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Young House Love » Our First House » Making Personalized Initial Art To Hang Over The Bed

| By John Petersik | February 12, 2008 | 26 Comments

Making Personalized Initial Art To Hang Over The Bed

Let’s talk about bed letters. (Did I just make a “bed wetters” pun? Gross, I did). Now that we’ve all moved past my fourth grade humor, let me tell you why. It was the perfect way to introduce the answer to a question that we’ve been asked a lot lately: What’s in those three frames above your bed?

The answer: “J and S.” Call it a monogram or, more functionally, our designated sleeping arrangement, but either way this fun little take on our initials was all Sherry’s genius. She simply found three differently designed letters (a curvy spiral staircase inspired J, a sign language A-N-D and an architecturally drawn S). Then she framed them separately above our bed to fill that long, awkward space under our long, awkward window.

Initialart 1

While we’re on the topic, the opposite side of our bedroom boasts another three-framed art piece. And this one’s my creation. Back when we first painted the bedroom blue, we looked for some “warm” art to cozy it up. We struck gold with a sunset photo I took in Santa Monica on our very first vacation together.

Having only struck metaphorical gold, however, the three-frame design was actually inspired by our tiny budget. Sizing the image across three 11″ x 17″ Ikea frames was the economical way to create big impact on that wall, especially since we got the images printed at Kinko’s for cheap (around 50 cents each). And now every morning we wake up to the sun and the sea. It’s like an ocean view on a budget.

Sunsetart

Despite both being simple projects, they’re two of our favorites – and have literally hung in there for almost two years. Which is practically a lifetime considering how often things change around here.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for JenniferJennifer says

    February 12, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    What great ideas! I love them both. I might have to go digging in some old photos to see if I have something suitable!

    Reply
  2. Avatar for AimeeAimee says

    February 12, 2008 at 6:19 pm

    How fun! I really love how you treated the sunset photo. :)

    Reply
  3. Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

    February 12, 2008 at 9:10 pm

    Hey girls,

    So glad that you like our little art ideas. We actually do a lot of framing around here (from keys to sea fans to maps to everything else in between). Stay tuned for those posts… coming soon.

    xo
    Sherry

    Reply
  4. Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

    February 12, 2008 at 9:39 pm

    I’m totally a letter/font dork too, Kelly. And your wall art project is looking awesome. Can’t wait to see the finished product, which I know your parents will love.

    -John

    Reply
  5. Avatar for Lori LovellLori Lovell says

    February 12, 2008 at 10:26 pm

    Would you mind sharing how you got the prints from Kinkos? Was it one big poster print that you divided, or did they print them on three different pages? Thanks!!! Lori

    Reply
  6. Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

    February 12, 2008 at 10:36 pm

    Sure thing, Lori. Sorry to have left that out. They were printed on three separate pages.

    If my memory serves me, if you try to print anything larger than 12″ x 18″ at Kinko’s you get bumped from their normal, inexpensive printers to their expensive plotter printers.

    Since we didn’t want that extra cost we split the image ourselves using Photoshop and brought the three JPG files to Kinko’s on CD. They printed them for us on regular 11×17″ printer paper stock, so total cost was less than $5.

    -John

    Reply
  7. Avatar for mrslimestonemrslimestone says

    February 13, 2008 at 12:42 am

    Love the monogram. Absolutely a genius idea.

    Reply
  8. Avatar for KellyKelly says

    February 12, 2008 at 9:18 pm

    Oh I love these – specifically the “monogram” above the bed. I have such a thing for letter forms. (I have a collection letters!)

    I digress – I look forward to seeing more of your wall / frame projects! :) Check out the one I featured on my site today….it’s coming along and I can’t wait for it to be done! :D

    Reply
  9. Avatar for BenitaBenita says

    October 28, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    You write very well.

    Reply
  10. Avatar for mmlmml says

    August 29, 2009 at 12:10 pm

    Where did you find teh monogrammed letters?? I’ve been Googleing and can’t find anything as cute as yours!

