didn't want when they moved. Some of it is original art; two pieces are not. One of the latter, which I HAD to have, is a copy of a Picasso. I can't figure out whether it's an actual painted copy or not. The reason I had to have it: when I was a kid, I actually thought it was the real deal - that we actually owned a Picasso. Kids can be so literal....it was "signed" Picasso, it was hanging in our house, ergo, we owned a Picasso! So I had to have this thing because it makes me chuckle.

"I am not really asking whether people actually put up art that they Don't like, but rather--how much they have to like it, might be a better way to put it."

To put it up I'd have to like it a lot. Put it another way, if I wouldn't want to put it up, then I wouldn't buy it in the first place.

Things I put on the wall do not have to be expensive, but I would prefer that they be original, not repros. Or, if repros, then things that look really good, e.g., I would love to have a large tapestry for an empty wall here, but, athough I have not shopped around for one, I doubt I could afford an original. I would be happy with a high-quality reproduction.

Even if the art we buy is inexpensive, I do want it to be framed and/or displayed well. bronswynsmom commented: "So I've been known to spend $75 to frame a wonderful handprinted Christmas card, and a lot more to frame a set of decent reproductions of antique etchings of fish that came in plastic frames from Ikea." I agree with that sentiment; in fact, the last thing we had framed was an original work on paper that cost us around $40. The silk mat, beautiful frame, museum glass cost somewhere between $200 and $300. The result is that this inexpensive little thing, by a completely unknown artist, looks like a million bucks.

The rooms I always love the best have eclectic collections that mean something to the owner, even if they don't "go" with the room. I like the gallery style like Villimuh and EG3d's rooms.

And as I have always heard, if you really love it, buy it, and you will find a place for it!

Namcy

Here is some of my original art -I picked and arranged these flowers and scanned them into the computer.

Actually these are examples of God's art that I simply arranged and was fortunate to capture into a digital format.

Love the flower scans!

Reminds me of a guy I once worked with who figured out the only way to truly document dragonfly colors was to scan them alive (and immobilized, obviously). Unlike most insects, their colors fade after death so you can't just pin 'em and expect them to look good.

EG3d--those are stunning! I love the flowers/colors/arrangements!

I need a scanner.

I buy some artwork because I love it, and I don't care whether it matches anything or not. I have places in my home where I hang that kind of art. I keep that artwork as long as it makes me happy.

I have other art I bought because those pieces worked for the spot. I like those pieces well enough, because they look good there and I like the pieces as well. When I buy that kind of artwork, there's usually other art I liked better but passed up because those pieces would have been jarring in that context.

I also have places I hang art that is humorous, maybe like yillimuh. The only requirement there is that I love the piece and it makes me laugh.

So for me how attached I have to be to the artwork depends on where I'm putting it. In some spots I have to deeply, madly love, love, love it as a standalone piece apart from the backdrop of my home. In other spots I have to love it in that specific spot in my home, but not as a standalone piece.

I realize I may be the only one here who buys artwork to "go" with the sofa. I just can't visually separate the art from the context of the room. In my home the art doesn't have to "match", but it can't fight with the rest of the room.

I also put family photographs in public rooms, too. Another decorating no-no.

Every discussion that revolves around art you love versus art that matches the drapes, makes me want to comment. I usually don't. I think feeling passionate about art is similar to feeling passionate about music or animals or antiques or almost anything else that is important to you. There are lovely people out there who go looking for a 'picture' or photo or even a piece of wall sculpture that has blue in it, or is framed in black or looks good with the drapery fabric. Art for art's sake is not really important to them. For others, the painting or sculpture or photograph is way more interesting and important than wall color or sofa style or carpet color. It's an interesting point of discussion, but it's not really a reflection of what that person is like. We all know people who dress beautifully but are not beautiful people on the inside. And there are farmers in dirty boots and old Levis who do a lot of good for others and for the community. I don't really care much about music or art. That doesn't mean that I don't have pieces that mean something to me. I may not know the singer or the band or the name of the concerto, but sometimes a piece of music strikes me very profoundly. I feel the same way about what people call art. Once in a while I'll be in a restaurant with local painter's work on the walls and I will see something that I really, really wish I owned. The price tag will place it beyond my reach. Sometimes I will see a museum display of paintings or photographs and I will feel something drawing me to them, or to a particular piece. Again, the price will always be beyond my reach. So, a lot of what goes on my walls is mass-produced and offered by HomeGoods or found at Marshalls. A number of things I have were found at estate sales or yard sales and I have no idea if they are "valuable" or not. I have one floral painting in a very old frame that many people have wanted to buy from me, but I will probably never sell it because I think it's so beautiful.

So, for daisyinga and others who buy art to work with the sofa or to punctuate the empty wall in the kitchen, don't worry about it. Art for art's sake may just not be your thing.

Red

Thank you, Redbazel. You are right, art for art's sake is not my thing, at least not very much. I like art, but I don't feel passionately about art in general. And some of the art I really like, I would never put in my home. I want my home to be restful and relaxing, and some of the art I like is thought provoking way beyond my comfort zone. I want to go visit it in a gallery and leave it there, not hang it on my wall at home.

