# what sorts of things do mature adults hang on their walls? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152 "2015-05-16T01:24:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/41 "2015-05-16T13:04:39Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Also, ask a female friend for advice. Make it a date, she"ll love it. “Would you like to come up and advise me on my etchings?” ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/42 "2015-05-16T13:23:26Z")
I tend to pick up “stuff to hang on walls” when I travel, as it is a lightweight souvenir. Then, I put the stuff in frames from Ikea. My walls are mostly folk art, street art, prints, batiks and embroidery from various places. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/43 "2015-05-16T14:06:17Z")
I have a print of a drawing of a badger. I really like badgers. I will be 41 in a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/44 "2015-05-16T14:31:52Z")
The coolest, cheapest wall art “statement” I saw (on a design show) was very simple. The designer took a calendar with full-page photos and framed each page in a cheap black frame. Then he hung them in a 4x3 grid pattern on the wall over the couch. By the way, he was decorating a bachelor’s apartment. You can find calendars of just about anything - cars, comics, animals, landscapes, etc. so it can be personalized for your interests. They make a good conversation starter, too. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/45 "2015-05-16T14:56:05Z")
What’s your budget? My advice is to find whatever night of the month your local artists have all their open houses. They usually coordinate, and they usually congregate together. Maybe there’s some sort of fringe festival this summer. Don’t go to the Art Festival you have to pay to get into - prices are waaay too expensive at those, and the starving artists don’t tend to attend. Anyway, head to the open house/festival, find the biggest piece of art you both like and can afford, and offer the artist 40% less. If they don’t accept, ask them if they have anything similar in size and composition they’d be able to show you. There’s always something you can find that suits your tastes and personality, for your budget. Maybe you’ll even find something quarry-related. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/46 "2015-05-16T14:59:13Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > Frame them. Then they are not posters, they become art. IKEA has cheap frames for posters. Absolutely. Here is an example with my picture of [Donald Duck](http://imgur.com/RO6M7UU). Some other [pictures](http://imgur.com/F3kUrAQ) on my wall. I’ll leave it up to you to decide how mature they make me look. ---
**Author:** ![Gabbythedog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@Gabbythedog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gabbythedog)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/47 "2015-05-16T15:07:16Z")
We have a log house; we have an “outdoors” thing going inside. So we have some vintage (looking) snowshoes on our walls. They are actually wall lights, and have lampshades made of topographic maps. We also have cloth hiking boots - a relative sewed them, and they are amazing! A green Christmas wreath with non Christmasy type ornaments that relate to our outdoors theme: some small vintage looking snowshoes, a pair of hiking boots, a log house, etc…I wanted to keep our outdoors theme going to keep the house from looking cluttered and to maintain the overall uniqueness of our house. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/48 "2015-05-16T16:28:21Z")
Wall calendars, generally with pictures of pleasant scenery. Also, my husband and I are friends with an artist and we’ve bought a number of her prints. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/49 "2015-05-16T16:35:21Z")
> [@Gabbythedog](#): > > We have a log house; we have an “outdoors” thing going inside. So we have some vintage (looking) snowshoes on our walls. They are actually wall lights, and have lampshades made of topographic maps. We also have cloth hiking boots - a relative sewed them, and they are amazing! A green Christmas wreath with non Christmasy type ornaments that relate to our outdoors theme: some small vintage looking snowshoes, a pair of hiking boots, a log house, etc…I wanted to keep our outdoors theme going to keep the house from looking cluttered and to maintain the overall uniqueness of our house. We do some similar things in our cabin, but unfortunately people think that means they should give of us gifts of any rustic outdoorsy crap they run across. It should be a better known rule that you don’t give people home decorations as gifts. We don’t put them up and it takes years to get my wife to throw them away. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/50 "2015-05-16T16:42:41Z")
Dogs playing poker. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/51 "2015-05-16T17:11:10Z")
[The Last Supper in Paint-by-Number](http://www.paintbynumbersets.com/lastsupper.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gabbythedog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@Gabbythedog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gabbythedog)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/52 "2015-05-16T17:23:38Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > We do some similar things in our cabin, but unfortunately people think that means they should give of us gifts of any rustic outdoorsy crap they run across. It should be a better known rule that you don’t give people home decorations as gifts. We don’t put them up and it takes years to get my wife to throw them away. It’s true. We have relatives like that. But we’ve tried to discourage it, also if someone _does_ give us something awful, we can haul it out when they come over and after a year or two retire it to a back corner - ease it out that way. Our house is kind of eye catching to begin with; if we allow too much “stuff” in it, we have visual clutter, which detracts from the house. Of course, I am not a fan of clutter in _any_ house - tends to make it look junky imho. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/53 "2015-05-16T18:33:44Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > now I have some videogame and movie posters, but everyone makes fun of me and says they’re immature > what is acceptable instead [This](http://cl.ly/image/3C0g0i350l1z) is one of the things we have on our walls. It’s a 4K (8 MPixel) 50" monitor, which displays photographs I have taken that are stored on a server. The images change every 4 hours. My wife would like to leave them up for days at a time, but I am afraid of screen burn-in. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/54 "2015-05-16T22:35:53Z")