    Reply
    • Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

      August 29, 2009 at 12:19 pm

      We actually created our own line of mix & match monograms that we sold in our shop but because everything we make is limited edition we no longer sell them. So sorry! You could try etsy.com though, they might have something awesome. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  11. Avatar for OrlaOrla says

    June 21, 2010 at 6:08 am

    I have just discovered your site through Healthy Tipping Point and as a new home owner I am loving the tips and hints and plenty of ideas.
    I particularly love the idea of Bed Letters. However, my partners initial is B while mine is O.
    Not the prettiest of monograms! I might stick to our last names.
    Thanks for all the ideas. I will definately be adding Young House Love to my list of sites to visit regularly.
    Orla

    Reply
  12. Avatar for Lindsey WhiteLindsey White says

    September 14, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    I absolutely love you guys!! I love the monogrammed idea and have been looking online for the longest time to find cool ones like the ones y’all have but sadly I cannot. My husband and I just bought our house in Anchorage AK and I have been a fan of your site for years now. I’m using a lot of the projects you guys have done to do awesome things in my home.

    Reply
  13. Avatar for RobynRobyn says

    November 28, 2010 at 2:14 am

    I realize I’m a little late to this party but I was wondering if you remember where you found the sign language silouttes? I have been looking all over the net and can’t seem to find anything nice enough to hang up.

    I appreciate any direction you can give me!

    Thank you,
    Robyn :)

    Reply
    • Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

      November 28, 2010 at 9:13 am

      Hey Robyn,

      I just used google images and probably searched “sign language” and cut and pasted the letters “a” and “n” and “d” together to create that print. Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  14. Avatar for wetting her bedwetting her bed says

    December 14, 2010 at 6:51 am

    Sorry for my bad english. Thank you so much for your good post. Your post helped me in my college assignment, If you can provide me more details please email me.

    Reply
  15. Avatar for SarahSarah says

    January 3, 2011 at 8:07 pm

    I am a new fan of this website and absolutely love the initial idea. Being in a financial crunch has made decorating difficult, but this is not only cheap, but gorgeous!

    Reply
  16. Avatar for Linda StockingLinda Stocking says

    January 5, 2011 at 1:32 am

    As a 63 year old great grandmother I must say I would have loved having such a wealth of wonderful information available to me when I was a young wife and mother.
    I do sew but wanted to see your nursery curtains and goodies. My granddaughter does not sew and I can hardly wait to tell her about your blog. She will love all the money saving ideas, projects that she can (and will)love to to tackle.
    I admire greatly the love and humor that you so freely share with your readers.

    Reply
  17. Avatar for DavidDavid says

    January 30, 2013 at 9:40 pm

    I love the Symmetry on the top one.

    Santa Monica does have great sunrises.

    Reply
  18. Avatar for ChadChad says

    October 15, 2013 at 5:51 pm

    Love the monogram. Great idea!

    Reply
  19. Avatar for David ClarkDavid Clark says

    February 26, 2014 at 3:15 pm

    Oh this is my favorite. I will surprise my wife with this decoration. I bet she will love it :)

    Reply
  20. Avatar for Erica GinnettErica Ginnett says

    August 13, 2014 at 11:31 pm

    A joke my father in law told my husband, when we first married, was, a man sleeps on the right side of the bed because that’s the only time a man is in the right. When my husband told me this I asked, “Is that when you’re looking at the bed or laying in the bed?”

    “Which ever you want it to be Erica,” he answered.

    I always remember that about my father in law.

    Reply
    • Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

      August 14, 2014 at 8:26 am

      So funny!

      xo
      s

  21. Avatar for Chris PlumbChris Plumb says

    August 27, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    You can tailor the letters to the persons personality. Fun!

    Reply
  22. Avatar for JonJon says

    September 13, 2014 at 10:09 am

    yeah, I just made a ” bed letter ” , My room is so nice now, thank you for sharing your post.

    Reply
  23. Avatar for PetePete says

    September 15, 2014 at 1:42 am

    How can you make this idea. It is so nice. My bed is small but wonderful thank to your blog, I can’t say thank you enough

    Reply

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John and Sherry smiling against pink backgroundHey, we’re John & Sherry. We’ve fixed up 7 homes, written books, designed products, started a podcast, and then downsized & moved to the beach! Here you’ll find over 3,000 DIY projects & home updates. More about us…
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