Decorating your home with art is nothing new, as the pieces have the ability to add richness and depth to any room and make the spaces feel more personal and unique. However, you can’t just bring artwork randomly into your home; there needs to be a system, and you must be intentional about your purchases. After all, enhancing the aesthetic appeal of your home and personalizing the space can only be done if you’re careful what you buy. Doing so also allows you to express your individuality and make your house into a home that reflects who you are as an individual.
On top of that, art can also serve as a focal point in your house and become a great conversation starter anytime you have guests over. With all that in mind, let’s have a more in-depth look at all the ways in which you can find the pieces of your dreams so that your interior design looks exactly how you’ve envisioned it.
Image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-looking-at-painting-on-wall-inside-well-lit-room-CR9EGFPVNoU
Decide what you like
When you’re browsing through a fine art online store, you will see an endless array of paintings and sculptures depicting a wide variety of themes and a large number of genres. However, it’s unlikely that you will like all of them. To find the best pieces for your home, you must decide what are the things you want and enjoy when it comes to art and feel confident in your own opinion. The things that you like will most likely be the ones that hold some personal meaning for you, the ones whose vision aligns with yours. If you want to take things a step further, you can also analyze the novelty and nuance of the work in order to determine how original it is and whether it was very challenging to create or not.
The narrative of a painting can also mean quite a lot since, depending on what they represent, different works will provide different vibes and atmospheres. For instance, if you want a particular room to feel relaxing and welcoming, you’ll most likely gravitate towards an art piece representing a tranquil, wholesome setting instead of something that is intense and dramatic. The bottom line is that you should never feel like you’re supposed to like a specific art piece or the work of a particular artist. If something works for you and you want to buy it, then go ahead and do so, even if it might not be the most popular thing in the art world right now.
If you’re not sure what your preferences are at the moment, you will have to define your style first and foremost. You do this by doing your research on art movements, artists, and the mediums they use. You can gather inspiration from art blogs and even from social media pages that can help you curate a mood board.
Finding art
Buying art is unlike making daily purchases, as the prices will understandably be quite elevated. Buying a painting, print, or sculpture is an investment, not something that you should do lightly. The knowledge of this fact has led many to say that art is fundamentally an elitist landscape that can only be accessed by the ultrarich. There’s no denying the fact that most people cannot purchase artwork lightly, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible to do so unless you’re wealthy. For instance, you can buy from online markets and e-commerce companies that sell handmade items. This way, you’re buying directly from the artists themselves and also get to go through a huge number of artworks of various prices. If you become a fan of someone’s work, you can always get in touch with them via their personal website or social media pages.
In some instances, you might be able to discuss the prices with the artists, but remember the importance of etiquette and don’t come up with unreasonable demands. After all, it takes time and effort to make art. Supporting contemporary and local artists is one of the best ways to help the art world thrive as well. Thrift stores and flea markets hold art as well, and there are also museums that sell prints of the works in their collections. Many of them offer international shipping nowadays as well, so if you’ve spotted something beautiful on vacation but can’t carry it in your luggage, you can always order it when you arrive home.
Art markets, walks, and galleries provide great opportunities to buy amazing pieces as well. Regardless of the option you choose, you will most likely have to spend quite a bit of time going through the paintings in order to find the ones that fit your home perfectly. Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t discover the perfect one for you right away, and keep searching instead.
Solving placement issues
If you want to display the art in your home, you must also consider the placement before buying. A painting should sit comfortably on your walls and never look like it was squeezed in or so small that it is drowned out by the rest of the items in the room. Measure your walls to determine the exact dimensions of the space. You might think that having a rough idea is enough, but it is better to be safe than sorry. You can also take the furniture into account to ensure the art is proportional and won’t clash with the rest of the ensemble. For comfortable viewing, the center of the artwork should ideally be at eye level.
However, just because there are some interior design rules you should take into account doesn’t mean there’s no place for experimentation and creativity. You can mix different sizes, shapes, chromatic ensembles, and arrangements in order to create a zestful and dynamic gallery wall.
To sum up, finding the perfect art for your home isn’t simple and will take a commitment from you. Be ready to go through many different galleries and markets as well as explore new works from a myriad of artists. If you want, you can even commission someone to create a piece that is representative of a meaningful event for you. The sky’s the limit when it comes to art, and as you hone your skills and become certain of the styles you prefer, you’ll notice that you’ll love collecting art more and more.