Interiors: Picking poster décor

Posters are a great way to introduce a theme and decorate without breaking the bank. Let's explore.

Framed posters can help make a guest room pleasant and inviting. Depending on your décor, the posters can be of flowers, water scenes, gardens, animals or sports themes, to name a few possibilities. What about a Western theme? Bring some cowboys and Indians to a child's room. Is your heritage from another country? Do you like nostalgic themes? Are you confused about the theme to use? Think about the feeling or mood you want to create and then you will have the inspiration as to what theme you want to pursue.

But don't limit yourself to only the guest room. Poster choices are so varied and attractive that they can be used in a living room, family room, kitchen, laundry room or bathroom.

How about decorating a family room with vintage movie posters? There are hundreds of these posters to choose from and you can pick just about any movie from the 1940s and onward. And posters are inexpensive. The framing will probably cost more than the poster itself. And remember that you can enhance and enlarge the size of the poster by having it matted when you frame it. Some posters look better without matting. If you aren't sure which way to go, a framer can help you decide.

If matting is the choice, it should coordinate with the rest of the colors in the room, such as in furniture, window treatments, floor covering and wall color. Try to either contrast or blend. The choice is yours as to how you would like the poster to stand out.

When decorating with posters, choose more than one so a theme can be established. Posters come in more than one size, so you can blend smaller ones with larger ones if space is limited or for a visual variety. Having a few posters of an ongoing theme will help complete the look in the room.

What about making your own posters? Now there's an interesting idea. A favorite family picture can be taken to any photo shop and enlarged into a poster-sized image.

Purchase posters from antiques retailers, thrift stores, consignment stores and online home-Decor shops.

(Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, an interior designer in Naples, Fla., is author of "Mystery of Color."For design inquiries, write to Rosemary at DsgnQuest@aol.com.)