How to Select Stunning Artwork
You don’t need a million dollars to create an “art home.”
Find out my secrets for sourcing unique artwork around the world.
When I work with interior design clients who are art collectors or who have “art homes,” I always advise them to have a completely separate budget for artwork. Specifying fine art alone can run 10s, if not 100s, of thousands of dollars, and I want to be sure I have enough of a budget left over for furniture--otherwise, my clients will be living in the equivalent of an art museum with no place to sit and watch Netflix!
However, if you don’t have a fortune to spend on artwork, don’t despair. Neither do I, and I want to share with you my design hacks for specifying special, unique, and meaningful art for a fraction of the price. Are you ready to take notes?
Here are a few artful rules to live by.
Never buy artwork just to fill up space. I’d much rather see a blank wall waiting for the perfect piece than a hastily-placed piece of crappy commercial art. Less is more. Think quality over quantity.
Your artwork doesn’t need to match the design. (It can, but it absolutely doesn’t need to.) When selecting art, pick pieces you love and want to live with for years, rather than the piece that matches your sofa the best. You can have a perfectly polished traditional design scheme with crazy cool contemporary art--and guess what? It works!
When you have a large wall to fill but can’t afford a giant canvas, try a gallery wall instead. Come up with a common theme for the frames, colors, or subject matter, and then go to town!
Meaning matters more than price. Rather than stock up on mass-produced art at the local home goods store (that your neighbors are likely to have), try finding more unique pieces from:
Antique shops
Flea markets
Street vendors
Small boutiques and galleries
Art shows or art fairs
Online art collectives
And the best place of all -- on your travels!!!
5. Art as a souvenir. The best art I own I found from local artists in obscure places around the globe. A gorgeous landscape from a painter on the side of a cliff in Santorini. A depiction of two tango dancers painted onto sheet music mounted on plywood in La Boca, Buenos Aires. A print of a Christian Dior drawing at a fashion exhibition at the V&A in London. Or papercut art I discovered in a street market in the heart of Shanghai. The list goes on and on, but every time I catch a glimpse of those pieces of my wall, I smile because they bring back memories of my favorite thing to do -- travel and explore this beautiful world!
