Choosing the Right Artwork for Your Home
As a recent first-time home owner, I understand the overwhelming feeling of what to do next once all the unpacking and necessary little upgrades like replacing electrical outlets which I tend to label as “bo-ring” are done.
While I don’t consider myself a professional interior decorator, I have been successful in one aspect: I’ve found my “style.” I know this because when I sit in my living room to enjoy something as simple as a glass of water, I still look around and smile. I can honestly say, “I love my house.” My goal today is to help you get to that happy place, too.
In my opinion, the foundation of any interior home décor style is the artwork. The general feeling of the room, the theme, the lines, the colors, even the shapes can all be inspired by the type of artwork you choose to display.
But before you go picking up some random painting that appears nice at first, you must first determine your style. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as shopping for shoes and purses; I was shocked at how difficult and different it was shopping for home things. Most likely, you are not the only one living in your house, and most likely, you won’t all have the same taste either.
So here is my number one tip: Sit down with the other member(s) of your household and discuss what you want the inside of your house to look like and feel like, and then, find some common ground. For example, what colors does everyone agree on as calming? And believe it or not, people can have very different opinions on what “neutral” means!
Once you find commonalities, you’re ready to begin decorating. The commonality I chose was mine and my husband’s matching taste in music. One day while blog surfing, I stumbled upon www.postercabaret.com which sells original poster art from live concerts. Eureka! I was able to find incredible concert posters from several of our favorite bands, and at reasonable prices, too. The artwork ranged from bright geometric shapes to wistful watercolors to retro 80s. I framed the posters separately, but against the same neutral background and with complementary frames. Once they were hung with picture hangers, I referenced colors in the posters to match certain pieces within each room. For example, the frame around our giant mirror which hangs over the fireplace is painted the same Homer Simpson yellow as the geometric shapes in the Sandstone Saturday Tour featuring The Killers poster hanging directly across the room.
From this point, I’m confident you’ll hit a stride, and it might even come natural to you! Good luck, and happy decorating.
Tags: Better, happy decorating, home, Ideas, Improvement, picture hangers, Tips
May 6th, 2010 at 4:50 am
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.