Pictures for the Home

 "We cannot associate day after day with any person or possession without being influenced."

So is the start of chapter ten in a Home Furnishing book published in 1925.

This book was rescued from our local dump last summer by Micah, who (knowing my fascination with very old books) brought it home to me.

I've since read the whole thing, cover to cover, dog-earring and highlighting thought-provoking nuggets throughout.

This chapter on pictures for the home really opened my mind and taught me a better way of understanding the importance of what we look at in our homes.

The author teaches that there are various stages of appreciation to pictures...

"First there comes recognition. We are attracted to a picture because it looks just like something we are familiar with. Many people never get beyond this stage....

"After the recognition stage comes that of human interest. Pictures are enjoyed because of the emotions they arouse, or the story they tell.

"But the highest stage of appreciation is that which seeks in pictures an enlargement of the spirit."

I love that! An enlargement of the spirit.

✨

I must admit, I've chosen pictures for my home from all three stages. But the "test" I've used when selecting pictures over the years is this, does it take me somewhere? Which probably explains why I have mostly landscapes in my home.

The author continues...

"Not object lessons, nor stories, but revelation in its true sense is the mission of art in our lives. Not to tell us something we already know, not to excite our emotions, but to show us new beauty in nature, added meaning in life, and reveal a higher plane of thought and action - this is the real function of pictures in our homes."

I'll never know if the pictures on my walls would be approved by whoever wrote this. (This book had various authors, mainly experts in the field of home interiors from that time.) But I suppose "approval" is not the point. The enrichment of one's life is the point.

Of course a topic such as this is subjective, as you know. And each homemaker must make her own decisions based on her own taste.

But I enjoyed comparing my pictures to this standard and you are welcome to the exercise yourself, if you wish..

Go around your house and ask yourself if your pictures elevate your thinking to something higher and richer... Or you're welcome to adopt my test, does it take you somewhere?

I found the exercise sharpened my taste and caused me to look deeper into the picture itself.

Also, I didn't realize until I read this chapter, why I've felt it important to search out beautiful illustrations from storybooks for my children.

Maybe I couldn't put it into words, but somewhere, deep down, I realized that beautiful illustrations would elevate their thinking.

Beautiful imagery can help children think good thoughts.

"The best rule for selecting a picture... As you look at it does it suggest something new - really set you thinking, or do your eyes rub comfortably over it without any result? If a picture really enlarges your life, it is worthy of a place in your home."

Haven't you found that to be true? How often I have gotten lost in a picture, imagining what's beyond the frame, or what I would be doing if I were there.

The final line concluding the chapter is this, "Pictures that are above our present level of appreciation are the best choice because they help us rise to a higher level of taste and do not grow tiresome."

I hope I have given you something to think about, as this chapter on pictures has given me.

May we realize the power of pictures in the home. Not just to fill up a space, as spaces are important, or to chase a trend, as trend-chasing can become burdensome, but to elevate our thinking and enlarge our spirits.

Thanks for reading, friends.

💐

~ Courtney