"It's about what speaks to you": Displaying paintings, prints, textiles, and sculptures can all help create a fresh living space for the new year – here's how, according to the experts.
January is a popular time of year to refresh priorities – and perhaps our surroundings too, creating a new mood for a new year. New artworks can transform a living space, and also inspire future interests, intentions, or the desire for fresh goals. Even repositioning our existing paintings, prints, and photographs can revitalize a home and feel like a new start.
Imaginatively chosen and displayed art can both revive cherished memories and prompt feelings of wellbeing – and it can change the whole ambience of a space. Abstract art, for instance, evokes moods in a non-literal, suggestive way – a large painting or print dominated by loose, expressionistic mark-making can give a home a romantic, free-spirited feel, while a more hard-edged, graphic style gives a space a modern, urban feel.
Of course, when art is added to a home, it must coexist with furniture and homeware accumulated over time. Yet it needn't vie for attention with existing elements or get visually lost among them – it can be artfully displayed adjacent to homeware with similar qualities, for example echoing the bold, colorful pattern in a rug or the sensual curves of ceramics. And it can be shown with ephemera – from postcards to family snaps – to create aesthetically pleasing juxtapositions.
And introducing a new artwork into a room can make the space more cohesive, Goldhill adds. "Art offers an opportunity to link different design elements, such as contrasting materials or colors, in a space, ensuring it doesn't feel disjointed. A thoughtfully chosen piece of art can reflect or complement tones in fabrics or wood, tying the room's design together."
The buttercup yellow fireplace in Snow's living room has informed the choice of objects displayed on the mantelpiece and the art on the wall above it. A Balinese theatre mask representing a devil's head and a bust by artist Corin Johnson reminiscent of Marlene Dietrich, both of a similar height, stand at either end of the mantelpiece. Above it hangs an abstract painting featuring a pattern of yellow spots that echo the color of the fireplace. "I like the way the bust and mask balance each other and frame the painting," Snow tells the BBC.
But Snow doesn't see her combinations of objects as simply toning chromatically. "I don't want pieces to blend together so they lose their individual character, but so they enhance each other. I like to link colors but not obviously. I've got a sculpture of a violinist standing on a sulfur yellow table that picks up on a black pattern detail in a painting above it."
She also pairs very different pieces that nevertheless share the same motifs. In Snow's bedroom is a wooden headboard carved with flower shapes by her late husband, sculptor Richard Austin; above it is a painting of flowers.
Snow puts postcard-sized reproductions of paintings in inexpensive frames to elevate them and make them stand out. But for original artworks, she recommends investing in a professional framing service in order to preserve them well.
Eckholm also points out that while sculpture might be associated by many with monumental works in galleries, it has a place in the home, too. "It can be limiting using only tables, plinths, or floor space to display sculptures," he says. "At home, I like to arrange mine on affordable free-floating shelves at different heights and in various sizes, which creates an interesting domestic display."
While Snow and Eckholm have art collections that grew organically, aided by long-standing art-world connections, many people establish theirs from scratch. So what criteria should apply when you're acquiring your first original artworks? "Visit art exhibitions and auctions to explore what kind of art resonates with you," advises Kittoe. She cites the London Art Fair (on later this month), Affordable Art Fair, and British Art Fair as good places in the UK to source art, as well as art trails and open-studio events.
Kittoe also suggests making use of a "try before you buy" service: "Many galleries allow you to see works in your own space before committing to the purchase. This can be useful as homes are so different to a brightly lit gallery, and this arrangement allows you to see the works at different times of the day and try them in different parts of the house. When hanging several pictures together, play with potential configurations by laying them out on the floor before committing them to fixed spots on the wall."
In the end, go with what feels right for you. As Cathy Glazer puts it: "Whether it's travel posters, collages, or flea market finds, your collection should reflect what speaks to you. But if you're unsure where to begin, it can help to adhere to a theme, for example, a grouping of botanicals, portraits, or black-and-white photography. Choosing art can feel intimidating but it's not about right or wrong, it's about what speaks to you."