No Place Like Home

KAREN WIGHT

Nothing personalizes your house more than incorporating elements of

your family’s interests into your home design.

I’m not talking exclusively about refrigerator artwork. I think a

house becomes a home when it is decorated with memories from photos,

artwork, announcements and accumulated treasures.

Every family has different talents and memorabilia that reflect its

interests. Whether it is sailing, cycling, swimming or skiing, we all

accumulate things that mirror our personalities.

Before you envision my home as a gallery to the kids’ artwork,

remember that I’m talking about selected treasures. Too much of a good

thing is too much.

Or, as Mary Poppins said, “Enough is as good as a feast.” Adding

family o7 objets d’artf7 is an art in itself and I have a few tips to

share with you.

Refrigerator artwork doesn’t exist in our house, not because I don’t

like it but because I have a fussy fridge with cabinet panels instead of

metal. I spread a smattering of juvenile primitives in other places.

Kids love to admire their own work, talk about when and how it was

created -- the teacher, the friends, the occasion. Rarely does a child’s

description go untold without a smile and a lengthy narrative.

The kids’ rooms display the bulk of their talents. If the drawing or

painting makes their heart sing, we treat it as if it were a Picasso. It

is framed, matted and hung in a place of honor. This gives the subject

credibility and fits into the look of the house.

Using a designated space in a child’s bedroom, such as a large

bulletin board, is a great way to give the kids contained space to show

off their latest accomplishments. Swimming ribbons, beach photos, “cool”

stickers, and birthday party invitations are great items to creatively

display.

In our house, the kitchen table also gets plenty of three-dimensional

items. Papier-mache pumpkins, egg-carton caterpillars, ceramic vases and

pinch pots, and handmade candles -- they all take their turn on the table

along with the flowers from the garden.

The front door is a prime candidate.

The best of the best items get laminated and used as door and holiday

decorations. We have hearts, Easter eggs, Christmas trees and Happy

Birthday drawings that take their turns at center stage.

Laminated artwork also is used for place mats and miniature versions

are turned into note cards, journals and mouse pads.

Don’t laugh.

A trip to Photo Express can take care of a long list of presents “from

the heart” for grandparents to go crazy over.

Extra photos and drawings can be made into postcards (back to Photo

Express) and used for thank you notes, tucked into a suitcase to

encourage correspondence with the parental units (put the stamps on

before they leave) or just to drop a note to family and friends.

And it’s a great excuse to keep the kids writing over these lazy

summer months.

Let your mini-masters give you a head start on your Christmas cards by

letting them do a drawing for the card. Ask your kids to draw a picture

of the family. This is an interesting project. Don’t give them direction;

let them draw their own view of the family dynamics. This is a great

picture to incorporate into scrapbooks.

I love to see how the kids view themselves in the pictures, and I

particularly love that they give me long, skinny legs in the drawings

(this usually ensures another year of free room and board). I haven’t

asked the high schooler to do this lately -- I’m afraid of what she might

come up with.

Personality is what makes a house a home, and there is no better way

to add that than by using your repertoire of young artists to create

personal treasures.