Kids like pictures of people, families - and mostly children. When I see a picture I think will inspire my kids, if I can afford it, I add it to our collection. I rarely buy a picture that doesn't communicate something.
Second to pictures of people, kids like pictures of animals - especially in families. I liked these because they affirmed the roles of father and mother.
I got this at the Goodwill for $5 because there is a scratch on it - which doesn't show up as much under natural light.
A Renoir in our dining room. When people come over, the kids often mention that the key to this picture is that no one is looking at someone looking at them. They find this fascinating, and it tells me they've been listening and picking up bits and pieces.
Millet's "The Gleaners" - http://www.usc.edu/programs/cst/deadfiles/lacasis/ansc100/library/images/110.html - which has spiritual connotations to talk about with older kids.
I think this is called "Who Do You Love?"
"Baby in Red Chair" - from Williamsburg. We've had ours a long time and it is a little faded.
"The First Thanksgiving" hangs over our kitchen table.
This is a Noah's Ark scissor cutting hung at kid level - can you tell I'm looking down?
Durer's "Rabbit" - again, at child level
I found this at a flea market 20 years ago.
A Noah's Ark picture - which the kids laugh about because the ark is in the water before the animals board. Makes them feel smart to know better :) The collection is their silver baby cups - which obviously need some serious polishing. And a couple appear to be missing. Precious Moments is not my usual thing, but the boy on the tractor is holding a letter which say "Dear Jon - I will never leave you - Jesus" and I got it when Jonny was a baby in and out of the hospital.
I try to put up as many pictures as I can of people reading. This is at kid level.
Norman Rockwell is a natural for families. I love the look on the soldiers' faces of respectful curiosity.
This is no Architectural Digest shot for sure - what with all the switches and stuff - plus the mess of keys hung high so the kids can't reach them. I just included it to show how I hang art at both levels in some places,
This is the picture at kid-level - the last one the kids see before they go out the back door.
This is a Mary Engelbreit card in a Target frame.
Norman Rockwell over my dryer. Sigh.
This is a cool poster from California I framed. In California there is a Mission Trail which the Spanish priests forged northwards, building missions along the way. Many of these missions - all named for saints - became cities, like San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Jose, San Francisco. These are iconic pictures of each of the saints for whom the missions are named.
I love this. It Rembrandt's "Prodigal" and Henri Nouwen wrote a wonderful book on the spiritual meaning behind the parable based on his meditation on the original oil painting in Russia. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385473079/smallbeginnings
Art with kid-appeal at their level.
The top is a photo from a magazine, the next two cards I framed.
Obviously kid-friendly. These are on the stairway down to the playroom. I got them at Ross.
Found a pair of Charles Russel oil reproductions at a garage sale and knew my boys would love them.
The other Charles Russell.
Dancing bears on the fireplace - for whimsy.
This is a laminated poster I got from AllPosters -http://www.allposters.com/-st/Fine-Art-Posters_c1013_.htm - which does a very good job at laminating - much better quality than Kinko's.
Winslow Homer - "Breezin' Up" - pictures offer not only visual enrichment, but language enrichment when you ask your child questions that stimulate thought. This is hung at kid level.
George Washington. Kids need heroes. And they need heroes who depend on God.
This is one of the few pictures I have which is probably pretty uniteresting to the kids. Notice the monkey lamp, the table with ornate legs at kid eye-level. I think it's so important when we decorate that we try to include making our children happy with the environment too. I use the book holder to intrigue the kids with open art books.
This is a corner where I keep art books for the kids to browse.
These have been collected over the years - mostly from garage and library sales.
Winslow Homer again - "Snap the Whip" - see the boy-appeal?
On our coffee table (yes, it's glass - with a rim around it) I keep a few art books and kids books.
Winslow Homer's paintings have lots of boy appeal. You can find lots of classical prints at http://www.allposters.com/-st/Fine-Art-Posters_c1013_.htm.
The line-up. Samantha, Jasmine, Joshua, Matt, Ben, Zach, Sophia, jonny, Maddy, Jesse, Daniel, Justin. I once decided to redecorate - the top of our piano has looked like this for years with just the pictures changing - and the kids were very upset. It's important to them. It was so cute when they were all little :)
A picture of a child reading next to the chair where Tripp reads to the kids.
A kid's eye view up the stairs
A kid's eye view at the top of the stairs
This is a nativity set I bought at Costco for 125. a couple years ago - big splurge. I keep it out all year on this ledge above our front door. For this picture I knelt on the landing and shot the picture between the rails for a kid's eye view.
These were McDonald's freebies I simply could not resist - miniature Madame Alexander dolls. Plus some cheap ring box knock-offs. I guess there's still a little kid in me too :)
Kid's level
This is a very small print - nice to have Scripture around too.
Audubon pelican.
Bought this on Ebay when I used to buy stuff there. Now I only sell :)
These pictures are between Sophia's and Maddy's rooms - to inspire their relationship.
Daniel in the Lion's Den. An amazing picture I found in the rubble of an estate sale in San Francisco in 1975.
I love pictures of Madonna and Child.
A 20's landscape from the same estate sale. Probably not of much interest to the kids - but I like the colors.
Don't forget a wall of your family heritage - to the left are pictures of grandmothers and grandfathers. On the right are my high school and Tripp's Coast Guard pics - plus our wedding and pictures of us with Samantha and Jasmine, who I brought into our marriage.
