Are you someone who can struggle with how to choose and arrange art work? Art is one of the best ways to personalise your interiors and to add personality to your home. But for many people it can be a daunting process. Not only should your artwork reflect your style and taste, it also needs to suit the space and style of your home. It’s an area I often get asked about so here are my top tips for nailing it.
1. ALWAYS BE AUTHENTIC
If you buy art you are genuinely drawn to, because you love the colour, the shapes, the texture or the feeling it evokes, then you’re onto a winner. And if you have decorated your home in colours, patterns and styles you are genuinely drawn to then by default you should find any artwork you buy that will suit your home. The time people run into trouble is when they have decorated a room in a style that isn’t quite them, this will make it difficult to find artwork and you’ll end up buying something just because it goes well with the curtains rather than because you love it. And if you don’t genuinely love it, you’ll never be 100% happy with the finished room. So always follow your heart.
2. SIZE AND SHAPE MATTERS
Once you’ve got the perfect artwork you need to find the perfect spot. So look for a space that reflects the size and shape of your artwork. A large landscape piece would look great over a sofa because the shape of the art and the shape of the furniture are similar. Equally, a small square piece of art would look lost on a large wall but would look great in an alcove with a chair and table. Don’t try and hang a piece of art in a space that doesn’t suit it because all you will end up doing is creating a feeling of disharmony that will detract from the beauty of the artwork, you want to do it justice by hanging it in the right space.
3. CHOOSE ART TO SUIT THE FUNCTION OF THE ROOM
When you are selecting artwork for a particular room think about what activities happen in that room to guide your choice. A bedroom would suit artwork in soothing colours that make you feel relaxed. A dining room would suit a more stimulating, dynamic piece. A hallway is great for personal family photos as you will see them every day but it’s not a place guests will linger.
4. GROUP ARTWORK TO HAVE MORE IMPACT
If you are an interiors fan and spend any time on Pinterest or Instagram then you will be familiar with the ubiquitous ‘gallery wall’. This is where you group a collection of artwork together to form a mini gallery. The huge benefits of the gallery wall are; that they allow you to be a hoarder of artwork, they suit any place where you have a decent amount of wall to fill, they allow you to hang smaller pieces that hung individually wouldn’t suit the space, and you can add to them over the years. So if you have some smaller pieces of artwork then group them together, they will have much more impact this way rather than dotted about the place individually. And you don’t have to go for the full gallery wall look, hanging just three pieces together will look just as amazing.
5. DON’T HANG IT TOO HIGH
Urgh. One of the worst interior design crimes you can commit (in my opinion) is hanging your artwork too high. This makes the artwork difficult to see (and what’s the point in that?) and it also makes the artwork feel disconnected from the room, it’s no good to have it floating around up on the wall. Either hang it at eye level so you can actually see it without straining your neck, or hang it about six inches above a piece of furniture, you don’t want too much distance between them or it feels like they’ve had a massive falling out.
6. DON’T OBSESS OVER SYMMETRY
There is no rule that says your artwork should line up with the top of the lampshade, or that they should be evenly spread out across the wall or that they should line up slap bang with the middle of the sofa. People who make up these rules and do these crazy things make their beautiful artwork look sad. You end up thinking that looks weird, rather than wow, those prints are beautiful. So forget this nonsense and hang your artwork in line with your eyes, and nice and close together.
7. DON’T JUST HANG ART ON THE WALL
Artwork isn’t just for walls, prop it up on shelves, mantle pieces and pieces of furniture. This is a perfect way to display more informal artwork like prints and typography. You can read more about arranging artwork and accessories on shelving here. And if you are lucky enough to live a massive, Shoreditch loft then large pieces on the floor leaning against the wall are a great artisan look. This kind of arrangement will also allow you to layer your artwork which creates a more dimensional and interesting display.
8. CHANGE IT UP
The trouble with artwork is you can often stop noticing it, particularly if it has been there for years. So it’s a great idea to move your artwork around. It’s amazing how different a piece can look when hung against a different wall colour or in a room where the light catches it differently. This brings us back to the first point. If you decorate your home in a style you love and buy artwork you are always genuinely drawn to then you will find that your artwork should look good in any room.
And I suppose a final tip is don’t succumb to instagram pressure. If you don’t love art (because these people do exist) then don’t buy any. Better to have a blank space or a space filled with shelves or plants, than a cliché piece of art you don’t love.
So if you relax and don’t overthink your choices then selecting artwork for your home should become an enjoyable process. The only slightly technical bit is hanging it in the right place and at the right height. So have some fun and follow your heart.
