I like mirors in entrys and bathrooms. They're fine in living rooms if they will be reflecting something really pretty, but any mirror that is just reflecting a boring wall or something similar is in the wrong place.

I like family photos in frames on bookcases, console tables and hung in arrangements in the private/bedroom hallways. Although we have hired professional photographers, I never do formal portraits -- we always go with candid style photos that capture the kids in their moment. Professional portraits kinda creep me out, but if I did have anything like that, I would want it in a library type setting.

Art belongs everywhere and anywhere I can find a space for it on my walls. :)

Our playroom (which doubles as a guest room) is brimming with art:

Kitchen art:

Entry art:

Living room art (please excuse the FP -- living room is a work in progress):

Catwalk art visible from living room:

Dining room art, mirror, and family photos (my catchall room):

Art in DD's room:

Art in DS's room (on the bookcase prior to hanging on wall):

We have more, but I don't have pictures of those rooms (they're not ready for prime time just yet). BTW -- almost all of our art is of the home-made variety. The black and white photos are from our travels, the canvas in the dining room is also a photo from our travels, the water colors and quilted portrait are all done by my mom, the chalk drawing of the sunflower is by DH, and I painted the characters in DD's room. I'm planning to start framing the kids' art, too. Our house may not be sophisticated, but it's filled with us. :)

In case anyone is wondering what happened to the transom windows in the kids' rooms, these pictures are from our old house, but they weren't done with the decorating yet, so at DD's request we replicated them in the new house. :)

I have art, family photos, and mirrors throughout my home. I'm not one to buy into the notion that these things only "belong" in certain rooms. I put them wherever they please my eye. :-)

Art - wherever!

family photos - we have a mixture of candid and portrait. Most are in the living room (which we use as a library).

mirrors - wherever they can reflect something nice

I agree with sarschlos on mirror placement. My photos are in a few places but they aren't everywhere: they are on a sideboard in the living room, clustered into a grouping of silver/pewter frames; they are among the books on bookcases; hung in a few frames going upstairs (all matching frames); and hung in our basement playroom (mostly enlargements of family travel pics). Almost none of our pics are professional photos. I don't even display my kids' school pictures!

Wow, this was so interesting to read! Sarch Remo - thanks for all the pics!

Mirrors: I like to have a mirror near my front door - somewhere I can check myself before I leave (or before I answer the door! LOL)

Art: I like to hang art in our DR

Family pics: I have a ton of "portraits" of the kids that were done in studios that I don't know what to do with. I may scatter them upstairs in eachothers rooms and in the hallway. One thing I would *love* to do is get more candids up on the walls in our FR. I also have a collection of wedding photos of mine and DHs wedding, our parents weddings, our grandparents weddings (on boths sides of the families, so 4 pics) and I even got as far back as my grandmothers parents.

I would also love a collage somewhere (in a low-profile spot) in my kitchen of our recent kitchen renovation (which was a major job!) to show people what it used to look like.

Hopefully I'll be ready to actually hang all this stuff in the near future!!

I hate "professional portraits". Unless you've got Annie Lebovitz or Irving Penn or some other brand name photographer shooting you for Vanity Fair or Vogue, they're always hideous. I do collage frames from our travels in the bath room, and have smaller framed shots on my dresser and desk.

Big mirror in the living room on an easel, and art all over.

I don't mind the posed school photos, but I'm the only person I know who has contact sheets from her wedding, and a zillion Polaroids.

I'm almost embarrassed to say that I have one or more mirrors in every room of my house! My husband thinks he lives in a fun house because every where he turns, he can see himself.
OK, that's a little exaggerated, but I think you can have mirrors in ANY room.
I have family pictures in matching frames in our family room, and I also hang art everywhere.
Do what YOU love and it will look great.

Sarschlos,

I was looking at your stairs and noticed the steel(?)balustrade. I am looking for something like that. Do you happen to have a close up pic?

Love your art!

Mari

Mari -- the stair railing is original to the 1964 house. I believe it's wrought iron with a wood handrail. It was painted white when we moved in. I just painted it matte black to make it look like a black iron railing, but I did not strip the white paint to find out what was really underneath all the layers.

BTW -- I posted some white-greys you might want to check out on your paint thread. Wickham gray, which you mentioned, is a grayed green, but distant gray, lily white and misty gray are all grey-whites without yellows/green tones (distant gray is the whitest).

I don't understand the creapy issue with professional photo's? How is this creapy?

{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

No really...answer honestly...you won't insult me...I think he's cute and that's all that matters...but really, how is this type of thing creapy? I think it's art, my child or another child, good photography is art.

That being said (and I really am curious because I don't get the creap factor) I don't feel there are rules associated with where you hang art or photo's. Even mirrors, because a beautiful mirror can go anywhere as long as it's not reflecting a brick wall :)

I have significant art in the bathrooms, definately in the library, family room, our bed room, our closet and heck in the kitchen and dining room. I just couldn't live without art.

