Styling with Art
5 Tips to enhance your interior
As a child I wanted to be a fashion designer and I dreamed up countless outfits sketched enthusiastically on hundreds of sheets of paper. In my teens I discovered that I didn’t enjoy sewing as much as I enjoyed designing but it still made perfect sense that in my 20s I fell into work in the design and fashion worlds whilst pursuing my own creative projects. My first job out of art school was as a visual merchandiser for a high end Furniture retailer where I was in charge of the wall colours, artworks, furniture layout, ie. the interior design, of the three story showroom. Following this job I worked in fashion essentially as a personal shopper styling outfits tailored specifically to clients. Today, I am an artist predominately painting in oils still with this love and appreciation for styling and design. Visual stimuli can dramatically affect our mood, our concentration and our well being. A poorly designed space can make us feel tense, overwhelmed and literally give us a headache whilst a considered space can make us feel relaxed, inspired, energised or welcomed into an indulgent environment of luxury.
Nothing can beat the insight and creativity of an inspired Interior Designer but if you cannot access one or relish a DIY opportunity here are some tips to help you enhance your interior with art.
CONSIDER THE COLOUR PALETTE
Whether we’re styling a fashion outfit or styling an interior colour combinations play a key role in whether things visually look cohesive and considered or sloppy and chaotic.
Depending on your style and your goals for the space (how you want it to make you feel when you walk in) there may be various colours and colour combinations that appeal to you. Here are some suggestions and considerations that can be applied regardless of with the colour/s you adore:
Monochrome. A monochrome colour scheme involves picking one colour as a predominant visual theme and sticking to that throughout the space. It does not all have to be the same shade of colour (you may for example, do a Monochrome scheme in various shades of blue - blue walls, a painting of a turquoise ocean, navy sofa, light blue rug etc).
Stick to 2-3 key colours. I’m always making mental notes of colours that I see in the world that look great together and to a large degree it really depends on the shade of the colours. Red and green look incredible together but if it’s a particular shade of the two suddenly it no longer looks fashion forward and looks like Christmas (if you cannot get the idea of Christmas out of your mind think of a Green leather chesterfield armchair paired with a red Mahogany desk for a green and red that don’t look Christmas). When styling I pick two (max three) predominate colours that go well together and use neutral colours such as white, beige, nudes, soft blush etc to break it up.
In this setting the two key colours are blue and yellow. The blush of the cushion and lamp shade, light timber of the pot stand and light stone colours of the floor, rug, pot etc are neutral in comparison to the bright yellow and blue. All the colours in the setting can be seen in the painting and therefore the space visually ties together.
Tie the whole space together. Consider picking a ‘hero piece’ that will be the visual focus of the space and work the colour scheme around it. This could be a piece of feature art that you love, a collection of sculptures grouped together or a piece of furniture etc. Ideally when we walk into a space something captures our attention and draws us in and then our eyes travel to other details. If there isn’t a clear focal point we feel sensorially overwhelmed and unsure where to start focussing our attention and as a result the space can feel stressful and disorganised.
To tie everything together consider picking a colour from the hero piece of the room, e.g the art featured on the wall, and echo that colour through the space on items such as cushions, accessories, upholstery etc. When colours reference back to other elements in the space the interior looks considered and cohesive.
2. SCALE
Generally speaking larger works that fill more than 50% of available wall space instantly make the space look more high end (Available wall space is any exposed wall not already covered by furniture or lighting fittings etc). If a single artwork doesn’t fill the available wall space appropriately another option is to do a collage of works by grouping multiple pieces together e.g. two paintings side by side that read as a pair, or multiple paintings arranged that read as a singular group.
In open plan spaces artwork can help define areas much like placing a rug under a setting can visually frame and separate it from another. As a single wall in an open plan may span both the dining and living areas for example , consider artwork that fills most of the space above a key piece of furniture. For example, to define the Lounge space from the Dining area an Artwork that covers most of the wall above the lounge sofa may be appropriate whereas to define the dining area a work that’s no wider than the dining table and positioned above it will help frame the dining as a separate space.
Artwork that fills much of the available wall space looks more impressive and as though it was created for the room.
3. ORIENTATION
Considering both Scale and Orientation helps us work with and honour the proportions of the space. Choosing art that suits the orientation of available wall space will make the work look like it belongs and was specially made for the room. If there is a very tall ceiling for example a large artwork in a portrait orientation will fill the space vertically whereas the long rectangular wall space between the top of a sofa and a lower ceiling for example will be filled more appropriately with an artwork in landscape orientation. Multiple favourite artworks can also be grouped to fill the height or width of the available wall space.
Multiple pieces of art are grouped together to create a landscape profile.
4. TEXTURE
I was intrigued by a documentary I watched some time ago where an interior designer specialising in Feng Shui stated that for a space to feel balanced each of the five elements: wood, fire, metal, earth and water, need to be present. The materials, colours and subject matter of a painting can be a fantastic way to introduce one of the five elements into your space. For example the element of water can be addressed literally with a water feature or with a painting despicting water such as an ocean-scape, or more abstractly with artwork featuring wavy free form assymetric lines. Similarly, the element of Earth can be introduced with paintings of landscapes or with artwork that strongly features colours in earth tones such as green, brown or sand colours. Metal can be introduced with an artwork featuring gold leaf.
Having multiple textures in a space also makes the room more sensorially diverse and pleasing.
The five elements of Feng Shui: wood, fire, metal, earth and water can be included for a more balanced space.
For the element of Earth for example this can be achieved literally with plants, figuratively with artwork depicting landscapes or with art and design elements that have earth tones such as this painting predominated by browns.
5. LIGHTING
Something I noticed in Visual Merchandising is that a product looks as good as it is lit. It’s similar to taking a good photograph of ourselves - if the lighting isn’t great then we have small chances of the photograph looking good. An artwork properly lit will enhance its impact.
Lighting also helps establish what the focal point in the room is and where we should look. If the hero piece of the room is an impressive artwork for example but it’s lost in shadow whilst a down light illuminates a random spot of floor then that is a missed opportunity and doesn’t look great.
Lastly, Art is to be enjoyed and rules to be broken!
Whilst I hope the above provides a helpful starting point keep in mind the most inspiring, interesting and personable spaces are created by people who break tradition and do their own thing.
I hope you enjoy your space and enjoy your art!
*All artworks featured on this post were created by the Artist Cynthia Howard and are protected by copyright.
