The Puffy Coat is the Fashion - Framing Vintage Posters as Art

When I purchased my 1960s posters from Hungary - which first found a home in the townhouse kitchen, and then moved to the master bedroom in the lakehouse - I intended for the poster with the girl in the tweed suit and the poster with the green hat to hang side by side.  When a weirdly high outlet threw a wrench in my plans to hang two posters side by side in the kitchen, I ended up hanging all three posters together to hide the outlet. 

 
Quite frankly, I didn't look at them all that much because normally I had my back to them while I was cooking.  When we moved to the lakehouse, I hung all three together again - almost out of habit. 

Once the posters were positioned across from the bed, I looked at them a lot more.  Every morning and every night, I contemplated the arrangement.  I no longer liked the three together because the two figural ones really competed for attention.  But two alone seemed too skimpy (I like big art, or big groupings of art).

I started casually shopping for another poster.  Then, a few months ago, I received an email from the seller from whom I bought my posters when I was in Budapest.  He was having a sale and some of his posters were marked down.  Lo and behold, a poster I had admired while I was in Budapest - but had deemed too spendy - was 50% off!  I thought it would be the perfect piece to shake things up, so I ordered it and had it shipped here - much to my Mom's chagrin (it was one of her favorites too).  When it arrived, I had to wonder why I didn't scoop it up in the first place.  What was I thinking?  The design is so cool and the colours are really vivid - plus I still love a good houndstooth.

I recently got it back from the framer - was it ever tricky trying to find the exact same frame as the others - and I'm so happy!  I am really quite besotted with the new arrangement.  Each one has a really different scale and style, but the styles seem to jive better than the previous arrangement, and the colour green unifies them all.

Here's a better look at the new addition.  It says, "The Puffy Coat is the Fashion". 

For now, please ignore the new furniture.  I've mentioned that some bedroom changes are on the horizon and I'll spill the beans soon - you know how one change sometimes has a cascading effect?  For now, here's one sneak peek at what's to come. 

One small detail I overlooked: where to hang the displaced gal with all of her parcels??? 

An Art Swaperoo Plus a "Project" From 2011

I got a little over-excited about answering a reader Q regarding our television storage and accidentally shared a little change to the living room before I meant to.  It might seem insignificant to you, but it is a huge deal for me - both aesthetically, and also because I got around to something I put off for a year.  Tackling something I've put off for that long always feels strangely gratifying and productive to me.

So what's the change?

I took down my beloved water colour from Paris - it was always too small for that wall - and finally hung up a vintage print I bought in 2011 from a mid-century shop.  Yup, you have to stick around for a year and a half to see the "after" sometimes.  Spot the difference?

 

The scale is so much better!!  The new piece isn't turquoise (gasp!) but I think it pairs well with the paintings over the sofa which have, in addition to turquoise (whew), similar pink and ochre hues.

In the end,  I just couldn't find a nice pre-made frame anywhere for this print, so I decided to have it professionally framed.  I love the print, plus it had come from the estate of the artist who must have loved it too because she kept this first edition.  I figured it was worth the splurge.  We DIY so much (even a lot of the art), that I think it looks nice to have a "real" piece of art with a great frame here and there.  

I have had a few pieces professionally framed (like my Hungarian embroidery piece) and am always surprised how much more affordable it is to go to a local shop, as opposed to a big box store (even with a 60% off coupon).  This time I went to Malen Framing, in Ottawa, and was really pleased with the fabulous customer service and also the quality and pricing.  I have never taken so long to decide on a frame, but the staff were patient and shared their experienced opinions without being pushy.  In the end, the frame I chose looks gorgeous - it's a perfect, muted, brushed gold that picks up on the warmth of the print and some of the metallic hues in the print itself. 

Malen Framing also nailed the matting; the print is on a really yellow-tinged paper and the wrong matting would have made it look smoke-stained.  But they picked one that is bright and crisp but still suits the print.

I know it's a crazy weird print, but I love it.



And don't worry about the little watercolour.

It found a new home on a blank wall in the stairwell, a perfect complement to the antique postcards and a nice pop of colour in a tiny space.

I have the hardest time moving art around, because I get so accustomed to having things where they are - plus I like my favorite pieces where I can see them most frequently - but I might need to do some art shuffling again when I'm home, because I couldn't resist buying a little print here, in Budapest. 

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