What's your sign?

I feel like hanging artwork is always the hardest part of decorating a space.  We are loving the fresh white walls but decorating them has come to a stand still.  Mostly because frames and prints are expensive but also because there is a bit of pressure that comes with hanging a piece of artwork. 

With the walls being white, anything you hang stands out much more and almost becomes gallery-like.  Your eye is drawn almost instantly to whats on the wall.  We keep trying to tell ourselves; experiment and experiment often!  

This blank wall in our living room has been dying for something to break up the boring.  I was feeling gutsy and decided on hanging a large piece to fill, and warm, the space.

Every day during my morning commute I have to cut through a rather gritty section of town.  In this neighborhood all that remains are a few mom and pop shops and a corner store that seems to specialize in cigarettes and "malt liquor."  This particular corner store caught my eye because the building is covered in spectacular vintage advertising.  Large, rusty, signs sporting coke or your favorite 40oz, can be seen as you drive by. 


One day the building sat naked and all the signs were sitting in a huge pile in the parking lot.  I quickly pulled in and asked the gentlemen if they were throwing the signs in the garbage.  They were shocked that someone actually wanted them!  Although the signs were mostly trashed, I was able to salvage two of them.  


These signs have been sitting in my parents garage for a year or two because we had no where to hang them.  Thanks Mom!  Since we now have our own garage, it sits ready to be put to use.

It's pretty rusty but there is something very cool about it.  I could see it being better suited in a big industrial style loft in NYC but we are going to give it a try in our beachy bungalow for the time being.

The wood supports, along the back edges, had long been rotted out so I removed them completely.  The sign is made of a very solid but light aluminum, so it wasn't necessary to add my own supports.  I curled the top edge slightly so it could grab onto a nail better when hanging.  After a good hose down she's ready to go inside!

We positioned a pair of our flea market theatre seats below the sign to balance things out.  Alyssa stepped in with the decorators touch (you may remember the wicker basket (now side table) from this post), to add some life and color to combat some of the coldness.

Finished result- a bold sign and inviting seats to greet you at the front door.