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edie_thiel

Art that no longer "fits"

edie_thiel
9 years ago

The art vs. d�cor vs. sentimentality is a good topic. I have some prints and originals done by local artists or collected during travel that "worked" in the spaces of my condo but do not work in the spaces of my home. The layout, wall dimensions, and window placement are different.

At this point, I can't really give up the pieces, but don't know if I'll use them again. Thinking about having some built-in storage made for them in case I can think of ways to incorporate them into my spaces again.

So, what have others done with pieces that they like/love but can't find the "right place" for display??

Comments (10)

  • Fun2BHere
    9 years ago

    I try to find a place for it all to hang or lean. Powder baths, the inside of closet or pantry doors, and home offices are good places to hang extra pieces. Bookshelves and the tops of cabinets and armoires are good places to lean art or arrange on small easels. If I must store art, I wrap it well or box it and stand it upright behind my clothes in the closet.

  • PhoneLady
    9 years ago

    Oh boy. I struggled with this too. We moved to AZ from New England and some of what we had just didn't seem to fit into the AZ home. I moved it from closet to closet. I had to finally be honest and decide if I still loved it. If I did, I didn't get rid of it. It's amazing what you can fit against the back wall of a closet while you ponder on it. Art and collectibles are not like an overcoat you give away and then can buy another if you made a mistake.

    Is there anyone in your family or a dear friend who has admired a certain piece and would display it in their home? It would give me pleasure to see someone else enjoy it too. If you hold onto it for heirs, be sure to tape the history on the back so they know how you acquired it or came to love it.

  • lynninnewmexico
    9 years ago

    I'm there! At this time I have several paintings stored (on end) on a shelf in our guest room walk-in closet. One is hung in that same closet. About 7 are now stacked behind our master bathroom door (don't ask). Several are stacked in our big walk-in laundry room{{gwi:807}} closet. 2 pieces of metal art hung in our attached garage. One is hung in our MBR walk-in closet. I've even hung art above doors around the house. A couple are loaned (forced-LOL) out to DD for her house at college. I've hung several in DH's clinic. I've pushed off a few on our grown son for his place. I even have one leaning against the wall on a counter in our bathroom. In desperation, I've recently hung one on the side of a kitchen{{gwi:807}} cabinet that is between the kitchen and family room. And one very large one, still unframed but matted, is leaning between my dresser and the wall in our MBR. I "couldn't live without" the last two. I bought them at an art show way back in October (LOL), but then had problems finding places for them. This is why I seriously need to avoid attending art shows and gallery openings any more! But, these are my go-to places to store the art that either doesn't work in our home at this time or that I replaced with something I like better . . . but still love the other. (Sigh) I seriously need to consign/sell a lot of it!
    Lynn

    This post was edited by lynninnewmexico on Thu, Jul 3, 14 at 19:17

  • Em11
    9 years ago

    They're all in my attic. I used to work for a downtown redevelopment company in a large city and several of the projects I worked on had commemorative art created for them. I treasure that time period of my life, but twenty years later, I just don't have a space for them all, yet I can't bear to part with them. So they're in my attic. If we ever end up getting a vacation home, maybe I'll use them there.

  • patty_cakes
    9 years ago

    Kees, I can sort of relate to how you feel! When I was in my 1984 condo back in Ca, it was decorated in a cottage/shabby chic style, including various pieces I had painted white, floral Rachel Ashwell wallpaper, and had been told it looked like a 'life-sized dollhouse'.

    When I moved to Austin 6 years ago and built a stone and brick home, I could clearly see this house would not take too kindly with florals, white furniture, and the feminine look of the past. It was(is)what I call a sophisticated space, with archways, wide moldings, with not a trace of anything that would relate to cottage. Furnishing are now French/traditional with art that could be considered more contemporary, but the frames are gilded and decorative. Somehow it all works.

  • edeevee
    9 years ago

    I only know where NOT to store it. That would be in the spare room closet while the room(s) down the hall are remodeled. Everything is covered with a not so fine layer of drywall dust.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    9 years ago

    Back of closets, covered in a sheet or, better, determine your emotional attachment to the piece. If you don't love it, pass it on. If the frame is good, keep it if storage isn't at a prime.

  • ravencajun Zone 8b TX
    9 years ago

    I have wrapped them in old sheets and if the size is right stored them in under the bed containers or in spare room closets. I would never put good art in an attic , the extremely hot temperatures that can happen in attics could destroy the art. Fluctuations in heat and cold and humidity levels are not friendly to art products.
    I have also passed some down to family or good friends if I know that they are fond of the pieces.

  • jakabedy
    9 years ago

    I'm in this same mode at present. We've just moved in and I have all our old art propped against walls and some in the basement. I don't know that we'll move again, and if we did, it would be a similar style house. None of it is of any real value -- monetarily or sentimentally -- so I probably need to make some kind cuts to the inventory, and store those I just van't part with in the backs of closets or under beds.

  • jaynes123_gw
    9 years ago

    My heart goes out to you! I recently designed (with architect LOL) house covered in large windows and t kept considering interior walls to allow for my oversized pictures. Even kitchen cabinets were laid out to accommodate prints.

    Would any of them work to be rotated, switched out from time to time?

    I have seen that prints can often work in a space that might have seemed to small when the rest of the room is kept very simple, removed of anything that could let room look busy.

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