Stormy's post on canning got me thinking... canning really is an art. Zapping a hot dog in the microwave.... not an art.

Are there things of art and beauty on your house? Are there beautiful things to look at on the walls? Do your kids see you doing artful things... cooking, sewing, scrapbooking, gardening?

Before kids, I used to make quilts. The other day I got out a needle and thread to hem a pair of pants, and the kids were fascinated. And I don't think they've ever seen an iron being used.

With slowing down and trying to simplify, I can see that I need to include more art and beauty in our house. Not that I want to become Martha Stewart, mind you, but I could break out a table cloth now and then, you know?

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

I have a mini bakers rack and several shelves over my dining room curios that have several pieces of pottery my kids made from Kindergarten up. I also have several framed pieces of art they made on the walls in many rooms. In my kitchen I have a Kitchenaid Mixer Stand that is a reproduction of an old one... I also have an antique flour sifter on one of my knick knack shelves. Between my kitchen and breakfast nook I have several shelves that have antique kitchen tins. I consider all that my precious art.

Over the years my kids have seen me cross stitch, cook and bake from scratch, garden and can the harvest. They went to quilting class with me and were always around when I was working on a quilt at home. I mended and altered anything I could before it was tossed in the rag bag, and now I am going to be attending an advanced sewing class to learn some skills I never mastered in Home Ec.

I think the computer has been a great asset in our lives but I know it has distracted me from a lot of things that are much more productive.

I try to have art and beauty at our house. The kitchen is my favorite. I have black and cream toile curtains in there with an underlay of (what looks like) silk curtains. We are in the process of getting a black/tempered glass dining table and plan on re-padding and re-coverering the chairs in some moire fabric (red maybe). The walls are cream and we have contrasting deep burgandy wall by the butler pantry. We took down the cloud lighting (it was a huge fixture that looked just like one of those body pillows and it did look like a cloud) So we took that down (it actually was pretty nice, we put it in the laundry room). Dh put in a crystal chandalier instead, but other small crystal lights around the room. He also put in crown and dentil moulding.

We are in the process of picking out knobs and handles for the drawers and doors, and I think we settled on one - it is just simple plain matte black knobs with a raised design, very simple. However, for the island I picked out something completely different - they are matte silver handles that have a 's' curve and remind you of branches without completely looking like twigs. I saw on HGTV that the 'new' thing' is to have your island look completely different than the other cabinets in the kitchen, so that's what I chose since the woodwork is the same and the granite is the same.

I take my ds's art and when I stumble across something he's made that I especially like, outside of the ones on the fridge of course, I frame it and hang it above his nature table. Oh yes, the nature table. He has a small table and chairs in there that we re-painted with burgandy legs and a forest green top. He puts all his nature treasures there - pinecones, beautiful stones, beach glass, etc. He presses flowers so his flower press is there too.

Above his nature table I have a changing picture - 3 D. The frame never changes, but I took out the glass, took some heavy cream stock paper and last year framed a beautiful leaf that we found and pressed. Ds is a leaf lover like I am. So we have a collection. Then this spring I took out the leaf, and glued a mini bird nest (not real) onto the stock and painted three tiny bird eggs (faux) and put them in the next. It is a nice 3D picture that changes with the season.

The next undertaking is our pantry. It is large, so I bargained with dh - I wanted the new floor we put in to go there also, he thought it would be too hard to do in there. So I bargained for a round oriental rug and a wrought iron chandalier (with dimmer!) to go in there and he agreed. We are going to pick out those press and stick tiles and put them on the *shelves* - My mil taught me that one - put the cut ones inthe back and the whole tiles in the front - you can make it look completely different - it's not that expensive - plus the cans just slide on the shelves and not scrape the painted shelves. Oh yeah, dh is also going to paint it and do the ceiling in a 'sky' type pattern. My original thought is that I wanted it to look monastery - yes monastery like - so we might put up wrought iron grills on the door that leads to the pantry. That's the latest project!

Sorry this is so long, I guess I answered the question - there is lots of art at our house!!

I love all these ideas! Stormy- please post some pics of your pantry when it is all set up. Where could I get a reproduction mixer stand? I also have a kitchenaide (love that thing).

In my house, I hang a different print of a famous painting on the fridge every week (mostly pages of calendars I have saved). The kids like looking at those. We also play a lot of different kinds of music- everything from Ralph's World to Bach.

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

I continue to try to define the term "simple," and I notice that there are many definitions among those of us on this board. I recently read that one woman said her friend was simplifying by cooking from scratch, grinding her own flour -- in a sense going back in time! The writer thought this was making her friend's life more complicated. However, I have read many books on the spiritualism of simplifying life by finding beauty and realizing the art in everyday tasks. I think there is something true in this idea . . . . Canning, decorating, baking, crafts, etc., can be artful if we have the correct attitude. There is a sense of fulfillment in learning a craft and producing something of worth. Honestly, a lot of people laugh at Martha Stewart, but I think she understands the beauty that can be in everyday tasks. Now, I can still pop in a frozen lasagna for dinner with the best of them, and I will never make a layer cake when a sheet cake will do, so don't get a picture of me with an apron on puttering around the kitchen! However, I do try to appreciate the process of the things I do.

I think these are the things that show my appreciation of art and beauty in our house:

I have old blue canning jars in my dining room -- for some reason, those jars with various collections in them -- are artful. We have a bookshelf that my DH's dad made in our livingroom. I scrapbook (which is really a family journal). We have wooden sailor boxes, and spice boxes as decorations -- objects that were useful at some time in their lives. We also have TONS of books. I feel that I should purge the books because they take up space, but I just can't . . . . We also have several instruments in our house -- a piano, a guitar, recorders, a trumpet, and a trombone. I appreciate baking bread and hanging laundry out.

Marlene

This is an area that I need to work on. My house, that we've just moved in, is very plain and very cluttered. My mother was never really into this sort of thing and I'm at a loss of where to begin!

Beautifully said.

As far as ways to get started, I would say concentrate on things that you love- there are items in your house that you just love for whatever reason. For example, you might love and display a beautiful ceramic bowl that you bought on a great trip to Mexico in your kitchen/dining room, but all that cluttery tupperware type stuff- you don't love that and it can go. Make space to show off the things you love. Clearing out clutter really gives you room to do that.

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

I think we have alot of art and beauty in our house. Back before I was a SAHM I was an Interior Designer and in college I had a minor in Art History. This instilled a great love of art in me and I don't think I could live in a space without it. It is amazing that my house looks better than it has ever looked since I quit working. I guess it is all that time spent on other peoples homes and projects and now I have time just for my own!! Does anybody else shop at TJ Maxx, Homegoods and Marshalls for everything? They have some of the best art and home decor on a budget. I totally agree with jnbythesea, you have to begin with what you love. I happen to love color, so I usually begin with a fabric or a color I love and go from there. My husbands den is a pumkin color and everyone thought I was crazy, but it looks great and he loves it. My daughters bedroom is Robins Egg Blue with butterflies on her bedding etc. and it is very girly without the flat out pink most people do. The rest of my house is all earth tones like greens, reds and taupes and I think it all has a very warm welcoming feeling. I have also simplified the clutter since I have been home with my daughter and that makes a world of difference. Stormy your pantry sounds amazing! You have to post some pics!!!

just wondering- does anyone have a favorite source for art prints?

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I don't believe in miracles; I depend on them

Wow..I should pull out my old set of acrylics and see if they are still good! I haven't painted in probably 2 years!!

There are several place online that sell art prints and they aren't too expensive. I would do a google search...you can find just about anything.