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    249 photos of the vintage art and wall decor in readers’ homes

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    Uploader now closed. Thanks for playing, everyone, this was a good one! Is there anything more gratifying than finding just the right art and wall decorations that bring the rooms in our midcentury and vintage homes to life? Last weekend, Michael uploaded this photo of 27 felt pennants from the 1950s-1960s that he purchased for $10. “I think I’ve just started a new collection,” he said. “They’re perfect for those vast expanses of paneled walls in the basement rec-room.” Yup: Perfect! In this weekend’s community photo share, let’s see the wonderful and unusual items you have found for your homes. Click on through to see all 249 photos of readers’ wall decor uploaded — there are some great ones!

    Upload photos of your favorite wall decor, below… Tips:

    • If you can figure out the settings, please set your camera to no bigger than “medium” images, so files aren’t too large — large files really slow down the slide show. 
    • (2) Uploader DOES work but message you get on screen *may be* funky and confusing. Upload ONCE and trust the image it there — I just need to “set new photos free” from my control panel and will be checking throughout the weekend to do so. 
    • (3) Terms of Use apply.
    • (4) If you wanna continue to work on improving your photo skills, check out Kate’s tips on taking great room shots.

    Tips to view slide show: Click on first image… it will enlarge and you can also read my captions… move forward or back via arrows below the photo… you can start or stop at any image:

    Be-Safe-graphic2.3

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    Comments

    1. I love all those vintage paintings, too. They are so evocative of an earlier time. I was listening to a broadcast on the Florida Highwaymen artists, who painted “Old Florida” in the 50s and 60s, and sold them on door to door. I have been trying to score one or two of them. The broadcast said that Florida no longer exists. Well, it does, just not in the bigger cities or beach towns. Christa’s hall bath picture is very like their style, really caught my eye.

      Reply

      • Anne from NYC has a flamingo painting that looks like a Highwayman one. I missed that one earlier somehow. They are getting really hard to find at thrifty prices, up in the upper triple digits, four digits.

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        • I have that exact Flamingo print hanging in my guest bedroom. I bought it over ten years ago at the Detroit Modernism show and probably paid $125 (from what I can remember). I had to have it, though. LOL. I’ve seen it in movies – one in particular was a scene in a Florida hotel room in the movie The Right Stuff (Ed Harris scene).

          Reply

        • Actually, it’s a Turner print made by the Turner Manufacturing Co. in the 50s. They were actually a mirror company but they commissioned artists to do original work. You’ve probably seen their mirrors with the flamingos painted on one of the sides. The frame of my print is made of segmented mirror. They come up fairly often on Ebay and the going rate is usually $200+. AnneK from NYC

          Reply

    2. That flamingo painting is the BEST! What I wouldn’t give to have that hanging in my bedroom – or living room.

      My bedroom wall decor consists of posters/prints from All Posters dot com – of Natalie Wood, Audrey Hepburn, a Lolita movie poster and a Mary Tyler Moore pic. I did find a wonderful little harlequin at a yard sale earlier this season.

      Reply

    3. Love these all!

      To the owner of the 3 cats: I think I bid against your DS on eBay, if that’s where he got them. Glad they went to a good home!

      To the owner of the orange, white, and turquoise pole lamp: I have the turquoise in a stand-alone lamp that MIL gave us for Christmas.

      The Patty Hearst story is crazy! Wow.

      Reply

      • Thanks for the compliments on the bar and our mannequin. We located the bar at a thrift store for $35!! It’s good to know there are other mannequin fans out there!! She is not vintage but we try to dress her the part. Most of our friends just think we are weird, but we’re OK with that!! : )

        Reply

        • $35? Nice deal!!!! I just uploaded a pic of our living-room-in-progress that shows our two headless white mannequins. Our home needs a lot of work since we just moved in but we think our headless gals gives the place a “Sleeper” vibe (as in the Woody Allen movie)

          Reply

        • I would LOVE to see a close up of the Belart art piece you have on the wall behind the bar. It is FABULOUS! Where ever did you find it??

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          • I got the Belart piece from a lady who was a yard sale fanatic. I had watched her house and pool (don’t ever do that for anyone!!), while she was on vacation a couple of summers. She didn’t like mid century at all, so would buy stuff that she thought I would like and pass the savings on to me. I ended up with a number of cool items and she save millions on house and pool supervision.

            Reply

    5. DeDe – what a riot about your nephew asking what movie that pic was from! I suppose you shared the story with him?

      Reply

      • I had to pull his leg so I told him the movie was called, “Patty Hearst”. He loves 80’s movies, plus he thought the “star” was hot, so he rented it. After he watched the flick, he called to inform me, “that sh*t really happened!”. I told him I had no idea ; )

        Reply

    6. I always thought it was a travesty that Patty Hearst was convicted. But we didn’t know about the Stockholm syndrome then.

      Reply

      • I wiki’d that – because it struck me that we did know about it then. It just wasn’t applied to her situation.

        From wiki:
        Patty Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974. After two months in captivity, she actively took part in a robbery they were orchestrating. Her unsuccessful legal defense claimed that she suffered from Stockholm Syndrome and was coerced into aiding the SLA. She was convicted and imprisoned for her actions in the robbery, though her sentence was commuted in February 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, and she received a Presidential pardon from President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001 (among his last official acts before leaving office).

        Stockholm syndrome was coined in 1973 – so must’ve been too new a concept for the courts to believe/recognize.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome

        Reply

    7. Anne’s mirrored Turner flamingoes made me smile. My great grandmother had the same pic over the couch in her wonderful living room (which is my decoration inspiration) 🙂

      Reply

    13. I just LOVE the way Betty Crafter put the Enid Collins box bags on her wall!!! Betty-if you see this, HOW DID YOU PUT THEM UP???? Fabulous idea and wonderful collection!

      Reply

    14. I love these kind of photo safari challenges! I did not post, because we don’t have much vintage stuff on our walls, save some chalkware fish in our bathroom, but then my good lady Carol came home with a 1963 Lux atomic starburst wall clock. I also love that Pam saw something someone posted and had them write a post about the Kroler room decorating guide.

      Reply

    15. I feel really inspired now after this. I recently edited down the stuff on my walls and guess what – it’s all going back up!!!

      Reply

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