What do you display on the walls of your
home — photos, posters, artwork, nothing? How do you choose what to display?
What mood are you trying to create?
Displayed on
the walls of my current home are:
1. Artwork
and/or photographs from places I’ve visited or lived-This includes batiks from
Bali that my husband and I picked out when we were dating, and I had framed for
my wedding gift to him. The photographs are underwater and island shots from
planes we dove on, sea life we regularly swam with, and the dock we launched
from on our adventures in the Pacific taken by a talented photographer who also
lived there at the same time as us.
2. Artwork
and paintings by family members-Both my boys participated in “Original Artwork”
fundraisers for school throughout elementary school. I ordered a matted 8 X 10
print of each piece of artwork they made and have them hung in their rooms and
bonus room areas. In addition, I am lucky enough to have a very talented
mother-in-law who has not only gifted her son with a fabulous painting or two
over the years, but has also granted my requests for paintings of my new
hometown mountain, “Ms. Rainier.” J
3. Family
Photographs-Many of these are not hanging on the wall, but displayed in
stand-up frames on shelves, but I do have a large frame of wedding party photos
in our bedroom.
4. Poster
prints given to me and chosen by my husband from before we even knew each
other-We have a couple of framed poster prints that made the cut. Mine was
given to me by a friend as a housewarming gift at my first apartment in
college, and the other was one of my husband’s prints from before he moved to
the islands.
5. My
grandmother’s roster plate-This is an antique plate, hanging above my pantry in
the kitchen. It has hung in every place I’ve lived since my first apartment,
including my homes in Kwajalein.
6. Shelves
with handmade pottery and wood carvings from our time in the islands-I have
deep shelves to display the pottery I made when taking classes on the island as
well as an awesome story plate made by the illustrator of our children’s book,
“Have It,” which was given to me as a wedding gift. I also have woodcarvings of
underwater creatures from Pohnpei, an island near Kwajalein where residents
often travel for weekend getaways.
7. Coat rack
with hats and Marshallese handicrafts given to me by students and friends-When
I was first arrived in the Marshall Islands, I taught at the college there, and
at the end of each semester, the students shower you with thank you gifts
(mostly shell jewelry and other handicrafts). Over the years, I also taught
English classes for the teachers at the public schools on the island of Ebeye
and organized 4-H clubs and events for the students from the base and the
islands. At the end of each of these classes or club years, the Marshallese
students, teachers, and organizers ALWAYS expressed their thanks in songs,
food, and gifts. It’s such a precious reminder to me of what I consider my most
purposeful work there, and I ended up with so many handicrafts that I had to
get a large hanging coat rack to display them all.
As far as my
reasons for hanging what I do and the mood I’m trying to create, well, I hang
and display those things that have meaning to me, that represent a part of my
life and our lives together. I’ve never
really thought about what mood I’m trying to create, but I guess it would be
one of home…or at least what home is to me…my first home out on my own (the
college apartment), my home in the island (which encompasses the largest amount
of my displays), my home in WA (in the paintings from my mother-in-law of Mt.
Rainier), my “on vacation” home (in Bali at a Yoga retreat-I would go there
every year if I could), and my children, husband, and extended family (my
heart’s home).
What about
you? What’s on your walls and why?
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