You’ve been shopping around for a new home, and you finally found your dream house. It’s located at one of the fast-developing areas with some recently completed projects like the Orchard Towers. The next thing is to make your home habitable and welcoming.
Even if you’re not an artsy person, one way to make your house beautiful is to decorate it with art and paintings. Look for ways to display artwork to spruce up the walls and create conversations around art. Regardless of your budget and taste, using art to decorate your house adds character and panache.
If you don’t know how to get started, here are some simple guidelines to help you. They’ll help you to hang paintings and art pieces around the house without them being too overbearing.
Spacing
One thing that will make your art hangings come off as too overwhelming is overcrowding them in one place. Ensure you leave plenty of space between pieces and allow them to stand independently.
Unless different pieces have an intimate connection in the message they carry, it’s always advisable to keep them apart. Artwork should serve to accent your space, not blur the overall ambience.
Scale
It’s essential to scale your artwork or paintings in relation to the space available. Wherever you place a piece of art, it should fit in relative scale to the rest of the area. It shouldn’t distract other items or hide behind them.
For example, when hanging a piece of art over a couch, strive to ensure it’s the same size as the item next to it. This will create a sense of balance and harmony. Alternatively, you can combine different sizes to scale, using the rule of three.
Use three pieces of art that are roughly the same size over a couch or other piece of furniture. These could be portraits, hanging sculptures, or paintings. Arrange them in a way that strikes a balance and fills the space that a single large print can cover. The idea is to ensure the pieces are in scale with the closest furniture they counterbalance.
Motifs
Choosing your patterns, motif, or style is the best starting point in determining the piece of art use. For example, you can have food motifs in the kitchen where all the artwork reflects different kinds of food. If you love music, choose pieces that reflect this passion for your bedroom or happy place.
It’s all about having a theme that connects to the purpose of the room in question. The motif you choose could also stretch out to the rest of the house if you so wish.
Matching
Avoid buying a piece of artwork just because it matches the color of your couch. However, always consider the materials and the dominating colors before you display any piece. Try as much as possible to correlate the styles and colors with other existing décor in the room.
For example, a room with red-colored walls and several red and orange accent pieces will do well with a red painting. It also helps if the picture has some accents of brown or orange. A tapestry with those colors will also do well as a stand-alone piece to complement the rest of the room.
Hang Low
Hanging your art pieces low creates a unique visual effect. As a guide in hanging low, the bottom of the piece of work should be only 16 inches above your furniture. The idea is to ensure the heart of your piece is at a level where it easily captures attention. If the pieces are different in size, the guideline should apply to all of them. This will help you create a harmonious design statement.
If you don’t want to hang your art pieces, you can lean them against the wall. Shelves and fireplaces provide an excellent focal point, especially in the living room. Floors are a great backdrop too, especially if your pieces are large and framed. Placing the pieces on the floor tones down the ambience and creates a welcoming atmosphere.
Don’t Forget the Bathroom
It’s easy to overlook the bathroom when accenting your house with pieces of work. The bathroom can be the best art gallery and the perfect place to hang those quirky art pieces. This is the space that allows you to get a little crazy and to show off your personality. Your guests can stare as long as they want on those pieces that seem a little bit uncomfortable at first.
Final Thoughts
Are you art shy but would like to try your hand at decorating your home with artistic pieces? The above guidelines will help you in choosing and displaying your creative side. Once you find articles you can resonate with, let nothing hold you back when displaying them.
