One of, if not the most difficult room of the home to decorate is your living room. Not only is it likely to be the place you spend the majority of your free time whilst at home, but it is also the place where most people will choose to socialize and interact with their visitors, too. These are both great reasons to add a generous splash of artwork to your living room, and paintings make a fantastic choice.
Why Decorate the Living Room with Art?
Artwork adds character to any room in which you place it, and paintings are one of the best ways to finish off your room. Light walls are very popular these days – they reflect the greatest amount of natural light and create the maximum amount of contrast between your furnishings and the surrounding space.
The problem is the lack of color can also feel very bland – adding paintings to your walls makes a huge difference. When combined with the right choice of furniture, your living room can take on its own unique feel – contemporary, classical, fusion, whatever environment makes you feel the most comfortable. If you live in an apartment block with identical plans for each floor, this can feel especially important.
Art is the Ultimate Conversation Starter
Your choice of artwork and paintings for the living room offers a window into your personality. People sometimes love to decorate their rooms with images they associate with their favorite hobbies and pastimes – space and our planet are one common choice, with animals and nature or general landscapes being another.
Others might have more classical tastes and prefer to collect artworks from a specific period such as the renaissance era, romanticist works, or more modern pieces. Some might prefer an art piece from a particular place like the vinces saddle Tasmanian art. There is no right or wrong type of painting to choose – think of your collection as a window into your personality and make it something you are proud of!
Coordinating Your Paintings
If you do have light colored walls, it will be difficult to choose something that looks out of place… until you add the furniture to the room. Choosing paintings that complement your room and its furnishings can be tricky, but if you are unsure technology can help!
Augmented reality software for smartphones and especially larger screen devices such as tablets allows you to physically see how a painting will look before you purchase it, which can save you from making an expensive mistake when you are looking at purchasing paintings for sale.
Choosing pieces which complement each other can also mean choosing paintings that contrast one another, too. For example, if you have a grey rug in front of the fire, a black and white painting may look best mounted above it – on the other hand, strong colors that contrast sharply can make a good choice too. If you are struggling to fit a piece that you really like into your room, you could also look for a frame that creates an interesting boundary between the artwork and the surrounding area. Where there’s a will, there is usually a way.
Grouping paintings together into a display can often be more impactful than hanging a single painting on its own. One larger painting surrounded by several smaller ones in an irregular pattern is one option that can look great, but again, if you think it looks good then it surely cannot be wrong.
Avoiding Mistakes
Be sure to place your paintings somewhere they can be fully enjoyed – this means ensuring you choose pieces of the right size first, so that they can be positioned correctly. You don’t want to spend a whole bundle of cash on artwork and then have them stuck in a corner where you have to stand up by the wall or peer around a bookcase to enjoy them properly!
To be sure of balancing the beauty of your art with the room as a whole, measure the dimensions of your walls before you make any purchases. Measure the size of your furniture and any other major features of the room as well, and when making a purchase try and choose something roughly 2/3 to 3/4 the size of the wall or other element you are intending to position the new piece nearby.
Think of it like buying a tailored suit vs. one just off a rack – the difference between a properly proportioned room and something that has just been thrown together in a hurry is plain to see.
Finally, consider the light sources in the room before placing your new paintings as well. Colorful works will always look better when illuminated by natural light sources, and whilst that isn’t always possible, try and take advantage of this if you can. With that, good luck finding your perfect paintings!
Article Submitted By Community Writer
