The most important thing to remember is no matter how expensive or inexpensive,

art is an accessory

. In the decorating world art is to embellish a room's design.

I get so irritated when I look at certain well known magazines and they feature some wealthy person's house. The house is usually contemporary, painted stark white and it is designed to display the owner's "extensive art collection." On these stark white walls I see many unrelated paintings of no particular period. The only purpose they serve is to show a blatant tasteless display of wealth.

"I can afford to own all these expensive paintings." Because the paintings are unrelated they don't compliment each other and it is difficult to appreciate any of them. They distract from one another.

Museums know to display art according to period because by displaying periods or schools together they compliment each other. Also the viewer can enjoy not only the art but the history of the art.

If these people, who could buy me a thousand times over truly want to impress each other with their wealth; They would buy expensive art that relates to its surroundings. Isn't it more impressive to say, "We decided to sell our traditional mansion so we sent all our Rubens and Rembrandt to Christies." "We need to get Picasso's for our new contemporary mansion."

The art displayed should relate to the design of the room it is in. That is not to say you can't slip in something a little different in period so the room doesn't look rigid. But don't hang dissimilar pieces together. If your room is traditional its fine to stick a little Picasso somewhere unexpected.

As much as possible a well decorated room will look balanced from side to side and front to back.

This visual balance is achieved by attempting to equalize the size and mass. A piano on one side is balanced by a table and wall of art on the opposite wall etc. etc.

Art hung in a gallery effect.

Each wall in the room should have its own focal point and balance. How the art is hung helps to create the focus. Too many people hang art in the middle of the wall. The art should be hung to emphasize the focal point of the wall. It needs to relate to the things around it. In my opinion stair wells are the only place where art can be hung without something under it.

When a wall needs art but there is no place or need

for something under it. Do a gallery effect.

INTERIOR DECORATOR INTERIOR DESIGNER

Use two or more pieces starting within six or eight

inches above the baseboard and stack them. This

creates a pleasing vertical line and creates a pleasing

focus.

Two Prints stacked in a gallery effect

The wall behind the sofa, for example should always

have enough space filled to be important enough

to compliment one of the most important furnishings

in the room.

This can be done with one large piece of art or any number

of smaller pieces that look good together and compliment

each other. Often candle sconces are used as an attempt

to stretch art that is not large enough. This usually does

not work. One, because the sconce usually does not

have enough mass to fill the space and two, because are

you really going to burn candles over your sofa.\

Sconces with dusty candles that are never used are

very unattractive.

Art and accessories overlap to create an attractive vignette

Another common mistake is to hang art so that none of it

is blocked from view. When I help clients with art they

will often say, "I can't see that picture. Its behind the

lamp." I then explain. To make the wall come off

as l vignette the items must visually overlap. Otherwise

it is just a wall with a bunch of stuff on it. You want

the eye to first take in the total space and that being done,

Dining room illustrates balance from wall to wall

vignette to vignette

examine the detail of each object. It also gives a "rich"

look. "I have so many objects I don't have to see every

inch of every one of them."

Regarding the art you use, it is better to have

a good print than a crappy cheap looking

oil painting. Oil paintings are great if you

can afford well done ones. The so called

bargain oil paintings you buy off the back

of a truck or the advertised "oil painting

hotel sales" "sofa size oil paintings for

$100. dollars" are junk. They are what is

Oil painting and accessories decorate mantle

known as conveyor belt oil paintings, if

they are even oil paintings. Conveyor belt

"art" is when the canvas goes down the line

and one person paints a sky, another paints

the clouds, another does the trees, another

does the land scape and still another does

the ever present lady with a parasol.

The good oil paintings most people can afford

are ones that although they are repainted are

done by one artist who paints each one from

sketch on canvas to finish. While the scenes

are similar, because each is painted one at a

time by the same artist each one is a little

different. Few of us can afford originals,

which might be investment quality.

A collection of objects create a focal point over a sofa

Decorative repainted oils are only investment

in that with inflation they cost more to buy

each year.

Another thing to avoid are those awful

fake oil paintings. The "art" is printed

on a surface that is textured to look like

brush marks. Of course the brush marks

have no relationship to the picture,

A print has always been affordable art.

What is wrong with this setting?

The art is a little heavy for the small table

and the fruit plaques make the entire

vignette too wide for the table.

When you see a print you know what it

is. That is the beauty of it . A print is not

trying to deceive anyone. There are of course

different kinds and quality prints. There are

hand colored prints, where a colorist paints

the colors in with water colors. With the

cost of good matting and framing, even good

prints can be expensive. The point is

that it is better to have a good print than to

have an imitation oil painting or a badly

done oil painting. If you can't tell the difference

get someone who can to help you.

