In the Pompidou Gallery in Paris there are three blank canvases on the wall, nothing on them, just a trio of plain white squares surrounded by people making faces conveying deep thought and occasionally letting out quiet 'hmmms'.
High art is apparently very complicated and only those in the know can truly appreciate it. But having the right artwork can make a space feel comfortable, personal, calming or even more exciting. So how can you succeed in picking the best art where the curators of Paris failed?
Narrow down a style
To find the right art for your space you can pick a general style then narrow it down to find something that fits well in the room. With most property developments, more modern style art works best, it’d be a bit jarring to have a renaissance fresco on the wall next to your ultra-modern kitchen. Try starting with anything from abstract, contemporary or pop art.
Desenio Abstract | Contemporary | Pop Art
Look & Feel
Found a style you like? Perfect. Now let’s grab some pieces that match or complement the space it’s going to be in. Have a look at the colour palette of the room and the patterns or textures used, does the room have sharp, clean lines or is it more sumptuous and soft? Once you have a feel for the space, try to find art that gives you the same feeling, or if the space is too much of something (sharp or cold etc) look for something that contrasts.
Size matters
How big is A0 anyway? Having found the piece or pieces that are going to sit in your property beautifully, you might find that there are a million and one size options to choose from. How big or small should your artwork be? Our talented mates over at roost - Interior Design told us:
"Artwork is best appreciated at eye level... which translates to 6-8 inches above any furniture. This can feel low but will keep them anchored to the piece below, rather than floating on the wall. As a general size guide, artwork should take up around 2/3 of the width of whatever it sits above. If you’ve got a big space to fill but your budget doesn’t stretch to lots of oversized prints, using a large mount or piece of paper behind will increase the size and make the piece look more expensive."
And if you’ve got loads of small prints and want to do a gallery wall, their advice was…
“Plan your wall before you start either with tape and paper on the wall itself or laying out the frames on the floor to avoid making more holes than necessary! Starting with the hero piece in the middle and working outwards is always a good place to start if you’ve got lots of different sized frames.”
Where to look
Armed with your newfound art knowledge you’re ready to venture out into the world and find affordable artwork, but where should you look? Here’s a few of our favourite places.
Junique: https://www.juniqe.co.uk/
I am FY: https://www.iamfy.co/
Desenio: https://desenio.co.uk/
Artesta: https://artesta.co.uk/
Rotate and Reuse
It can be expensive to buy all new art every time you do a development, but unless you’re developing Serviced Accommodation (where the art should stay) you can reuse the pieces you buy, not just from property to property but from room to room. This works especially well in HMO’s where you can buy a few pieces that work well together, move them around for the marketing photos and then take them away ready for the next one.
Send your snaps to our instagram of all the beautiful artwork you've selected for your projects - we love to see them!
