There are many different steps involved throughout the interior design process. Not only will you need to decide which furniture and surfaces are ideal for your home, you will also need to choose some tasteful artwork that can tie the room together.
Because art is easy to adjust and is available in a wide variety of different forms, many interior designers would suggest choosing your luxury furniture first and then begin making final decisions about the art that you include. Good artwork will be able to “match” the other components of the room while still making a statement of its own.
For the lack of a better word, selecting artwork for your interior space is an art of its own right. With so many different art forms to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to begin your search. However, by keeping just a few important variables in mind, making a choice that is appropriate for your space should become significantly easier.
In this article, we will discuss everything you need to know about choosing art that can effectively match your luxury furniture. By making objectively tasteful decisions, you can help add even more value to the luxury furniture that you’ve already purchased.
Choose an Art Style that is Compatible with Your Furniture Style
For thousands of years, the term “art” has been rapidly evolving. Art itself has gone through various important movements and, unsurprisingly, the development of the luxury furniture industry has often paralleled that of the international art community.
Even if you feel that your furniture does not really possess a specific “style”, you may be surprised to learn just how influenced by art your furniture design may have been. Things such as textures, lines, shapes, and forms may have all be selected in accordance with an overarching aesthetic theory.
Recently, the “post-modern” art movement has focused on deconstructing traditional forms and creating unconventional alternatives. Naturally, if your luxury furniture is characterized by a lack of traditional structure, then post-modern or contemporary art will be an appropriate choice.
On the other hand, even new luxury furniture might match art forms from a previous era. If your furniture has a rigid, traditional style, then you may want to consider using impressionist paintings or other art forms from an early time. Furthermore, furniture that utilizes a large amount of right angles and straight lines may go well with art from the cubist movement of the early 1900s.
Be Sure to Think About Space and Light
Space and light are also important things to think about when selecting artwork. If you want your artwork to get the level of admiration that it deserves, then it will be important to position the artwork in a place where it will be well-lit and relatively void of other distractions.
When shopping around for artwork—whether online, at an art gallery, or even at the place that you initially purchased your luxury furniture from—you should account for both the size of the room as well as the furniture that occupies it. For example, putting a small 12 inch by 12 inch painting on a full wall of its own may look rather odd. This painting would likely work much better in a more condensed space.
On the other hand, putting a massive mural in a relatively small room (or a room that contains a large amount of furniture) can often overwhelm the viewer. As is the case with many things in the art world, paying attention to balance is absolutely fundamental.
In terms of lighting, both the natural light that is coming in from the windows and the light that is being produced within the room will affect where your artwork should go. Shadows, glares, and other sources of visual distractions should all be paid attention to. If you are having difficulty creating an art display that can be viewed as designed, you may want to consider purchasing “art lights” that are sized for your specific space.
Focus on Color Coordination
As you would probably expect, color is one of the most important things to think about when you are selecting artwork. Though it is true that not everything in the room will need to be a direct match—for example, an “all yellow” room may be too bright—you should at least assure that non-matching colors can complement each other.
There are many different aesthetic theories when it comes to experimenting with color. The one that will be most appropriate for the space you’re working with will be largely dependent on your personal preferences.
· Juxtaposing bright artwork (especially white) against dark surfaces can help bring some aesthetic balance to your room
· Using complementary colors—red and green, purple and yellow, orange and blue—allows you to explore the opposite ends of the color wheel
· Focusing on Earth tones—green, brown, tan, beige, etc.—can help create a very natural feel
Because it is much easier to change artwork than it is to redesign your furniture, your luxury furniture should lead the color scheme while the rest of the artwork follows. However, if you already own a piece of artwork that you feel especially connected to, then it will certainly be possible for you to reverse this component of the interior design process.
You may also want to focus on a specific theme that is not tied to any specific colors. For example, art-deco is a 20th Century style that can effectively tie together items of various different colors.
Be Willing to Invest in Quality Frames
One of the components of the art shopping process that many people seem to overlook is the importance of choosing an appropriate frame. The frame, in essence, is a “transition zone” that will connect your artwork with the rest of the room. Consequently, when selecting a frame, you will want to choose something that matches the artwork as well as the various other components of the room itself.
Art from the modern and pre-modern era is often adorned with complex, detailed, and sometimes ornate frames. These frames may have intricate patterns and are frequently colored gold. However, a frame such as this would be completely inappropriate for a contemporary art piece with minimalistic elements. This is why accounting for both the artwork and the room containing it is so fundamentally important.
When choosing a frame for your art, you will also need to think about where the piece will be installed. For example, nailing into hard surfaces may not be worth the effort. Choosing a wide open space on your walls or somewhere that can easily be accessed will make the installation process much easier. This principle, naturally, applies to unframed works of art as well.
Conclusion
Purchasing luxury furniture for your home can be very exciting. However, without a comprehensive interior design scheme, your furniture will be unable to realize its full value. Fortunately, by carefully choosing just a few coordinated works of art, your space can transform into a visually appealing masterpiece. Navigating the art market may be easier than you initially assumed. By paying attention to things such as space, light, frames, colors, and themes, selecting art capable of matching your luxury furniture can be a very streamlined process.
