When you’ve spent a lot of time and effort putting together each room in your lovely home, you’ll want to put just as much thought into choosing artwork.
How do you know what’s right for your home walls and make your choice much easier? Continue to know these 10 easy tips for choosing the perfect artwork!
1. Consider your budget
Your budget is the first thing you’ll want to consider when buying art. If you are looking for original art, then you can peruse galleries or go straight to an artist whose work you love to see what they have for sale. FYI: an original can be a wise financial investment, per Investopedia. By the way, many galleries also sold prints, so you can choose your favorite art in print option!
In our time many artists from all over the world are selling their art in various forms such as prints, sculpts, NTF, original paintings, and order commissions. Simply search for the kind of art you’re looking for, select the maximum amount you’re willing to spend, and voilà! Enjoy scrolling through countless exciting options.
2. Think about personal taste
It can be easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to the many different styles of art. That’s why it can be helpful to narrow down what you personally like and, in some cases, don’t like.
One of the easiest styles to choose from that look classy is an abstraction. But if you are a supporter of some more specific things, you can combine styles and choose an abstract seascape painting, for example.
3. Work with the existing or potential style of the room
When it comes to choosing art, you’ll want to think about if it will suit the style of your home. If you’re happy with how a particular room already looks, then you should consider how an art piece will fit your existing design.
However, you could always go yet another way. “Art doesn’t have to match your room,” according to Tara Bernerd. The designer explained to Architectural Digest that instead, “you can be eclectic.” She continued, “Traditional rooms can take modern art, and modern rooms can take older-style paintings.”
4. Take walls and furniture into account
You’ll also want to specifically consider aspects of your walls and furniture when choosing artwork. When it comes to walls, have you opted for wallpaper or paint? If you have wallpaper with a textured or busy pattern, then go with artwork that’s toned down. Or you could use a bold frame to draw attention to the piece. If you’ve gone with paint, you can opt for artwork that’s more intricate because it won’t have to compete with a design on the wall.
As for furniture, the same ideas apply. If you have bold, bright, and textured furniture, then simple artwork might be best.
5. Arrange ideal lighting
Remember, the best lighting for original paintings is natural light. So if you can place your art close to a window, but out of direct sunlight, great!
Also, here are recommendations on what to do to make your art look as effective as possible when the sun is gone! LEDs, halogens, and incandescent lights are among the best options, according to Park West Gallery.
It’s also not necessary “to light the whole space. Start at ceiling level with something that lights key furniture arrangements, mantelpieces, or credenzas,” lighting consultant Harry Triggs told Christie’s. From there, “down to wall level,” where you should “use something like picture lights to lower the apparent height of the ceiling, create a cozy ambiance, and bring out the colors in any artwork.”
6. Be aware of the size of your space
First, when hanging artwork on your wall, ignore space that’s covered by furniture, windows, details, or décor, and instead focus on the empty space. Of that, an artwork should ideally cover just over 1/2 to 3/4 of what you can see. Secondly, any piece of art should span around 2/3 to 3/4 of any furniture it’s placed above.
The same basic rules and guidelines apply to choosing the right sculpture, large figurine, or other kinds of stand-alone piece: It needs to be slightly smaller than the available area and shouldn’t overwhelm nearby furniture.
7. Consider displaying multiple pieces
If you have a large space, then you might want to think about picking up multiple pieces of art. Buying separate pieces can still result in a cohesive look if you stick to a style, subject, color pallet, or artist.
To make things even easier, consider investing in a duo of pieces that were created as a pair. You could even opt for a triptych. If you cannot find a suitable diptych or triptych for your interior, you can place an order for commission paintings! Thus, the art will ideally fit the interior and will be truly unique!
8. Themes can highlight a mood or create a vibe
Specific themes in the art can also help to lend to a room’s particular feel. As the Merritt Gallery notes, art by its very nature is emotional and has a significant impact on the mood of a space. For instance, in your bedroom, you might want paintings of calming seascape paintings to help you relax, whereas in the kitchen, you could go for appetite-stimulating photos of food.
If you have a home office, think about art that reflects what you do, inspires action, or facilitates your sense of focus.
9. Consider the care artwork needs
If your art becomes tarnished, dirty, or damaged, then you’ll want to address each issue. Depending on the medium, you may also want to touch up pieces on a regular basis in order to keep them in tip-top condition. BUT … don’t try to clean art without looking into how to properly do so, and if the art is in particularly bad shape, valuable, or hard to clean (such as a painting), then it might be best to have a professional take care of things.
10. Commission a piece of art
Have you ever considered commissioning an artist to make a piece for you? Take a look around galleries and art festivals or even Instagram and online art spaces to find an artist whose work piques your interest.
Let the artist know what you’re looking, their fees, payment details, shipping info, schedule. If everything works out, then you could end up with a one-of-a-kind piece of art for your home that’s truly special.
Read more about commission paintings !