When I felt it was time to make my apartment look a little more grown-up, I bought some posters mounted on particle board from a shop in the mall: [Flower Piece with Parrot, by Jakob Bogdani](http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/105509/1/Flower-Piece-With-Parrot.jpg) [The Temptation of St Anthony, by Salvador Dali](http://uploads3.wikiart.org/images/salvador-dali/the-temptation-of-st-anthony.jpg) [Irises, by Van Gogh](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Van_Gogh_Irises_in_NYC_partial.JPG) I also took down my poster of a walrus masturbating from “Bizarre” magazine. (Warning: spoiler box links to a picture of a walrus masturbating.) [Walrus masturbating on a rock, Alaska](http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/walrus-masturbating-on-a-rock-alaska-high-res-stock-photography/128592906?Language=en-GB) ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/55 "2015-05-16T23:40:25Z")
I have an Amy Crehore _Monkey Love_ series print on my wall. Mine is _The Nibbler_ and my boyfriend has _The Examiner_. We purchased them together, and we love her artwork. I like her style. [http://www.amycrehore.com/page10.html](http://www.amycrehore.com/page10.html) Here is her website: > **[Amy Crehore](https://amycrehore.com/)** > > Official website of American artist Amy Crehore includes bio, paintings, drawings, illustrations, t-shirt, Amy Crehore ukulele , prints, postcards, news, cv ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/56 "2015-05-16T23:53:51Z")
Gosh, all kinds of things on my walls. A beautiful midcentury modern starburst clock, Chinese propaganda posters (framed, of course), art made by friends, art bought because I like it, Paraguayan Ñandutí, family photos, a portrait of me aged 5 years, a big hunk of home-made felt a friend made for me, some art quilts made by another friend, a gigantic charcoal drawing of pine needles made by my son for a Drawing 101 class, three guitars, a large laminated Union Pacific poster on wood of Sun Valley from the '50s, and in the master bedroom, which I recently redecorated with a Tiki theme, carved wooden tiki gods and other tiki memorabilia, and a large custom made quilt with a midcentury modern/tiki motif. I’ve got at least 3 of my girlfriend’s art pieces up and they’re some of my favorites. I like her style. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/57 "2015-05-17T00:12:25Z")
I would say that if someone asked me, “What do mature adults put on their walls,” the advice I would give is “Decorate your walls as if you have company and don’t want to offend them or be controversial.” IOW, you want your living space not to reflect who you are, but who you want people to think you are. 1. No sex pictures. No nudes, not even tasteful ones 2. No pictures of people you don’t personally know. No celebrities, no large pictures of pretty women or good looking men who aren’t friends or family. 3. Pictures of landscapes, street scenes, technical and architectural drawings, framed posters , still lifes, nature prints, and astronomical prints are okay. 4. I know some people like paintings of historical events. It’s not something I’d put up, but if it’s bland enough, it’s okay. That means no reproductions of the death of Marat. 5. Pictures of family and friends, okay. 6. Diplomas, and other professional ephemera are okay. 7. Interesting artistic or historic subjects that are not portraits are okay. For example, if you have an interest in Japan, reproductions of samurai, landscapes, and entertainers would be a nice touch. If you’re a train guy, pictures of trains and so on. I’d suggest toning down the sci-fi stuff because it gives an impression you’re stuck in your teens or 20s. OTOH, if the only people visiting you are people your age who come for beer and gaming, put up all the sci-fi you want. But frame them! Sadly, displaying books to give an impression of maturity and thoughtfulness is a lost art. Stupid Kindle. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/58 "2015-05-17T01:44:44Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > I would say that if someone asked me, “What do mature adults put on their walls,” the advice I would give is “Decorate your walls as if you have company and don’t want to offend them or be controversial.” IOW, you want your living space not to reflect who you are, but who you want people to think you are. I look at the stuff on my walls more than people I’ve invited over. And most of the people invited into my house already know who I am. While I don’t put anything offensive on my walls, I’m not going to modify what goes up based on some vague expectations. I have a very nice framed _Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a half Century_ cel on my office wall that isn’t coming down for anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/59 "2015-05-17T03:07:18Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I look at the stuff on my walls more than people I’ve invited over. And most of the people invited into my house already know who I am. While I don’t put anything offensive on my walls, I’m not going to modify what goes up based on some vague expectations. I have a very nice framed _Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a half Century_ cel on my office wall that isn’t coming down for anyone. I would say that a cel from a WB cartoon would qualify under Rule #4 ‘technical drawings’. 😃 I admit that my recommendations are conservative, but for someone who is uncertain about what to put up, I think they’re a good starting place. BTW, I was speaking of public spaces, like a living room. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152/60 "2015-05-17T03:13:27Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I look at the stuff on my walls more than people I’ve invited over. And most of the people invited into my house already know who I am. While I don’t put anything offensive on my walls, I’m not going to modify what goes up based on some vague expectations. I have a very nice framed _Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a half Century_ cel on my office wall that isn’t coming down for anyone. I would sure the hell hope not! That’s “pop art,” my man. I’d rather see that than Andy Warhol Campbell’s cans! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sorts-of-things-do-mature-adults-hang-on-their-walls/720152.md?page=4)