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This week, an ArtTherapy San Francisco article posed one of the age-old home decorating dilemmas to readers: should you hang art in your bathroom?

Read the ApartmentTherapy article...

It's a long-standing debate, and there are certainly pros and cons. On the one hand, you want every room in your home to look beautiful and reflect your signature style -- but on the other hand, art tends to warp in bathrooms due to temperature fluctuations and steam from the shower. Nonetheless, according to the ArtTherapy survey, most home decorators are going for it anyway!

Reading over the poll results, the general consensus was that it was ok to display art in the bathroom so long as you don't overly invest in it. Framed snapshots were popular, as were smaller-sized art prints, art found on sale, and non-warping art items like mirrors and sculpture.

One thing that struck me was how many readers said they used the bathroom as a place to hang art that was more kitschy, fun or risque than art they'd display elsewhere in the home. Vintage art posters, nudes, and other kinds of cheeky or intimate images came up as examples. When you think about it, it makes sense. After all, for a lot of women, the bathroom is a bit of a boudoir -- a place to put on make up, light candles and take long baths. A beautiful nude, for instance, is evocative of the sensual nature of the boudoir.

Dixie Ray
By Edward Steichen

Bert's Bath
By James Flad

Pears Soap

What about you? What do you hang in your loo? Send me your comments, and see you next week!

Find Your Own Pot of Gold: 15% Off All Green Art this Week!

All my life, St. Patrick's Day has inadvertently held strong significance for me. Although I'm not Irish, I attended an elementary school named St. Patrick's, and the teachers there (nuns from Ireland, no less!) taught us traditional Irish dancing, which we performed on March 17th. Then, I went to college in Savannah, Georgia -- a city known for its over-the-top St. Pat's festivities, including turning the river green and throwing a huge parade and party.

This year promises to be a bit more low-key for me, but I'm happy to announce that ArtSelect is holding a St. Patty's Day Art Sale from March 11-17. In between munching your shamrock cookies (or however you celebrate St. Pat's!) be sure to stop by. We're offering 15% off all of our vibrant, green-hued art prints, like this fresh floral piece:

Fiore 3
By Elena Filatov

There's something so inspiring and uplifting about green, isn't there? The color seems to carry with all sorts of connotations of spring, renewal and regeneration. And according to color therapy lore, you can use green in your decor to promote healing, relaxation and revivification. What do you think? Does this little guy revive you?

Maki Frog
By Konrad Wothe

These are just a few of the images that you'll find in our St. Patty's Day Art Sale. As you see, there's a wide range of genres and art mediums, including landscapes, photography and Abstract Art. You'll also find some Art Deco, like this luscious piece by Tamara de Lempicka.

Jeune Fille en Vert
By Tamara de Lempicka

Well, like I said, I'm not Irish, but somehow it seems fitting to end today's post with a traditional Irish Blessing. Have a great week!

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.
~Irish Blessing

Easter Lily, 1831-34
By Priscilla Susan Bury

With Easter just around the corner (March 23), I've been noticing lots of Easter Lilies blooming away in department stores and at the supermarket. Lilies are such beautiful flowers -- so fresh and pure looking, such classic harbingers of spring.

Lilies in Delft
By Ken Marlow

These trumpet-shaped beauties are said to be symbolic of rebirth, hope and joy, associated as they are with the Christian Easter holiday. Apparently, lilies were discovered blooming in the Garden of Gethsemane after Christ's cruxifiction and were thereby deemed the "white-robed apostles of hope."

Easter Lily

Lilies have also been a long-standing subject of choice for many artists, from Impressionist painter Claude Monet to contemporary X-ray photographer Steven N. Meyers. You can certainly see why -- with their simple elegance and distinctive petals, lilies must be fascinating subjects to paint and photograph.

Mission Lilies
By Elizabeth Horning

Of course, from the perspective of the home decorator (and busy mom, and full-time career woman), there's nothing better than flowers you don't have to water or fuss with. And they bloom all year round. Happy Easter, and see you next week!

This week marks the birthday of one of early America's most defining artists: Charles Marion Russell. Born on March 19, 1864 in Oakhill, Missouri, Russell turned a fascination with the Wild West into a flourishing art career.

Wagon Boss
By Charles Marion Russell

Russell spent his childhood drawing, making clay sculptures, riding horses and reading about the American West. He became a ranch hand in his teens and, over the course of his life, created over 2,000 paintings and sculptures of cowboys, Indians and Western landscapes.

Indian Buffalo Hunt
By Charles Marion Russell

If you're a fan of Western-themed decor, Russell's iconic imagery is a natural choice. There are lots of other ways to lend your home a nostalgic, Old West feel, including

1- Using warm, earthy hues in your decor
2- Including natural elements in your accents, like wood and rock
3- Finding ranch-themed motifs to display, such as horseshoes,
cowboy hats, lasso ropes, etc.

You can also decorate with other kinds of Western-themed art, including art with cowboys, John Wayne and other scenes from the Old American West. Happy home decorating trails to you!