Hang 'em high, hang 'em low.  Should we care?

While I am the self-proclaimed pied piper of "do your own thing" when it comes to decorating your home, I do believe that most of us are generally better off sticking to a few hard and fast rules when designing our space:

• Don't buy everything from one store or catalog...unless you are truly trying to live in the neighborhood Pottery Barn
• Try to make timelessness the hallmark of each of your rooms and add just a few touches of "the latest thing" or "the hot new color".  It's not fun realizing that the decor of your entire home has become fodder for jokes.  Just ask the folks who have had to replace a whole house full of expensive harvest gold shag carpet!
• Make sure that every piece works in your household.  If you have a dog, 4 kids and a husband, silk pillows on the family room sofa probably not in your future.  Instead, washable or dry-cleanable, removable pillow covers are a functional choice.
• Please, please hang artwork at eye level so that the average person can see it.  Don't give give guest a stiff neck from trying to make out what exactly that is way up there.  Also be sure to hang it so that it relates to other objects in the room as part of an overall composition; and make sure that the size of the piece is appropriate for the wall on which it hangs.