I also have family photo's in most rooms, though the bathroom is lacking :oP Something about being watched as you go about your business LOL

And as for mirrors...there are places they should be, dressing room,closet, bathrooms, entry and exit points of a home, but they can go in many other places just as well :)

I once read that the master bedroom should only have photos that reflect the couple ; avoid children or parent's photos, in order to have better marital bliss, wink wink.

The creep factor isn't that type of professional photography. For me, it's the strange, stilted family portrait that seems to be slightly painted over on canvas, with everyone standing/sitting in a specific arranged and unnatural pose.

We have many professional photographs of our family, but as I said they are "in the moment" style photos such as the ones that igloo posted.

Ultimately, it's my house and I'll hang stuff wherever I want and think the same thing when I go to other peoples homes. They should do whatever makes them happy.
I am not offended by photography in the living room, kitchen or bathroom etc. but the ugly, chintzy frames I often see rarely look good - you know, those cheapo brass bifold dated things with the kids school portrait sitting proudly on the living room end table. Or the wedding portrait ...I can't bring myself to like those at all.

I have a friend who has 24" black and white close up portrait photos of her three kids framed in simple, clean black frames. They take up a wall and look great!

Saraschlos beat me to it. Baby shots are always great, because you can't pose kids. They just exist and the photographer snaps it.
But I really do deeply dislike the whole family, posed in black turtlenecks and chinos, looking like an ad for vitamins and regular dental care. Or the tilted head, hands on chin, painted on canvas. I just run screaming from the room. It's a phobia.

mitch - I agree!

Funny -- I don't have a problem with photos of the kids in our bedroom. It's where we made them, after all. :) Plus, ours are still young enough that they frequently climb in uninvited anyway, so I'm just glad when the bed isn't full of stuffed animals. :)

I agree with auntjen-I have pics of family/friends in all rooms of my home and they are a mix of professional and candid photos. I haven't had a bit of "trouble" with pics of my DD in our MB.
igloochic- not one thing creepy about that beautiful baby!

Small retraction:

Pics of kids in MB wouldn't bother me, but pics of parents would.

I love pictures. Candid or professional. I have to hold back a bit so they're not all over the house!

Igloo - beautiful baby! When I do have kids I'll be having a lot of pictures done. :)

I have pics of niece & nephew in our master bedroom. Also a wonderful old pic of my mom and I sliding down a snow-covered hill in Colorado that was taken over 40 years ago. I have quite a few photos of DH and I when we were children, and I really love having those in our bedroom. If ever I'm feeling cross with him, all I have to do is look at the photos of him as a little boy and my heart just melts. There's no way to stay angry with him very long after remembering that he's still a little child deep inside, as we all are. ;-)

Idee, I have the same phobia! :)

Igloochic, what a beautiful son you have! I agree, professional portraits, if they're done in a candid, not-stilted manner, can be wonderful. I think you nailed it when you specified "good photography"; in my mind, that's the qualifier. We had this one taken of my little family and I like the casualness of it. (sorry, their faces are blocked out for privacy)
{{!gwi}}
That kind of family portrait I like. On the other hand, a family standing stiffly around one seated family member, in clothes that will soon look dated are the ones I dislike. Same with most school portraits, I have to admit. I like to have candids of my family in 5x7 or 8x10-inch sizes, matted and in similar frames down my main hallway best of all. I like that portrait gallery feel to it.
As for art, I love it and have it everywhere! I even have original paintings in my bathrooms!

As for mirrors, I like them wherever they can add to the light and/or ambience of a room. I don't like them in places where they don't reflect something attractive, though.
Lynn

Lynn, I might've known you'd accessorize yourself as beautifully as you do your home. Great concho belt and turquoise cuff! :-)

OMG, Jen, only you would pick up on those! Thanks ;~)

Ok I understand now LOL I would have to agree...those pics with everyone's hand on dad's shoulder or whatever...ya they're stiff.

The photographer we use is pretty fabulous at taking shots that are candid, yet obviously professional. DH and I have to rein ourselves in every time we see her because she's so good...and we like really big shots (8x10's would be the small ones we get LOL).

I personally hate school photo's. They're always too stiff, with bad lighting, and a back drop that isn't meant to compliment anyone. (Or worse the pictures of the outdoors back drops). We haven't faced that yet...I don't know if we'd even bother with school shots. This gal does lovely shots of older kids as well.

We were just there yesterday, so I'll be broke in a couple of weeks when she posts the pics on the net for us to pick from LOL But since we have a new house (on monday) to move into...I ummm need more for the decor right? heh heh

I do like to keep my family photo's grouped together. We are in a five level home with lots of halls, so I'm using them as our family museaum, with photo's going back to the great grandparents and forward to my little munchkin. But even though I do tend to group them...I still like to have one or two scattered in other rooms.

And I'm with SR...no issues with them in the bedroom...since they started out there in the first place :oP But NEVER pictures of my mother or DH's mother in the bedroom...that's just wrong :oP heh heh

Lynn that's a great family shot. Very casual and undated, something I hadn't thought of before, but a great idea to remember!