5 creative ways to bring art into your space
Art is one of the best ways to make your house feel like a home. Just as you think about which furniture can spruce up the floor space, you can also think about how to add some personality to your walls. Unless you’re Kim Kardashian, you don’t want to feel like you’re living in a white box, so why not add some art to bring the place to life.
From Pinterest-approved gallery walls to statement paintings, there are so many ways art can be used around the house. You can find artworks to match your interior or design a room around a piece you love. There’s always something more inventive than a “Live, Laugh, Love” print to put in your living room and here are five ideas to start with.
Create a series
They say three’s a crowd but when it comes to art, we disagree. When one piece is not enough to fill a space in your home, why not opt for a series of artworks. This is a great way to bring together works that were either made to stay together or find art by different artists that compliment each other.
An easy way to create a series is to choose an artist who has made several works in the same style and pick out a few of your favourites. If you can’t decide which ones go together best, some artists might even do the work for you and create their own series of paintings, such as artist Raeesa Harriot’s set of three art prints that you can buy all together!
Make a gallery wall
If you don’t want to just pick a few artworks to add to a room, why not add all the ones you love with a gallery wall. The “more the better” attitude towards wall art has increasingly become popular with people sharing their creations all over Pinterest, so you won’t be short of inspiration.
This is a great DIY project to get stuck into. All you need to start is to work out where the gallery wall is going to go, decide how many works you want and then start browsing for art! If you want to get creative, you could choose a particular theme or colour palette; or maybe you want to embrace the mix-and-match nature of the gallery and go for a random selection. Either way, if you work around artworks that you love then it’s going to look great in your space.
Experiment with frames
Have you already found artworks for your home but you’re not quite sure what to do with them? One way to make a statement with your art is to get creative with framing. This can be a great way to bring a print or painting to life by adding a bit of decoration to the border. Some artworks, such as Eden’s painting ‘Equality’, already come framed so then all you need to do is hang it on the wall!
If you’re still thinking about that gallery wall we mentioned earlier, why not add some frames into the mix. Either go for a uniform look by choosing frames that match in different sizes or get creative sourcing different styles. Vintage shops are amazing for finding unique frames – after all, your one-of-a-kind artworks deserve one-of-a-kind frames.
Match art to the room
Now you have the art and you have the frame, it’s all about deciding where in your home the art is going to go. If you’re getting stuck over this decision, why not think about matching the art to the room. Let’s start in the kitchen – perhaps not somewhere you would first think of adding art, but if you’re a foodie you’re going to be spending a lot of time in there. Some art on the walls might just be the inspiration you need, for example adding a bit of veg, like Justine’s ‘On the vine’, can help you get in the mood whilst you make your dinner (and a good reminder to get your five-a-day).
Although we’re not suggesting you add a painting of a sofa to the living room and a print of a bed to the bedroom (unless that’s your vibe), art can be a great way to set the mood of a room. For example, opting for a calming painting of a beautiful landscape in the bedroom, such as Angels ’Sky’, can help to create a relaxing environment to get a good night’s sleep.
Go big… or go small
Space is one of the most important things to think about when choosing art for your home. It’s all good and well to find an incredible artwork but if it's the same size as you and you don’t have the wall space to put it up, it might just end up collecting dust in the attic. However, if you’re lucky to have large spaces around your home to fill, such as empty walls and hallways, bigger artworks are a great way to add some personality to these often ignored areas of the home.
On the contrary, most houses are filled with so many nooks and crannies that could be spiced up with a bit of art. If you’ve been to the Louvre, you’ve probably been surprised to realise the 'Mona Lisa' is only 77 x 53cm and so many other famous artworks are a lot smaller than you think! So why not follow in these artists' footsteps and find some small artworks, such as Nicole’s A5 print, to add around your house.
