Home decor is all the rage, and creating the perfect home -- whether it's country shabby chic, modern and fresh, or traditional and nostalgic -- is in the spotlight. From HGTV to the New York interior design gurus, there's someone out there to tell you how to do it. And while it may be comforting to be given step by step instructions on interior design, whenever we slavishly follow another person's fashion sense, we're not living according to who we are and what we like.
There's a strong possibility that the home we wind up with is one we don't feel comfortable living in.
Nowhere is the pressure to conform to other people's standards stronger than with artwork -- wall decor -- which to many high end interior fashion designers is no more than "the cherry on top." It's that last element popped in once the sofa, throw pillows, and area rug are in place, and because its principle function is to match the rest of the room, what it actually is doesn't matter.
But artwork on the walls isn't just a home accent. Artwork makes a personal statement about the person who owns it, because it reflects what that person likes or dislikes, is passionate about, and finds meaningful and significant.
Or it should.
If you're looking to add artwork to your home, and you're feeling overwhelmed and confused, then consider these five commonsense approaches:
Buy What You Like
Buying what you like sounds so painfully obvious that it's not worth mentioning, but since it's generally the last element that professional celebrity design experts actually recommend, it's worth putting at the top. "Experts" may lip the words, "buy what you like," but it's in conjunction with the options they give you, which generally match and coordinate with their paint, furniture, home accents, and rug choices.
Years worth of badgering by an elitist art community have reduced people's confidence in knowing what they like, because every time they said, "I don't understand this painting, and I certainly can't figure out why it's worth $35 million dollars," they were told: "That's because you're ignorant. Only intelligent people can grasp why this work is superior to others."
It doesn't take much of that attitude to cow people. The attitude continues today, on a gentler note, when TV design celebrities tell viewers, "This large, swirling abstract is the PERFECT thing for your dining room. It has so much EMOTION and ATTITUDE and SOPHISTICATION."
Because very few people possess the confidence to admit -- even to themselves -- that they don't see any emotion and attitude and sophistication in a work that strongly resembles splatters of paint, they acquiesce. And they wind up with an artwork that constantly confounds them, and reminds them of how little they (are told that) they know or understand.
This is a misuse and misunderstanding of fine art. Paintings and drawings are meant to convey emotion and meaning, but unless the viewer connects with the work somehow, the meaning doesn't come through. Because we are all different, we are drawn to different approaches, subject matter, styles, and images, and the first, primary, and most important step in getting the right artwork into our home is choosing works that we like. We don't have to explain why we like the artwork-- we just have to like it.
Free Yourself from Being Forced to Buy an Abstract
Abstract art, which is misleadingly named "modern" art, consists of colors, lines, forms and shapes set in a composition that do not necessarily reflect visually recognizable images. Its polar opposite is representational art, which does exactly what its name implies: it looks like something -- a landscape, an ocean, a person, a vase of flowers. Representational art can be as accurate looking as a photograph, or looser and more flowing like an impressionist work, but the key aspect is that the image is recognizable. And because the image is recognizable, people can "grasp" onto it more readily than random colors and lines.
Obviously, this is a simplistic explanation. There is a place in the world for abstract, representational, and everything in between art, but in the design world, abstract reigns. Because there is no central imagery, abstract art does not "interfere" with the coordination of all the design elements, which is so paramount to TV- and New York-based interior design rules. When the central purpose of your artwork is to match the sofa and rug, then having an art print that pulls in the colors fulfills this mission.
But it does not necessarily fulfill the goal of adding meaning to your life, or bringing a smile to your face when you walk by, and causing you to meditate and think every time you see the artwork. For this goal, representational art is the best choice.
And because this choice so personally reflects who and what you are, it is one that must be made by you -- not the designer. This goes back to point number 1 -- which is always the most important one: buy what you like. Trust your own instincts. Do not allow others to tell you what you like, or what you should like, even if your decision will "mess up" the contours and balance of the room. Which brings us to a third major point:
Your Artwork Does Not Have to Match Your Sofa and Throw Rug
When it comes to artwork and interior home design, there's an either/or proposition that you eventually have to face, and decide upon.
