What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 6 - House Interior

Today we're going to look at some of the much smaller items that can be used to display your coat of arms in your home.

One example might be an armorial clock on the wall:

Or an heraldic hat rack in the hall:

An armorial table runner can be quite nice:

Or, of course, any number of small knick-knacks or tchotchkes to be displayed atop that table runner (or on their own), for example, pin plates:

Or armorial decorative figures:

And boxes of various types, carved, or a coin box, or even a match safe:

If you have a regular (or even irregular) games night at your house, armorial playing tokens, the 19th Century version of the modern plastic poker chip, carved into varying shapes, some of them quite complex, have been popular:

Even playing cards have been used for a display of heraldry:

Or even something as mundane as a basic thermometer:

Or fireplace bellows can be used to display a coat of arms:

Next time, we'll look at something very specific but with a wide range of different formats that is often used in the home to display the family's heraldry. So stay tuned for even more ideas!

What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 5 - House Interior

So having looked at some of the bigger ways that you can use your coat of arms inside your home, we're going to continue today with a look at some of the smaller, less obvious things that you can put your heraldry on.

One form that has been popular for literally centuries, and which can still be done today, is the armorial portrait.

Notice that the second, modern one has only the crest rather than the coat of arms like the first one.

Armorial tiles, both small single tiles and larger panels made up of several individual tiles, and which can be worked into a backsplash in the kitchen or a tub or shower surround in the bathroom have been popular forms:

These may also be done as round (rather than square or rectangular) wall plaques:

And in a similar vein, decorative "wall pockets" which can hold flowers or other decorative items may also serve as a display of heraldry:

Or, of course, there is the ever-popular heraldic banner, hung against a wall or (if your ceilings are high enough) on a banner pole mounted perpendicularly to the wall:

And heraldic embroideries have always been in style:

And a next logical step, embroidered or painted or even just carved fireplace screens:

Next time, some even smaller examples of how you can use your coat of arms in your home.

What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 4 - House Interior

Having looked at some "grand" ways to display your coat of arms inside your home last time, today we're going to look at other displays that are a little less "in your face", as it were. Examples may include something as large as furniture, say, a carved armorial bench, or even a chair (or set of chairs) with painted coats of arms on the backs:

Upon which you may wish to place one or more heraldically decorated pillows or cushions:

Or to help light up a room, an armorial chandelier:

or other lamp:

Of course, you also need to be able to turn on such lights, and a wall switch plate can also be a display of your heraldry:

And as back up, should the power go out temporarily, candlesticks:

And of course, a well-placed mirror can help light up a room by reflecting natural or artificial light, in addition to creating a display of heraldry:

Are you seeing any ideas that you might utilize for displaying your own coat of arms in your home? In our next post, we'll add some more recommendations for you.

What Can I Do With My Coat of Arms? Part 3 - House Interior

So, having decorated the exterior of your home, and the entrance to it, with your coat of arms, what are some of the options for displaying your heraldry inside the home?

Well, there are so many ways to do that in the interior that it's going to take more than one post to cover even a portion of them!

One display of heraldry seen in many homes is a stained glass window, containing either a single coat of arms ...

... or, if you have sufficiently large windows, several, displaying heraldically marriages into the family over generations.

Additionally, a coat of arms painted on a wall or as part of a mural (though this one was done about 1300-1325, and so is not in the latest fashion for such things) ...

... or, if your ceilings are high enough (alas, most of the ones in my house are not), painted on the ceiling can really make a statement! Not to mention the impression it will have on your visitors.

There is also the opportunity to hang a coat of arms on the wall of just about any room, like this one here ...

... or as an overdoor armorial decoration on the way to another room ...

... or elsewhere, say, in the space over a fireplace mantel.

And such carved heraldry doesn't even have to be in full color; you can certainly choose to have one gilded:

or cast in something inexpensive, like aluminum:

or just carved in a plain wood tone:

Don't care to make quite that big a statement in your home? Come back next time and we'll offer some other ways to display your heraldry in your home in some more understated ways.