For me, a house is not a home without the presence of some wall art, whether that comes in the form of an original Hirst or a haul from a degree showcase. From expressing your personality to giving your guests something to talk about, wall art provides value in more than one way.
Art is an incredibly visceral form of self-expression. A masterfully put together collection of artwork for your home is one that stirs your emotions and acts as a mirror to your personality, regardless of medium, era or style. Before I would ever offer art buying advice, I would insist on getting to know the buyer on a professional and personal level. Choosing the perfect piece of wall art is a very personal journey, so advising others is a delicate and challenging, but the bottom line of any buying decision should buy only what you love.
Choosing wall art for a social space is a uniquely pleasurable experience and one that can take a certain amount of skill to get right. Select art for your that acts on your emotions and works as a stimulus of conversation. Let is fascinate, mystify and promote interpretation; encouraging debate and speculation. An artwork is a universal talking point, not everyone has to love a piece, but everyone can offer an opinion, which in turn can lead a dinner party discussions into the early hours. Eye-catching designs will prompt your guests to question where it was purchased, who the artist is, what made you decide to buy it or whether it was a piece you had commissioned.
Wall art, as with many visually stimulating triggers can transcend language and social barriers. People from an extensive array of cultural backgrounds can offer an opinion or suggest an interpretation of a particular piece, allowing for many people to discuss the merits of art. In this sense, art is a very primitive pleasure that can be enjoyed by everyone at a fundamental level.
Ignoring the sentimentality we can have for our art collections for a minute, wall art can and does bring a sense of completeness to an interior space from a design perspective. However, colour choice plays an essential factor choosing a piece for a specific room. Case in point, a uniformly coloured room with subdued tones can benefit from a splash of colour and a large abstract canvas piece can act as the focal point for the room. Wall art can also blend seamlessly with the existing colour scheme by matching colours and highlights. Alternatively, if you’re planning on completely redecorating a room, why not consider finding a work of art that you love and basing the rooms design and colour scheme on it?
In conjunction with style and colour, it’s equally important to consider the subject matter of the wall art. Wall Art can profoundly influence the atmosphere or mood of a room in more subtle fashion compared to furniture and colour. It has the ability to provide humour or even prompt the viewer to reflect. I like to use art to add a fun and humorous element to a room. Interior design shouldn’t take itself too seriously. A peculiar portrait can brighten the mood in a room and induce a grin on a visitor.
Top Wall Art Buying Tips
• Only buy what you love
• You don’t need to purchase work by established masters. Contemporary works by emerging or little-known artists are just as worthy.
• Decide if you want your wall art to compliment or contrast with your existing décor.
• User wall art to give a room personality. Clever use of colour and subject matter can define the atmosphere in a room.
