Contrary to popular perception, art is essential to human existence. There is a primal drive within all of us to have beauty in our lives, and this beauty is a key element in transforming a house into a home. Where furniture choices, layouts, and colour schemes create the structure of your living space, it is the art that brings life and a sense of humanity into it.
What’s more, incorporating artwork can also directly enhance your home’s functionality, directing the energy and even the spatial dynamics of your environment. Because artworks influence our mood and how we perceive space, they have a very real effect on how well your home works for you. Let’s examine some of the ways the clever use of art can leave you with a more beautiful and livable home:
1. Provide Strong Focal Points
Artworks can serve as focal points in a room, providing a strong structure for other objects that you want to put in the same space. A strategically placed gallery wall or an interesting sculpture can instantly ground a room and make it more interesting.
2. Define Spaces
Open-plan living areas like studio apartments are tricky to delineate because of the lack of dividing walls. While there are plenty of tricks for divvying up these spaces, wall art remains the quintessential solution for creating different zones without the need for physical barriers. For instance, a large, food-themed canvas can separate the dining area from the living room, while a series of smaller pieces set up as a gallery can delineate a workspace within a bedroom.
3. Enhance Colour Schemes
Artworks can also serve to complement or contrast with a room’s existing colour palette, giving it a much more coherent vibe than it would otherwise. This approach to artwork use can be a bit restricting because you are committing to just a few colours, but it can also result in a room that is visually harmonious in an especially striking way.
4. Add Texture and Depth
Incorporating art in various mediums, such as textiles, ceramics, or mixed media, adds texture, depth, and interest to a room. These tactile elements can help build up the sensory experience of a space, making it appear less stark and more homey.
5. Create Thematic Continuity
Using a series of artworks with a common theme, colour, or style creates a sense of continuity throughout your home, providing a cohesive narrative that flows from one space to the next. Regardless of whether you pick abstracts, photographs, or quirky illustrations, the art selections you make for your whole home provide a strong statement about who you are, giving your home a unique personality.
6. Improve Acoustics
Large canvases or tapestries can absorb sound and help soften noise in a room. This can help improve the ambience of the space, making it feel cosier and more intimate. This is particularly useful in echo-ey homes with high ceilings or hard flooring.
7. Enhance Lighting
Artworks can break up direct lighting and create a more interesting interplay of light in a room. A well-lit painting can brighten up a dim corner, while reflective surfaces in sculptures can catch and disperse light, creating dynamic visual effects.
8. Make Small Spaces Feel Larger
Strategically placed art can make small rooms feel larger. For example, a piece with a strong perspective or vanishing point can draw the eye outwards, giving the illusion of more space. Similarly, a gallery wall full of lighter-coloured pastels can create a feeling of expansiveness within a smaller room.
9. Promote Future Creative Endeavours
We may not realise it, but there are parts of our homes where a boost in creativity is often welcome. Home offices, studios, and kitchens are particularly apt places to display inspiring artworks that stimulate your imagination.
10. Offer Easy Conversation Starters
Unique or thought-provoking artworks often spark unforgettable conversations. If you enjoy hosting people, choosing interesting pieces will make your home a more inviting space for social interactions.
11. Hide Small Imperfections
Art can be used to cleverly disguise flaws in your home, such as cracks in the wall or awkwardly placed electrical junction boxes. Gallery walls are an especially fun way to draw attention away from these imperfections, effectively turning problem areas into displays that complete your home.
12. Increase Your Property’s Value
Lastly, a selection of quality artworks can help showcase the potential of your property, increasing its value. Well-curated spaces can make a positive lasting impression, adding to the appeal and perceived worth of your home.
Bring More Functionality Out of Your Home with Better Art
As we’ve pointed out, art doesn’t have to be purely decorative. Because of the way it influences our senses, it can unlock a significantly deeper level of functionality in your living spaces, adding much to your quality of life. Being intentional and going beyond simple aesthetics in your art selections may just be what you need to do to design a home that really speaks and works for you.