There are a few kayak (and canoe) frames hanging from ceilings in some of the trendier retail stores in the Chicago area. The frames alone are stark, but sculptural.

Museums would probably want an artifact crafted by indigenous peoples, not a home hobby constuction form Popular mechanics' plans, so don't think about donating it to the local historical society.

If the canvas is cracked, but not torn or rotted too badly, you can just clean it up and hang it in a high ceilinged room. If the canvas is falling off in areas or too far gone, remove it carefully and recover the boat with inexpensive muslin, which you can repaint to match the old colors if you wish, or in some new color scheme.

Muslin is not strong enough to use as a cover or skin on a kayak you would consider using, but it is cheap (I see it on sale frequently for under a $1 a yard) and it stretches a bit. The last part could be important if the frame is weak. Trying to stretch a strong canvas over a weak frame might cause the frame to break, but with a lighter weight cloth you could make something that looked like the original, even from close distance.

You cna attach the lighter fabric with an ordinary desk stapler/tacker. The small staples will hold the light fabric, and be nearly invisible. Any small wrinkles in the fabric can be removed by spritzing the fabric with a mist of water and letting it shrink a bit. The finer weave of the muslin would let you get away with using just 2 or three coats of ordinary enamel. Unlike a heavier canvas skin, no fillers would be needed to conceal the weave.

Have a den? Mount it over the door and aim a couple of small, ceiling-mounted, accent lights at it.

If the boat has been stored inside, there is a good chance that it may NOT have dry rot, or if it does, the damage might only affect small, easily replaced parts. If so, you might replace those, recover the boat with a durable #10 duck fabric and get another gernation of life out of it. There woudl be a few more coats of paint to apply, and you'ld have a hard time finding the right fabric at your local fabric store (they ALL have muslin!), but if the wood is sound it is not unusual for a frame to be reskinned several times in its life.

hope this helps

PGJ