Posters

You can find awesome posters in museum gift shops for $10-15.  My favorite posters say the name and dates of the exhibit – years down the line they’ll remind you of when and where you found it.  In 2004, I visited Robert Mapplethorpe’s exhibit at the Guggenheim in Berlin.  I bought a 7 Euro poster, gave it a simple black frame, and the piece has followed me from LA to San Francisco to New York and back.  Mapplethorpe’s work is edgy and controversial – always a great conversation piece! In my apartment I have posters from Berlin, Prague, London, and a few from the deYoung in San Francisco.

Tip 1: Posters are great for decorating your walls, but don’t hang them unframed.  Invest in a nice frame.  Depending on the quality and the style of the frame, pricing can run from $150 upward. I like complimenting a simple poster with an ornate frame.  Don’t be afraid to be extreme because that’s how you make your décor stand out.

Tip 2: If you move around a lot, opt out of glass frames and back the posters with styrofoam   This approach is also great if you want to hang posters above your bed.  It’s slightly less expensive and far easier to move around.