Turn Your House into a Home with Art

Art can bring beauty, joy, vibrancy, and serenity into your home. It places your dreams, personality, attitude and beliefs onto your walls for the world to see, and soothes the soul by surrounding you with what you love. Art is definitely worth the time, consideration, and investment but how do you make sure you are choosing something you love that fits your space and budget? Keep these tips in mind when shopping for, and hanging art, so your home is picture perfect.

Hone In On What You Love

Whether you adore abstract, have a penchant for portraits, or prefer pop art, there is something for everyone when it comes to choosing art. Remember, art is subjective, and it is important that you love (as you should love all you bring into your home) what you put on your walls. In fact, there are so many time periods and techniques to choose from - the world is your oyster when it comes to selecting art for your home. You also don't need to have a blue chip budget to fill your home with 'good' art. Think prints, giclees, tiles, plates, mirrors, and textiles too. Often how you arrange the items on your wall is the art in and of itself.

Think Opposites

Your art does not have to 'match' your home...I repeat "your art does not have to match your home." Have you ever walked into a home, or seen one in your favourite magazine or insta post, and been wowed by its composition. It most likely has some tension that is creating visual interest. In fact, homes become more interesting when there is tension and juxtaposition as it creates visual interest, depth and layers. When a room reads one note (everything is the same style, time period, etc.) it can make a room feel flat. How do we solve this? With art! Have a contemporary home...try still life or classic portraits in a gilt frame. Traditional home...add contemporary art with vibrant colours or black and white photography to keep it current and fresh.

Play With Scale and Size

There are two big trends in art right now...oversized and micro art. Oversized art is perfect for larger rooms with sofas and sectionals as it anchors the room and fills up the wall, whereas micro art acts like an exclamation point drawing focus and attention to a special piece of furniture or a corner with a beautiful sculpture. Its intentionally scaled-down proportions allows you to embrace negative space which is often overlooked in the decorating world. Go with a textured piece if you want softness or make a statement with organic shapes that creates contrast in a bold colour. Consider matching the frame colour with other colours or metallics that are found throughout the room. And if you want to go even larger than oversized, try a mural! Whether hand-painted or done in a gorgeous wall covering, murals create an atmosphere that will transport you into another world. Remember: when using wallpaper treat your wall as though it is only painted and hang your artwork on top to create more layers and depth (visual interest!!!)

Think in Two's or Three's

Diptychs and triptychs are a centuries-old art technique that were used for religious iconography in churches and cathedrals in the Middle Ages. Still relevant today, they offer a creative continuation of art when two or more individually framed pieces are hung together. Depending on the scale of the art and where it is being placed, hang each panel at eye level (see more on that below) with two to six inches between each panel, depending on the size of the art.

Create a Collection

Gallery walls can feel intimidating but they don't have to be. Plan the layout by tracing your art selection on brown paper or cardboard and tape these cutouts on the wall to play with configuration before you start nailing into the wall. Keep the frames all matching to be safe or go bold and mix and match. You don't have to stay married to a gallery wall. A great gallery wall could be a collection that takes years of adding to.





Think beyond traditional art for your gallery wall. Sid Dickens Memory Blocks are collectible tiles that can be arranged in many ways. This Vancouver-based company has been making collectible memory block tiles for more than 30 years and Beige has carried these since 2007. These treasures become keepsakes for years to come.

So The Art is Selected, Now How Do You Hang it?

- Always follow any instructions that come with the artwork from the artist or manufacturer. Art when framed can be heavy and may require certain hooks and anchors to properly distribute the weight. When possible, hang heavy artwork directly into a stud.
- Keep the centre of the artwork (or collection) eye level - around 60" from the floor to the centre of the artwork is a good height.
- Hanging art over a sofa? Make sure it is at least 2/3rds the width of your sofa.
- Have a larger art collection that you want to change regularly? Install a gallery hanging system that allows you to hang artwork on wires that can accommodate various sizes of artwork that you can hang at different heights.
- Think of lighting too. Highlight beautiful artwork with overhead gallery lighting or a sconce.
- Most importantly, have fun! Art has a notion of being pretentious and is taken too seriously. Buy what you love and enjoy it for years to come.