I’m getting new pictures for my dining area. I don’t want to go with wine bottles or food because it seems like everybody does that. The problem is, I’m drawing a blank as to what sort of theme I should go with.
Anybody out there with some more unique ideas?
Thanks.
In the past, I’ve found art.com very helpful in terms of getting inspired to decorate; they’ve got a huge range of styles and periods that you can just browse. They also have a “kitchen art” collection - while a lot of it is food and wine, there are some pretty cool pieces too.
You could go Cracker Barrel with a bunch of restored antiques on the wall.
Sailboats.
Dogs.
Edward Gorey prints.
Do you have any hobbies/interests that could be applied? For example, I really like tea and my kitchen has some tea-related posters (and a tea-set ceiling light).
Instead of pictures, what about using items as wall paper? Like old movie posters or Old West “Wanted” posters. (You could have some Wanted posters made up with pictures of you and/or family members.) If you’re into stamp collecting you could make giant stamps and plaster them on the wall.
How about painting scenes on the wall? This could be anywhere from a few lines that suggest the Eiffel Tower (yeah, cliche, I know) to a full-blown mural.
If you want to stick to pictures/paintings how about some prints from Tier B painting masters like John Singer Sargent, Edward Hopper, or illustrator Joseph Leyendecker.
What style is your house and what colors are in the dining room?
I’ve always liked groupings of architectural elements. Many are available and if you’re doing ones that are older like the Flatiron Building in NYC or the Golden Gate Bridge it might be nice to keep them in B&W. There’s old marble Corinthian columns, Roman arches, aquaducts, a stone staircase, a worn and winding balustrade, etc.
I’ve always thought a print of Van Gogh’s Interior of a Restaurant would look brilliant in a dining room.
How about ‘before’ pictures of food?
Cattle, pigs, wheat, fish?
Hey! I actually thought of that. But then I worried that guest might find it a little macabre as they’re munching down their Ribeye while Essie the cow stares back at them. 
Thanks for the input so far guys.
Well, I inherited a very nice drawing of Prometheus chained to a rock, his liver being torn out by the eagle sent by Zeus, so that is what is hanging in my dining room.
What style is your house and what colors are in the dining room?
The dinning room is just four off white walls. Just a blank slate basically.
Some old black & white photos of people farming, working in fruit orchards or groves, or on a fishing vessel of some sort. A collection of old fashioned ways food was collected or harvested.
I have a 3 by 5 foot tapestry of Pomona, the Roman demigoddess or orchards and fruit trees. And two reproductions of Roman mural art: a bowl of fruit and a small bird (SQUAB!) drinking from a pool.
I’d love to get a copy of Caracci’s “The Bean Eater” for my kitchen.
Why go with a theme other than “I like that one”? What I’ve picked up for my dining room so far includes:
You can’t go wrong with Bierstadt.
The Last Supper
yeah, I do have a reservation in Hell…
Have you thought about wall murals? Some of them are great.
A whole bunch of pictures and paintings of old wizards sleeping.