New wall art – make it make you happy

I’ve been agonizing over prints and artwork for the walls in our new cottage since we moved in. Between us, Rick and I have a lot of great photos, but we wanted to pull everything together more cohesively, and also hang some larger scale prints. One of our rooms is almost done (for a future post), but the others are still waiting to be dressed. So, when I came across this fabulous beach scene on fab, affordable art site, 20×200.com, not once, not twice, but three times in different magazines and blogs, I knew I had to have it.

I can’t even explain what it is about this print by photographer Christian Chaize that makes me happy, but every time I look at it, I get a rush of real happiness. Maybe it’s the vibrant colors, or the symmetry of the parasols, or the promise of freedom and relaxation that beach holidays always offer me. I also think it’s because it reminds me of one of my favorite hikes in Marin, down to Tennessee Valley Beach, where you get a very similar view of the sea between the rocks, although sadly, not always the gorgeous sunshine and warm temperatures!

Anyway, I loved it enough to splash out for the smallest version (really wanted the large scale, but just ooh, about ten times out of my price range), but then had a quandary. Where to hang it? After all, it didn’t really go with any of the styling that Rick and I had discussed for our prints, and I started to second guess my choice, fearing that it looked like a cheesy tourist snap I’d taken myself, rather than a wonderful slice of life and nature.

Then I gave myself a shake and reminded myself that I loved it every time I opened a magazine or read a blog and saw it shining out at me, and every time I looked at my bookmarked page with its listing on 20×200.com. And every time I looked at it nestling in its new stylish black frame. This went on for weeks, until one day I realized that something that everyone knows. If something makes you happy, then do it (if you can afford it and it’s legal!)

That print made me very happy, so it was always going to work with the decor we have. It was always going to look good, wherever it went. And it was always going to be a good reminder to appreciate the things in life that make you happy.

So, up it went, at the top of the stairs. It catches my eye every time I walk downstairs in the morning, ready to start another day, and is a hidden treasure for Rick and I to enjoy, without diverting our focus away from the planned themes in our other rooms. So, it all worked out, just as beautiful things always find their rightful place.

Enjoy the print, and take a look at hundreds more on the 20×200.com site. It’s really a genius idea, and I look forward to perusing it more in the future!

Praia Piquinia 04/08/07 16h04 by Christian Chaize, from 20x200.com