Decorative Items from "A" to "Z"

You are already aware that artwork-drawings, paintings, and sculptures-can personalize your home. However, you don't need to limit yourself to these "conventional" forms of art when you decorate. If you broaden your definition of art, you will discover the untapped decorative potential in ordinary objects. Whether you've been living with bare walls and shelves for too long or you'd just like to add an unexpected twist to your existing décor, the list below will help you to jump start your imagination and think creatively about decorating your home. Remember that almost any two-dimensional object can be hung on the wall - with or without a frame!

As you read the list, you may wonder, "Napkins? Branches?" How am I supposed to decorate with this stuff?" The key is to think in terms of grouping or displaying items for the greatest visual impact. A collection of nine framed Provencal cloth napkins arranged in a grid would create a cheerful backdrop for a breakfast nook. The delicate twists of a Manzanita branch would be eye-catching against a dark wall above the bed in a contemporary bedroom. Your home should be a reflection of you-your unique soul, values, passions, experiences, and sense of humor. Remember to trust yourself; if you think it looks good, it does.

Decorative Items from A to Z

Consider these items when you are exploring ways to decorate your walls, shelves, tabletops, and mantels:

A-Advertisements, Aprons (vintage)

B-Blueprints, Board games, Baby clothes, Bandanas, Batik fabrics, Ballet slippers, Buttons (mounted in rows), Buckets, Baskets, Branches, Birdhouses, Birdcages, Birdbaths, Bottles, Banners, Books (stacked up or propped open to a favorite page), Bowling pins, Bells

C-Chalkboards, Canvases (painted a single color), Calendar images, Collages, CD Covers, Ceramic tiles, Curtains (not just for windows!), Candles, Coins, Clocks, Children's blocks, Charts, Comic books, Chopsticks (gathered in a vase), Calligraphy pieces

D-Driftwood pieces, Doilies, Dish towels, Diplomas, Dictionary Definitions (enlarged), Doorknobs (displayed in a row as coat hooks or towel hooks), Dolls

E-Empty frames (layered on a shelf or mantel), Evening bags, Embroidered fabrics

F-Fans (wooden, paper, or silk), Flowers (fresh, dried, pressed, or silk), Fabrics (framed or stretched over store bought canvases), Footprints (in a baby's room), French memo boards, Flags, Finger paintings, Fruits (whole fresh or dried), Fiddles, Fossils, Folding screens, Flowerpots, Finials

G-Garden tools, Gold leaf papers, Greeting cards, Garden gates & statues, Garlands of Garlic or chili peppers, Guitars, Geodes, Gloves, Globes, Glass blocks

H-Hats, Handkerchiefs, Handprints, Horticultural charts

I-Ice skates, Illustrations cut from books (A favorite picture book can provide enough pictures to decorate a child's room-be sure to buy a second copy!)

J-Jewelry

K-Kites, Keys, Kids' artwork, Kimonos

L-Leaves (fresh, pressed, or photocopied), Lyrics, Ladders, Lanterns, Lavender bundles, License plates, Love Letters, Looms

M-Mirrors, Marionettes, Magazine covers, Mantels, Maps, Masks, Menus, Mobiles, Musical instruments, Model airplanes, Marbled papers

N-News articles, Nests, Numbers (salvaged wood or metal), Napkins, Names (spelled out with individual letters or children's blocks), Negatives, Neckties, Needlepoint pieces

O-Origami papers

P-Plates, Purses, Photographs, Poems, Postcards, Posters, Postage stamps, Paper dolls, Programs, Passports, Picket fences, Placemats, Pinecones, Pinwheels, Pennants, Pins, Puppets

Q-Quilts, Quilt squares (framed)

R-Rugs, Record album covers, Roller skates, Recipes, Religious symbols

S-Scarves (framed individually or displayed on hooks in a row), Seed packets, Saris, Sheet music, Scrolls, Shutters (not just for windows!), Stained glass, Shoes, Sconces, Silhouettes, Shells, Sports equipment, Street Signs, Stones, Surfboards, Scrapbook papers (framed individual sheets)

T-Teacups & saucers, Tablecloths, Tin lids, Trays (metal trays can be used as magnetic message boards), Ticket stubs, Toys, Twigs, Tin ceiling tiles, Typewriters, Telephones, Tricycles

U-Umbrellas

V-Vases, Valentines, Vintage fabric scraps & dish towels, Veils, Violins, Vests

W-Wallpaper samples, Windows, Wreaths, Weathervanes, Wrapping papers (framed individual sheets), Words (spelled out with individual letters or children's blocks), Windchimes, Wine labels

X-X-rays (hung in a window or pieced into a mobile in front of a light source)

Y-Yardsticks, Yarn Skeins (displayed in a basket or a wooden bowl)

Z-Zithers

When you begin experimenting with unique decorative items in your home, you will receive an added benefit: your eye will be trained to find beauty in unexpected places!