Memories on the Wall

We've lived in this house for almost two years now (two years!!), and until a couple weeks ago had little on our walls aside from some framed scrapbook paper in our kitchen and our entryway. Lovely little touches - really - but totally impersonal.

 So we finally got a notion to hang all the frames that had been laying on our living room/library floor. And our desk space went from plain to a little prettier in about an hour.

Most of the frames still hold their stock photos, but I think I'm going to take my time filling them. I have a friend whose walls show off family memorabilia and street art bought on their many trips. And I like that idea.

We've started on that a bit already. The three main pieces hanging over the desk came from our trip to Italy last fall. These two prints were found on a piazza in Rome.

But so far my favorite is the little oil painting we bought in a store hugging the cliffs of the Italian coast in Sorrento.

I see this, and I'm reminded of the fishing boats lining the marina and strolling the narrow streets in the chilly November air. I remember the steaming bowl of the most delicious tomato soup I've ever tasted and I feel the the cold Mediterranean tickling my toes (because what kind of trip to the shore would it be without at least putting your feet in?).

It might take a while to finish this little gallery, but I think making walls pretty with the memories of life lived and places seen will absolutely be worth the wait.