Is it more important that everything in your home matches? If so, then go for artwork that pulls in colors from your furniture, area rugs, and accent pillows.
Or is it more important that the items in your home reflect the personality and tastes of the people who live in it? If this is so, then accept the fact that not everything will match, because you will fall in love with something -- an artwork, a throw pillow, a vase, a chair -- that does not go with the rest of the elements of the room.
As with any choice that includes two differing elements, there is the possibility of compromise, but every compromise comes at a cost. Realistically, one of the two elements will prevail over the other, and in today's world of interior design, matchie-matchie trumps personality. Because it is your own home you're dealing with, you hold the final decision over which choice wins, and hopefully, the choice will be one you're happy with, whether or not your designer is.
While we all admire magazine spreads and images of beautiful homes and wish that our own places looked like that, we also have to recognize the concept of a photo shoot: many of these rooms are set up for the magazine or blog, and even if they do represent the real homes of real people, they don't always look that way. In the process of living somewhere, we leave around books, clothes, coffee mugs, shoes, and whatever else we were using five minutes ago, and our real homes have to seem and be livable when these real elements are introduced.
When the elements of our home are chosen solely for design purposes and not with our personal tastes in mind, then it's difficult to live, comfortably and naturally, with the result.
Buy Slowly
When you stop seeing artwork as just another home decor item, something that needs to match the chairs and rug and paint color, then you free yourself from the panic of having to fill up the whole house, quickly, with artwork. Whether you're starting with new construction or renovating an existing home, the entire project does not have to be done at once before you live in the space.
Obviously, you don't want to live with exposed wires or unpainted sheetrock, but as we've been seeing, artwork does not fall into this category. Artwork and home decor items are highly personal, and because they are so highly personal, they take time to acquire (if we don't already have them), and incorporate into our space.
Enjoy the process -- it's supposed to be fun. Look around for the perfect piece, and when it comes to budget, be flexible. Not all of the works need to be original paintings, nor do they need to be prints (something you'll be tempted to do because you're buying too much at one time, and there's not enough money to go around). When you go slowly and budget in your wants, you'll find that an original painting isn't out of your reach, and a flexible artist will work with you to make payments. If you're unsure of the difference between an original painting and a print, or the difference between a limited edition and open edition print, the highlighted articles talk about this.
Leave Space on Your Walls
One of the first thing graphic artists learn is that space is a beautiful thing. While we're tempted to fill everything empty with text and images, the human eye enjoys a rest, and a little space goes a long way. The same philosophy applies to your home.
One of the recent trends in interior home design has been the gallery wall -- lots and lots of smaller artworks set together on a wall, supposedly to create visual interest. Individual tastes vary, but one of the pitfalls of the gallery wall is a tendency for things to look cluttered, not to mention sloppy if the arrangement of a picture or two goes awry, and everything doesn't hang straight.
Avoiding this is easy by limiting artwork selection to one larger piece, or a larger piece and a medium sized one, or a couple smaller pieces. Not only does this provide space for the artwork to shine, it also decreases the amount you must buy, easing the budget. The benefit of buying slowly, as we mentioned above, is that we can also buy better, investing in a few choice pieces, well placed and lovingly appreciated, as opposed to bunches and bunches of stuff we bought just to fill up space, and don't really connect to.
Love Your Home and Live in It
It all boils down to this: it's your home.
You're the one who lives in it, and you're probably the one responsible for paying for the renovation, decor, and design services. And while it's fine to seek the services of professionals who know what they're doing and are good at it, we do so ALWAYS recognizing that our opinions matter as well. You're an intelligent person with likes and dislikes, and it's time you started listening to yourself more.
An article complementing this one is How to Avoid the Outdated, Trendy Home at the Wenaha Gallery website. Another article of interest is Why Regular People Are Better Art Buyers Than Fabulously Rich People.
And why is the storm so special when it takes place in the country? Indeed, all rain storms possess that element of wild expectancy, that unleashing of nature which reminds us that we humans do not rule the earth, though some members of the race do their best to control the finances, food, and thoughts of others, and indeed, don't see control of weather as beyond their clever fingers, either.