The walls which hold up our home and protect us have long been a focal point for interesting decoration. Even outside our homes we can see graffiti which some also consider a form of wall art. These days subtle touches such as kitchen wall plaques, wall hangings in the living area or alternative ways to paint our walls can all lend themselves to this art technique.

One of the best known pieces of this type of art is by Michelangelo of the Last Judgement on the Altar Wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He was aged 74 when he took over as the architect of Saint Peter's Basilica. Naturally it is unlikely many of us would go to this type of extreme when it comes to decorating our home.

Why we love wall decoration whether they are paintings, painting techniques, hangings, retro wall plaques is rather interesting. In fact if someone has the skill to paint a ceiling or adorn it with art it can be highly effective if not somewhat difficult. This is no doubt part of the answer as to why we love what we can do to decorate our walls, but apart from this remember it is deep in our roots.

Cave paintings were done by our ancestors as long back as 32,000 years ago. We are not entirely sure as to whether these paleolithic cave paintings were purely for decorative purposes or were there more to them. There are however some theories which say that they may have been for spiritual reasons or as a means of communicating with others.

When it comes to communicating with others, if this were to be true, it shows in some ways we have not changed so much. If a person takes the time to make their walls more decorative as many of us love to do, at the very least the personality and style of the decorator and family environment is speaking out from the walls to the visitors.

In a more simple way if someone uses a wall hanging from a beautiful Eastern place where perhaps they had travelled once, then not only does it adorn the room but is also a communication piece when visitors arrive.

It is definitely true that walls can end up as a talking point when the right approach in employed. Another fun way to decorate for example in the kitchen area is by adding in a retro kitchen wall plaque.

These are both decorative and often humorous at the same time. There are many to be found and one of my personal favourites is the Cooking with Wine Wall Plaque. This says: "I cook with wine sometimes I even add it to the food." There is something very charming and homely about these retro kitchen signs.

Our cavemen ancestors no doubt had a sense of humour also. Maybe their version of a kitchen wall plaque could have involved animal bones as opposed to decorated tin; I guess we won't know for sure!