Signs can be decorative and found in and around a home. These signs could add character to a home, decorate it, personalize it or present a warm welcome to guests. Sources for these sign are sign making kits, signs using vinyl lettering and store bought signs.

Any signs displayed within a home or outside of the home are one of two different kinds -- homemade or bought. Homemade signs could be made out of crafting materials, such as special pictures made by a child using markers and other craft supplies. These signs can be whatever the homeowner wants and can be used as a gift to give. An example is taking pictures and framing them to create a message. This type of sign could be creative ways to display welcome or friendship or family or another word or phrase. Make a letter out of twigs and take a picture or use flowers to make a letter and do something different with each letter using a theme, such as nature. Take a separate picture of each letter or one photo of the whole word. Frame the letter or the word and display this as a special creative sign. This home sign idea is only limited to the creator's imagination.

Another homemade option is to purchase a sign making kit. There are many different types of sign making kits. Some signs are designed to be placed outside and others that are better equipment to be placed inside. These sign making kits might be wood carving kit allowing the home owner to personalize their sign. They could use the carving kit to burn their family name into wood or perhaps carve "Welcome" to display on the home's front door. Another kind of sign making kit that would be ideal for decorating a home is needlepoint. These can be created then framed and placed on the wall. There is homemade needle point, such as coming up with a personal saying or deciding to sew the family name and decorations into fabric. Then it is framed is displayed as a sign. These kits help make a sign that is a little more organized because all the tools and instructions are available along with tips to help someone make the creation.

There are also crafting sets that use vinyl letter and number cutouts. These come in a variety of sizes, fonts and colors. They are often creative lettering and pre-made sayings. They are usually easy to apply using an adhesive backing to any flat clean surface, mostly a wall, but windows are possible area as well. A store bought could combine a lot of these ideas, but instead of being homemade they are created by someone else.

The most important purpose of a sign is delivering a message. It takes a whole lot more than throwing a bunch of letters on a panel and hoping folks will see it. A completed sign is really a composition. Whether it's any good or not depends on four critical factors: Balance, Rhythm, Oneness, and Harmony.

For balance a good sign must be "pleasing" to the eye. It is the weight distribution that is considered first. It's not necessarily done symmetrically; rather, a well-balanced sign composition is optically effective and has a stability of sorts in the arrangement of the copy in relation to each of the other elements. There is a lot which is involved in this judgment for the competent sign writer - the amount of copy, any illustrations or supporting images, letter styles, and certainly what the sign is supposed to do; advertise, sell, welcome, etc. Also, how far will it the sign be viewed from and how fast will the viewer be traveling, if at all. When the customer brings the sign writer copy that looks like a newspaper ad and doesn't allow any freedom for the professional to edit believing every word is essential there is often no hope for achieving a balance in the sign's layout.

Rhythm is what many signs lack due the sign writer's judgment in selecting too many letter styles in the same work. Aesthetically speaking, most signs look best when only one or two letter fonts are incorporated. Often modest variations of a font can be introduced to reduce rhythm interference when bringing impact and interest; however, too many styles of lettering on one sign visually distressing.

Oneness is when signs that have several groups of copy or messages and the viewer's eye smoothly follows the flow of the message from the primary message on to the secondary and finally onto the most subordinate. It can be achieved, or at least enhanced, by dividing the three messages and creating emphasis using reverse panels, bolding and other emphasis techniques.

Harmony is nothing more that incorporating the first three elements with discipline - balance, rhythm and oneness. Without being sensitive to copy grouping, letter styles and things like coloring no layout will be achieved that has harmony. A perfect example of this is in the use of borders. Often borders on signs are completely unnecessary and only serve to distract the eye instead of supporting a certain style of letter. This is especially true when the border is excessively strong or of strong color. In the case of borderless signs, it is the flow of the graphics, shapes and lettering styles which provide the design and unity, balanced with uninterrupted harmony.

Vintage metal signs are excellent home decor pieces that are low-cost, and yet eye-catching and oftentimes conversation pieces. Most people will not be able to distinguish between a real antique sign, and a modern day metal sign made to appear old and antiquated. The subject matter for vintage signs often pertain to pin-up girls, aviation, military, automobiles, retro home products, food/drink, and sports themed. The signs often range in size from 12"x18" to 24"x36" and everything in between in various shapes and designs.

Many of these signs are made using heavy gauge American steel, and a printing process known as sublimation, where the image is baked into a powder coating for a durable and long lasting finish. The signs are then sanded by hand to give them an aged look. Finally, small metal rivets are added into the corners of the sign for easy hanging. A couple of finishing nails are sufficient for hanging these signs on an interior wall.

Currently, more and more well-known artists are putting their artwork on vintage metal signs. Images from paintings, antique advertising, popular brands, and even your own artwork can be applied on a custom vintage metal sign. Vintage metal signs have become popular home decor items because of the numerous designs and styles of signs available, the appealing colors schemes and the low-cost. Many people like the retro signs that remind them of an earlier time and memories from the past. It can be expensive to decorate a home with paintings, giclee's, prints or even photos. Many art pieces cost hundreds and sometimes thousand when you factor in the price of a frame. Vintage metal signs typically cost anywhere from $15-$90. No frame is necessary, and the signs are easy to hang on the wall.

