Filling in the empty spaces

I am approaching the third anniversary of living in my house. It has been a great three years. I've dealt with some excitement such as water dripping from one of the smoke dectors, which resulted in all the dectors letting out their high-pitched screeching noises, and snaking a garden hose through the house to rid the kitchen sink of a clogged drain. There has been some real heart warming moments, too. My father and I have become the home improvement dou. Together, we battled and overcame the obstacles of ceiling fan and window drapery installations.
The place has changed a lot from the night that I walked through the door of my house for the first time. That night, the place seemed cavernous and huge as I toured each room in an ecstatic giddiness.
Moving in, it became apparent to me that: A, I did not have a whole lot of furniture and B, I had a lot of blank walls.
I never cared for huge, blank spaces on walls; in my eyes it looks cold and sterile. This house posed a particular problem because not only are most of the walls bone white but they are huge. Voices seemed to bounce and sound hollow in the living room and my collection of prints were stretched thin on the expansive wall spaces. It drove me nuts; rooms appeared unfinished as though I hadn't quite settled into the new place and as a result could not declare it "home."
The campaign to fill in the empty wall spaces began in earnest. Target and Hobby Lobby are my go-to places for art. I also printed stacks of photos from past vacations to fill up picture frames and bought wall decals to create collages in different spots.
I hit pay-dirt this weekend. Hobby Lobby featured a 50 percent off sale on all wall decor and I scampered around the aisles like a kid in a candy store. Hanging the prints this afternoon made me smile; the empty spaces were dwindling.
It might seem a little silly to measure how much a place feels like home by the amount wall art but I will tell you the living room does not sound cavernous anymore and bedrooms don't feel cold and empty. It may have taken three years but filling in the empty spaces has turned this house into a home.

The piece of art on the right is my first, and currently only, original artwork. I bought it earlier this year at a gallery in Salida, Colo.

The large poster of the woman is not technically framed. I bought a frame for it, then promptly broke the glass while inserting the poster. That was almost eight years ago. I really should do something about it.

This my favorite grouping of prints.