Fifteenth Musing: “Moving Your Existing Art to Create a New Look in your Space”
In the last musing I talked about reframing your existing artwork to create a new look for your room. Now I’ll give you some ideas of how to rearrange an existing art collection to create other new looks for your home.
Let’s suppose you are the owner of 16 pieces of beautiful and eclectic art: photography, plein air, abstract, realism, intuitive, neo-expressionism. Some art pieces are framed, others are not. Many are boldly colored, others are quiet. Frames vary in style and color. But you love them all and each one speaks to a different part of who you are.
Can you make this work? Of course! This is where the fun comes in. You can lay them out on the floor and play with shifting them around in different groupings until you like what you see. You could use a software application specially designed to allow you to create various art placements. You could ask a designer from The Smith Gallery and Fine Custom Framing to assist you in art placement. No matter which of these options you decide on, all of your walls will showcase your art perfectly no matter your wall color, room size, or style of furniture.
Are there rules? Well, we all know what they say about rules. The end result of your art placement should be something that pleases you and the options are almost limitless.
Let’s start with a grouping from your art collection and place it on a living room wall.
Note that the outer two on each end are framed in different styles and the rest of the art is unframed. The framing helps to create a frame around the entire wall. In the next example, the art has remained the same but the color of the wall has changed which creates a different impact. Picture how this could look using various colors on the wall.
Maybe you would prefer to showcase your plein air pieces, along with other framed pieces in your collection against your newly painted yellow living room wall. You now have a totally different look, using another part of your art collection.
Perhaps you have a smaller sitting room and would like to move two of your art pieces into that space to create a simple but attractive environment. You’ve created the perfect spot to curl up with a book and a cup of tea.
An even smaller alcove space takes on two very different looks by hanging different art works from your collection. In the first arrangement the two paintings used are very subtle in color and add a lightness to the area to play off the mustard yellow chair. All you need are a few sculptures or pottery pieces on the tables to add extra color and dimension to balance the deep hue of the leather chair. In the second arrangement a heavier look was achieved by using two framed pieces that bring out the golden tones in the chair. Again, the use of sculpture or colorful bouquets of flowers placed on the tables will tie this all together.
In creating these two dining rooms, two different groupings from your collection, with different hanging styles, were used to create two separate and bold styles. Different wall colors will again add a different impact.
Another dining room furniture selection and room layout are used to create two very distinct and different groupings. Both of these room designs show how to mix abstract, plein air, realism, and photography in one room on different walls.
Bedrooms, hallways, even the bathrooms can get a new life by hanging art pieces from your collection. With 16 pieces of art various combinations have been made that could begin to fill the walls of your home in unique, totally personal art groupings.
Have fun, be creative, and create totally new looks for your home simply by rearranging your art!
The art used for these room views is by artists Peg Belcastro, Elide Hower, Susan Getty, Sten, Gail Walden Coleman, Jeanney Wharton, Karen Morton, Julie Riker, and Stuart Leask.
The artistic staff at The Smith Gallery and Fine Custom Framing can assist you with any questions on room size, furniture arrangement, wall colors, framing, and placement of your existing art work, but beware you may see a few more pieces that you want to add to your exisiting collection.
Please visit the The Smith Gallery to view more art by these artists and many other talented artists. View the YouTube channel ArtTalks2u for The Smith Gallery Art Talks.