Due to the large array of subject matter, vintage metal signs can be used to decorate your game room, kitchen, bedrooms, office, and more. Usually the signs are hung in groups on the wall, since they tend to be small, many people elect to put 3 to 5 signs in a group on their wall, or within close proximity of each other. If you decide you would rather have a real antique metal sign, you will be looking at a much higher cost, and you will not be able to have the selection of choices available like the reproduction vintage metal signs. The real antique signs are extremely rare and sought after by serious collectors. There are many places online that you can purchase vintage metal signs.

Screw Fixing your house sign:This is the most common method of fixing a house sign or house number and it is probably the simplest, but there are one or two things you will need to take into account.Choice of screw is vital, use either solid brass or preferably stainless steel.

Ordinary steel screws will rust very quickly, brass coated screws will eventually corrode and even galvanised screws will rust if the galvanised coating is scratched, as it surely will be!The risk from rusting or corroding screws is not just the sign crashing to the ground, but that many house sign materials are susceptible to staining. Slate and stone will stain from rust, and marble will positively love to absorb rust or corrosion stains. Even granites may stain somewhat, though not quite as badly as other materials, but why take the risk?

Building your house sign into a wall:Many house signs are built into stone or brick walls, if this is this case you must specify that you do not want your house sign drilled!

There are few problems to worry about with this method, however if your house sign is made from Yorkstone or Marble be sure to use a clean washed sand as the minerals in some sands may stain and discolour your house sign, avoid dark red sands and look for red mineral patches in the sand. Likewise watch out for your friendly bricklayer throwing his fag ends into the cement, nicotine stains are deadly! Slate and Granite house signs are largely immune to this problem as water does not easily pass through the material.

Hidden Fixings for House Signs:First of all, hidden fixings are normally only available on house signs of 20mm or thicker, if you want a hidden fixing, please ask whether your house sign is suitable.This method of fixing a house sign seems to frighten some people but it is in fact very easy!Our hidden fixing house signs are hung on one or two stainless steel pins fixed into the back of the house sign at a downward angle.

The single pin fixing , used on the smaller house signs are simplicity itself to fix.Simply drill a hole in the wall at a downward angle and hang the sign into the hole. This is surprisingly secure, the hole does not even need to be drilled very accurately (as long as the house sign is centred!)as the drill hole can be much bigger than the pin. For a more secure fixing simply glue the sign into place. Fixing a larger house sign needing two pins is just a bit trickier, as levelling the house sign can take a few minutes more, but this is not difficult, and a bit of packing under one of the pins will usually do the trick.

Not only can personalized decorative signs improve the curbside appeal of your home, they can be used to convey thoughts and wishes to your family and guests. Custom signs both add to the decor of your home and portray an overall feeling of welcome, all while adding to the overall appearance of your home. So with the growing popularity of decorative signs for your home, we decided to put together a countdown of the top five personalized home signs we make.

So without further adieu...

5. Custom Bronze Address Plates

While the nature of an address plate may speak for itself, the limits of what we can do with your particular plate are limitless. We can produce basic numeric or lettered address plates, or you may decide to include your last name on the plate as well. But don't stop there...do you have a golfer, cat lover or fisherman in the house? A portrayal of hobbies or activities can also be added to custom address plates. But the possibilities do not end there... portray your military service, civic affiliation or club membership as well.

4. Family Signs

Spruce up the foyer or entranceway to your home with a personalized family sign. From simple last names to monogram initials, family signs personalize your house from the first impression and continue to generate a feeling of "home" for family and visitors. Or you might decide to forego your last name and take your personalization one step further by paying homage to the family crest or coat of arms.

3. Vinyl Letters and Graphics for a Nursery Room

Go beyond the commonplace pale pink or light blue walls and decorate your newborn's nursery with 3-D letters or vinyl wall lettering and décor. Maybe you'll spell out your baby's name with wood blocks, adding a sense of dimension to your nursery wall. Or perhaps you'll "write" your favorite quote or wish for your baby with vinyl lettering above his or her crib, or even doll up existing décor with vinyl animals, toys or shapes.

2. Bar and Spirit Signs

Personalize your home bar with custom signage. Adorn the back of the bar with a personalized sign letting your "patrons" know just whose bar they are sitting at. Add atmosphere to your walls with aluminum signs of your favorite brands of beer or liquor or take your brand loyalty one step further with clear, free-standing acrylic signs engraved with your favorite beverage. We also offer these acrylic signs with light-up LED capabilities so you can truly highlight them as a focal piece at your bar. Perhaps you want your bar area to convey a certain "look" or "feel." By utilizing a series of similar, thematic signs, you can portray any specific look you want. For example, you may choose vintage Guinness signs and Gaelic sayings to portray an "Irish pub" feel or adorn the walls with sports-related signs to give the space a "sports bar" appearance.

1. Man Cave Signs

Hey fellas...it's the one room you have all to yourself, so make it entirely yours with custom man cave signs. Plant the proverbial flag in your man cave with personalized name signs letting guests know whose cave it is. Display Alma Mater pride from your college years or show your professional sports team colors with custom signs or posters of your favorite sports organizations and their logos. Or show your affection for a certain city or hometown with landmark street signs such as "Wrigley Field", "Hollywood Blvd" or "Boston Garden." Looking to make your space a bit more nostalgic? Display vintage metal signs of your favorite brands, hobbies or activities. And guys, it is your room, so don't forget the good 'ole "No Girls Allowed" sign.