A brand new home (or at least one new to you) can seem awfully big and bare when you first walk in. If your are upgrading into a bigger house you probably don't have enough pictures and portraits to fill all of your freshly painted wall space. Tapestries can be the perfect way to turn a new house into a home - on the double!

Most people are familiar with the use of family pictures and framed prints to break up the monotony of blank walls. Framing can become expensive however, and for a comparable price you can usually get a wall hanging twice the size and with four times the depth of the average painting. This alone makes tapestries well worth the money.

Tapestries have a richness of color and texture you don't get from a flat glossy print reproduction or a framed photo. Textiles in general are more inviting a medium than most others. You can not only see the color and the pattern, you can feel the design in the warp and weft of the weave. The heavy richness of tapestries allows for a deeper connection to the room as a whole and adds a beautiful touch to any home.

Tapestries as Focal Points

A well laid out room will have a focal point where the eye is irresistibly drawn, and which ties the entire room décor together. Tapestries are perfect for focal points as they often generate a feeling of motion and contained energy that can add punch to otherwise plain surroundings. You can choose from knights doing battle, a dragon breathing fire, a river running through a forest or a butterfly landing on a branch.

If you opt for a medieval tapestry you can accent with heavier baroque style furniture. The lighter pastels of many Renaissance pieces complement a French look, and carefully feathered Asian lines can bring an air of the exotic into an austere room. The bold colors and geometric patterns of many ethnic pieces can set off black furniture and glass coffee tables.

Once you have chosen the tapestry, you can consider your paint color. Tapestries stand out even more when hung on an accent wall, so consider choosing two colors for your room - a main one and a secondary one. You can pull in shades of additional colors from the furniture you will be using and coordinate floor coverings and window treatments as well for a well rounded, balanced effect.

Why Tapestries Are so Desirable

Tapestries have several advantages over prints of comparable shape and size. They require minimal care, offer a more tactile experience, add warmth and depth to a room, and can't get knocked down or broken. In certain parts of the country this is a definite plus, as earthquakes can wreak havoc among the family portrait collection. Older houses with shaky walls are also a risk for pictures falling off every time a door slams.

The expense of a tapestry includes the tapestry cost itself, plus a hanging drapery rod with brackets to hold it. Some people prefer to frame or shadow box small tapestries to protect them. This is in contrast to having to mat and frame prints, portraits or paintings, with wood frames becoming more expensive by the year.

Tapestry Care

Maintenance is easy - a thorough brushing once a week or month to remove excess dust, and you are generally good to go. Check it regularly for signs of any type of moth damage and attempt to avoid having bright sunlight directed at it to minimize fading. Check the brackets as well to ensure they are holding up to the weight, especially if the tapestry is large. Most larger tapestries should have a rod as big as half an inch around, to provide adequate support and prevent sag in the middle.

Tapestries are also a great way to introduce the masters into your home. The texture of the weaving actually seems closer to the actual depth of the original painting than a slick print could ever have come. Tapestries add life, warmth and movement to houses and yield a sense of comfort and belonging.

If you are really getting to decorate a whole room from scratch, a tapestry couldn't be a better choice as a focal point. Start simple; add furniture and color around it, then watch it all start to click into place. You can build an entire room around a wall hanging, and later that tapestry can be handed down to your children and grandchildren to grace their own walls in their happy homes.

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