The NY Public Library has always been a rabbit hole for me.... whether browsing the shelves of books to read the spines or wandering aimlessly in awe through the reading rooms of the Fifth Avenue branch to stare at the magnificent architecture.
And now, hundreds of miles away in the islands of Hawai'i, I still feel at home, getting lost on their images database (NYPL digital collection). It is an online treasure chest of images, manuscripts, cartography and illustrations that turns my decorating impulse into overdrive.
They have nearly 200 thousand images available for use in the public domain- fish, birds, mammals, plants, ferns, mushrooms, maps-- absolutely everything! All copyright free and able to use for anything-- business or pleasure.
To bring a little of that NY spirit to the Big Island but still keeping in theme, I went on a glorious, time-sapping twisty-turny hunt for Audobon-theme artwork for my master bedroom. After a few days of deliberating between octopus (too scary- leave it for the bathroom) or botanical nut trees (too on point) I found my theme. Birds of Paradise and Peacocks!
I emailed the the links to the images I preferred to the local printer (that's the free part!) and had them download the images at 300 pixels (the images are also available larger and up to 750 or 1250 pixels depending on the picture you choose). I had them printed out onto a gloss thick photo paper (that costs about 15 cents a sheet).
I bought double matted frames and hung them on either side of the bed and when I walk into the room I let out a happy sigh knowing a little part of New York sneaked into the Hawai'ian home and nobody knows but me!
No comments:
Post a Comment