Showing your love for someone special during Couples Appreciation Month doesn't have to include fattening foods, overpowering perfumes and expensive flowers that eventually wilt and die. There is a better option, love art. Love art comes in different forms to match the personalities of those you appreciate the most. For instance, there are heart paintings, romantic art and love prints to choose from at our gallery. Created by a variety of accomplished artists, they’d fit into a wide array of interior designs too. Let’s take contemporary interiors and pop art fans as examples. They may enjoy art by Roy Lichtenstein.

Roy Lichtenstein’s artwork often features comic book characters kissing or pining away for a loved one. His romantic yet contemporary scenes may be placed on to canvas, framed or laminated to suit your loved one’s design sensibilities. We've even heard of couples who display the comic book lovers alongside of memory boxes filled with souvenirs of their first date, engagement or wedding.

Word art also tends to be quite popular among Couples Appreciation Month celebrants.

This is especially the case with prints that include romantic poems or sayings. Artist Louise Carey has several pieces of art that fall into that category. The sayings that she uses in her artwork often talk about unending love, true happiness and friendship. They tend to have a contemporary, youthful vibe that many people adore. Those that prefer a more mature feel to their artwork may prefer prints by artist Bonnie Mohr instead. Her paintings include complete romantic poems and verses that touch on issues like fate, spiritual love, marriage, new beginnings and the joy found in sharing life’s journey with another.

Those are just a few of the art themes lovers will find among our holidays collection.

April is National Decorating Month but that’s not the only reason to shop for wall art in the days ahead. There are a lot of funky holidays scheduled to take place throughout the month and we’ve got several framed art pieces that can help you celebrate them in style. We’ve picked out five unusual observances to help you get started:  

Straw Hat Month

It’s Straw Hat Month. So why not celebrate it by decorating your home or business with paintings featuring people wearing straw hats? Famous artists Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Pierre-Auguste Renoir have created several paintings that would blend into a straw hat theme. There are also full color photos that celebrate straw hats too. They include Susie Boyer’s Working Day is Done and Walter Bibikow/Danita Delimont’s Cuba, Sancti Spiritus, Trinidad, Cuban Straw Hats.

National Kite Month

National Kite Month is another reason to redecorate in April. Try setting up a display wall featuring artist Jack Sorenson’s Flying Kite with Friends or Paul Brent’s series, Beach Kites. Brent’s series would pair perfectly with artist Katharine Gracey’s Beach Houses collection or Michael Paraskevas’ My Seven Aunts. They feature flying kites too.

International Guitar Month

International Guitar Month also falls in April. That said, you might want to hang a series of guitar themed artwork throughout the house. The list of artists whose work contains great images of guitars includes, but doesn’t end with Pablo Picasso, Tang Ling, Edouard Manet, Adam Perez and Deann Hebert. Of those five, Tang Ling’s collection includes a series of black and white photos taken at a guitar factory. In our opinion, they’d look fantastic on display in a music room.

Car Care Month

Fans of vintage motor vehicles rejoice! It’s officially Car Care Month as well. So hang up framed photos of classic cars, racing posters, race drivers and more. We’ve got more than 700 pieces of car art to choose from, including works by artists Antonio Massa, Scott Westmoreland and Keith Mallett.

National Card and Letter Writing Month

Lastly, April is prime time to pay homage to the lost art of letter writing. Yes, it’s actually National Card and Letter Writing Month. Celebrate it with movie posters like Letters to Juliet or contemporary prints like Wild Apple Studio’s Letters Series. Other artists who’ve creating pictures featuring letters are Deam Millman, Albert Ludovici, Cristin Atria and Alma Lee.

If you have any questions about purchasing artwork that fits right in with these and any number of April’s funky holidays, please contact us!

Properly aligning framed art on the walls of your home may seem a daunting task. Should the pictures line up according to the top or bottom edge? Or the middle? Or should they be hung salon style with the entire wall covered by art? The answers to these questions vary greatly depending on personal preference, room aesthetics, and the size of the art. Use these easy to follow decorating tips to achieve the best look for your space:

Aligning Art by the Top or Bottom Edges

For many folks, aligning art by either the top of bottom edges of the frame is the simplest and easiest method. The sizes of the pieces do not need to be the same and it's easy to interchange one piece for another at a later date.

Best place to use: Align art by the top edges when displaying art beneath a shelf or row of upper windows. Align art by the bottom edges for display just above a large piece of furniture such as a sofa or sideboard.

Aligning Art by the Middle Point

Aligning art by the middle point of the picture is a more complicated approach. However, it is the one most frequently used in museums and galleries. An exact method of measurement can be performed to achieve expert results, or many at-home decorators just "eyeball" it.

Best place to use: Align art by the middle point for display in long hallways or great ballrooms with little furniture.

Salon Style Art Wall

A large mass of art displayed on one wall space is considered the "salon style." Overall, the shape of the group may form a square or rectangle, but this shape is not absolutely necessary. The key to perfecting the salon style is making sure the frames complement each other nicely. Placing an ultra modern industrial style frame next to a French scroll work piece may seem out of place.

Best place to use: Align art in a salon style when the sizes of the art vary widely or are generally small. Use in the main gathering room where a large open wall space exists.

Align Art in a Vertical Orientation

Aligning art in a vertical orientation is the most uncommon of all display methods. However, this style can work well in small spaces. Generally, the width of each piece should be the same or nearly the same for the best look.

Which of the above decorating and aligning tips will you use next?

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