Lastly, if you can afford oil paintings; they are not

appropriate in every setting. They imply a formal

setting. While I have seen it done, I don't think

oils are appropriate in bath rooms or kitchens.

Small vignette with stacked art

As always,I hope you found this useful and fun.

Please tell your friends about my blog and let me know

what you think.

Bill Gantt

billganttsdecorating@gmail.com

Be sure to check out my Holiday Decorating blogs.

Posted now:

How to make roses out of ribbon

Christmas gift wrap with roses

Christmas decorations from roadside weeds

How to make a Tea Cup Tree

New Christmas decorating blogs will be posted every week!

Mark your calendar-Holiday Open House-Dec. 1 & 2

For the last ten or so years walls have either been neglected or tortured. They either have been given a boring coat of paint or had to endure coat after coat of paint. In the later case, they have been rag rolled, tissue painted, mottled, sponged, french plastered, etc. etc. While some of these create texture, they are essentially differing techniques of adding background color to a room.

As with many things, when we decide we like something we throw moderation to the wind. We can't get enough. Only when there is nothing left to sponge paint, glaze or dapple we begin to realize perhaps we may have gone overboard. I am a huge fan of faux finishes and trompe l' oeil when the effect is subtle and carefully integrated into the scheme to achieve an overall result. In many cases these effects have become the overriding element in the design not the supporting element they should be .

Two patterned wallpapers used in field & style arrangement

In areas where there are no furniture or windows like halls and stairs, naturally the walls gain importance. But in areas that include furnishings walls should be more supportive of the room decor. Many houses are virtually devoid of architectural interest. Aside from baseboards, window moldings and the occasional crown molding the detailing must be added. In every design subtle;e detail is essential. It is what keeps the space interesting

It what keeps you from getting tired of the design .

Let me share with you some things I do to add interest and details to walls.

Wallpaper

It is being said that wallpaper is back in style. As far as I'm concerned sales might have been slow , but wallpaper was never out of style.

Close up of mini border style

Wallpaper can have a big impact on a room, but most often I like to use it to create an effect. When you select a subtle wallpaper design you know what the finish will look like. I know of people who hired a painter to do a faux finish. They got a sample board yet when the work was done it had little resemblance to the sample. Wallpaper can give the effect of many of the textured finishes, but when its time for a change the walls don't have to be refinished.

Dining Room room set with wallpaper field and wooden styles

If budgets allowed I would try to accommodate

all the elements into every room. Unfortunately

in the real world things must be kept within budgets. I usually have to pick and choose

to get the most look for the least money.

Field and styles

Wallpaper field and style add very subtle detail

ments. Style is the Old English term for

INTERIOR DECORATOR INTERIOR DESIGNER

fence and of course "field" is the area enclosed

by the "style"[fence].

Typically the styles are wooden moldings, but

I started using mini borders years back instead.

This makes field and style treatments very cost

effective. A mini border is a fancy stripe cut

from a striped wallpaper.

For the field I like to use a marbleized or other

faux finish wallpaper. I like the wallpaper to

Two storey foyer with wooden style moldings

be as close in color to the painted wall as is possible. Don't forget detail must be subtle!

I use this treatment in two ways. I either panel

out the entire room or do one or two over the

main elements in the room.

Never never 1 wall

The only justification for one wall for me is if

you have a room that is about twice as long as

it is wide. In that case I sometimes use a strong

paper at the far end to visually bring the room

into square.

Two storey foyer in a new Victorian decorated in period

As far as I am concerned "Accent walls" should

be called "Accident Walls" Why would

anyone do that on purpose? They either

look like you were too cheap to paper the whole

room or you ran out of paint.

The two storey foyers demand this kind of

decoration. If you look to history these very

high ceilinged rooms were always detailed out.

This space needs to be broken down. It needs

architectural detail. I have seen people spend

thousands of dollars on hand screened wallpaper

to get the large repeats they think they need for

Looking toward the ceiling.

these areas. Unfortunately the large open space

they had becomes a large busy space filled with

huge patterns or flowers.

On stairwell walls the "sides" of the styles

must be vertical

with the tops and bottoms

following the lines of the ceiling and baseboards.

A dramatic dining room with wallpaper set into gold sttyles

It can be attractive to hang art work inside

the styles. However if the art is too big to

fit, I have no problem letting it cover the

styles as long as it is centered on them.

A large mirror is centered over two field and styles

As always thanks for visiting my blog. Please tell your friends. I hope you find the information

informative and useful. Let me know what you think of it. The next one will be about decorative

art and how to hang it.

billganttsdecorating@gmail.com

Bill Gantt