I don't worry about it or care what other people think. I don't judge people by their taste in books and hopefully they don't judge me by the art (or lack of) on my walls.

I finally got around to putting up my gallery wall in the hall. These are all landscapes, some original etchings, some repros, all picked up over the years at antique shops, thrift shops, and tag sales. A few needed new mats or glass, some needed new frames, but done one at a time, it was fairly affordable. While I like some of them more than others, they all appeal to me. Now to get rid of the circus tent stripes, LOL.

Although I'm one of those people who is passionate about art, I totally agree with Red. She's made a very good point (as usual) that's ok if you're not "into art". Or if you decorate your home with inexpensive pieces from places like Hobby Lobby or Home Goods, or decorate with art just to fill blank walls and coordinate a room. The bottom line is that it's your home and you should decorate it for you, to make you happy, not to impress anyone else. Because original art is so reasonable out here where we live, I have a lot of it, but like I said in my previous post, one of my most beloved pieces is a (large)inexpensive framed print of John Singer Sargent's "Corfu: Lights and Shadows". It totally does not go with anything else in my home, but I could care less because I like it (LOL).

I think for some people it has no resonance at all, just like anything else. I know people who can't even listen to a conversation if there is music by a certain composer playing: they totally tune into the music. One person I know like this is so Non-visual that they will try to get into the wrong car and walk by all kinds of changes going on around them and not notice any of it. I don't think they care about visual arts at all, but they can hear a sour note in a musical performance that is probably not noticeable to most people, and find it very disturbing.

yillimuh and probookie, I'm running late but I just have to post: I think we need to schedule mutual house tours! I'm so with you, yillimuh -- most of what I've collected I've 'acquired' from thrifts, and that includes serigraphs and oils worth thousands as well as really well done, unusual paint-by-numbers. The three of us have similar tastes, and probookie, the Lady Godiva is delicious -- who did it? I have many three-dimensional pieces as well, including midcentury textiles and studio pottery/ceramic by PNW artists that was made for hanging and midcentury brass by some of the usual suspects. Even an African wood inlay piece of women going down to a waterfront with big baskets on their heads -- on the laundry room door, palimpsest : )

My taste runs from the most abstract to the PNW Mt. Hood landscape -- I like different things for different reasons. We also have a vintage aerial photo of Grand Army Plaza/Prospect Park and a map from when Prospect Park was being proposed (that we found out here, of all places--no one else wanted it at an estate sale so we got it for a great price!) because that's where DH and I got married. Not too many other sentimental pieces up, other than one piece by DD of the Nutcracker Suite when she was very young that I put in a huge rococo frame : )

I grew up in a world of reproductions -- those mdf-mounted things from the Met -- and posters. As an immigrant from the middle east educated in Europe, my father completely worshipped European high culture. Reproductions were the closest he could get. My American, Bryn-Mawr-educated mother had a few nicer pieces she got during her 'world tour' in the late 40s, but otherwise, that was it. The reproductions actually worked the way my parents intended, which was to have me growing up looking at excellent art, even though they couldn't afford it. Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction" was not only significant in a theoretical way to my professional work later on, but *so* personally resonant for me. I'm still amazed by his insight. I wish he hadn't died when he did.

Saypoint, I guess I'm not supposed to, but I liked your landscape wall on your circus stripes! It made it more interesting somehow.

Saypoint, I love your stripes! Orderly and vibrant at the same time. I'd do that in a heartbeat if I didn't have very high ceilings and rooms that are a little narrow...in here, it would emphasize exactly the proportions I'm trying to correct.

IMO, if you like it that's all that matters. If the colors, subject matter, style of painting appeal to you, and you get 'that lovin feeing' looking at it, why NOT have it in your home? When it stirs some sort of emotion, you've made the connection. ;o)

I agree, Saypoint, I love striped gallery wall!

Saypoint, I also like your striped wall! It's a great backdrop for your lovely collection of pictures. And I love that collection. Not only are the landscapes pretty, they also have a certain cohesion along with the individuality of their mats and frames. You have hung them perfectly; I'm especially in awe of how you achieved that straight line on the bottom. Your wall is a delight to look at!

Thanks. I have lived with the stripes for over ten years, and don't even see them anymore, but I remember when we first moved in, I thought they were too wide. I didn't have the heart to paint over them, because the PO put so much effort into painting them. They go up the stairwell and through the upstairs hall as well, so maybe they'll have to stay. The stripes are a glaze, so painting them over will be a lot of prep work.

I think music is a good analogy, I am not that interested in music, well, I am, but I don't have an iPod and the thought of converting all my cds is so daunting, we listen to one cd at a time and are quite happy with it.
It's just not anything that concerns me much.

Dh and I have vaguely talked about "upgrading musically" -all our computers and laptops are very current- but the whole music thing alludes me. Pandora radio listened through little speakers on my notebook is fine to me when I'm cooking dinner.

We do have a nice stereo, hidden speakers in the living room and the tv is hooked up to it so I can listen to direct tv music through that too and also play cds.

I feel like all that is comparable to someone going to TJ Maxx and buying art and that satisfies them fine.

Thanks all for the compliments for my flower scan art. Saypoint I love your striped wall with the landscape art. Leave the stripes alone. They work great!!