Master Strokes

Janell Beals
Wilsonville, Oregon

"I'd love to live in an older home with tons of character," Janell says, "but this is a spec house without a lot of detail. When I decorate, I try to make each room reflect my family's interests, personalities, history and dreams."

Janell hangs her daughter Isabella's artwork around the house—but uses more than pushpins to do so. By considering how the colors in a given drawing play against the colors of a room's walls, furniture and draperies, Janell treats every piece the way she would "serious" art. She also uses white frames throughout the house, "to make the art pop," she says, and to create continuity from room to room.