3 Things to Consider When Choosing Artwork for Your Home
Ready to brighten up those blank walls? Choosing the right artwork for your home can feel a little daunting at first. With an infinite amount of options, it’s hard to know quite where to start! While there aren’t any hard and fast rules (it’s more of an intuitive process than you might think!), we’ve compiled some guidelines to make the process a little less intimidating. Check out the three things that you should consider when hunting for artwork that reflects your personality and complements your space!
1. Size
No matter what you may have heard, size does matter. Choosing artwork that’s too small can make the space feel incomplete or underwhelming. As a general rule, bigger is usually better because it creates a focal point. For example, art above your living room sofa or bed should be approximately 2/3 to 3/4 the width of the furniture. However, you can always group several small pieces like with a gallery wall.
If there’s a painting that you love, but it’s simply too small for the space, then consider having it framed with an extra-large matte. Also, don’t shy away from reaching out to the artist to see if they have similar paintings available in a larger size or are open to creating a custom commission. The other option is to see if there is a print version of the painting, which often comes in a variety of different sizes, and is a more budget-friendly option (bonus)!
2. Colour
Don’t worry if the colour in your artwork perfectly matches the colours present in your space. With that said, dramatic bright reds in a contemporary painting probably won’t mesh well with the cool, neutral tones in your beachy room, so make sure that the artwork fits into your overall decorating scheme. Reference that handy dandy colour wheel to help you understand the optimal colour relationships so you can choose complementary shades to those in your space but know that when it comes to artwork, you have more leeway to use bolder shades.
It’s also worth noting that if you introduce a new colour, you should add it in at least two places to make it intentional and pull off a cohesive look.
3. Heart
At the end of the day—and we can’t stress this enough—follow your heart. If you trust your instincts and choose art that you absolutely love, then the work you connect with will reflect your personality, which will be reflected in the style of your space anyway! Plus, you’ll be looking at the art for years to come, so it needs to be something that makes you smile every time you look at it. Like we said before, choosing artwork for your home is more about connecting to your intuition than you might think!
Art is about expression through colour, content and texture. We find that getting to know the artist, understanding the content of the work and the context around it helps to deepen our connection to the piece. One way to do this is to attend art events. Find out what’s happening in your city in the art scene and show up! Our key tip is to seek out exhibitions from emerging artists. If you’re unable to meet the artist in person, then their bio and Instagram account is an easy Google search away.
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