Personalized Artwork on a Full-Floor Scale

There are so many challenging variables when you’re selecting artwork for a space, and those challenges are only multiplied exponentially when you’re trying to select art for an entire floor. I’m a deeply visual person, so I think it’s best to demonstrate my personal theory of choosing artwork through the lease of one of my personal favorite projects: the Cascade Renovation.

Variety is always crucial. You don’t want to use only landscapes or only watercolors in a home. This was particularly important during the Cascade Renovation, since almost all the spaces in the home open to each other. Since you can see different artistic vignettes in the same line of view, I didn’t want any of the individual artwork schemes to feel too similar. Using the same kind of artwork throughout a space gives it too much of a gallery feel. I much prefer a mix of landscapes, photography, botanicals, and more to keep the mix fun and authentic. I don’t want my spaces to feel too curated. Obviously I want everything to coordinate well, but I don't want the rooms I create to feel like they were constructed for a catalogue.

Artwork has to satisfy a lot of requirements to find it’s place in my design. The challenge in selecting artwork for the floor comes in finding pieces that maintain a consistent palate across multiple spaces, while also matching the particular room where they’re hung. It’s difficult for me to find pieces of art that I love and want to hold onto, and I want every selection to be just right for it’s space and owner. Ideally, the piece should also contain some kind of personal meaning for the client that makes the room truly feel like home. It can be challenging to find the right combination, but choosing a variety of different kinds of art broadens the pool of choices.

If you’re looking to create consistency between different pieces, or to add distance between pieces that look too similar, look to your framing. We use a streamlined natural frame for both the watercolor in the foyer and the watercolor on the mantle in the living room. Though they use vastly different color palates based on the needs of their individual spaces, they’re tied together by presentation.

Framing can also be an opportunity to tie in other aspects of your design. We used polished nickel frames for this wall to match the hardware selections for the kitchen. It just takes a couple of little touches to create a subtle but appreciable flow throughout your home.

I know I advised against using too many similar shots for a home, so I do want to use this vignette as a chance to mention the topic of personalization. It may come as a surprise, but I actually use a TON of family photos in my designs. It’s the easiest and quickest way to add a personal touch because it’s so instantly recognizable. However, in order to protect the privacy of our clients we always switch these photos out for our photoshoots. In the actual design, this space contains portraits of the client’s family to form a gallery of familial memories. We’re not as dependent on landscape photography as our photoshoots may suggest.

That isn’t to say that every part of your space needs to contain a memory. Sometimes the room just needs something simple and pretty to take away negative space. I absolutely love these Juniper Print Shop botanicals: they’re simple and elegant, and don’t take away from the rest of the absolutely gorgeous kitchen. Not every piece of art in your home needs to be laden with meaning. It’s all about knowing where to put those perfect personal touches.

The dining room needed a pop of color, and I wanted to select a deeply personal piece of art for the primary entertainment space. When I’m choosing a piece of art, I want to look for the point of relation that will unify the client’s desire and the needs of the space. I wanted a piece that would pay homage to the host’s cultural background without being overly ostentatious. The tile above was handmade in India, but the deep reds of the original background didn’t fit with the neutrals of the space. To maintain consistency, we removed the painted tile from its original mounting and reformatted it with a white background in a natural wood frame. Properly framing the art you want to showcase can unify two pieces that wouldn’t otherwise work together, allowing the negative space within the frame to act as an equalizer.

Infusing these small personal pieces of artwork throughout the design establishes thematic consistency. The temple watercolor on the mantle matches the color palate of the dining room and the plates on the wall opposite. Notice that by switching the kind of hanging you choose, you can stay committed to a singular theme while maintaining the originality of each individual vignette.

The artwork you choose doesn’t need to hold a specific cultural or religious tie to have personal significance. The family room needed a starker design with more contrast. The client’s daughter absolutely loves horses, so I sorted 36 horse-related prints down to the perfect set for the room. It’s a small touch, and something only the client and I would know, but the little mythologies that explain every art-related choice are a joy to look back on when the design process is completed. Interior Design is an art form all its own, and the final results are all the better when every element has earned its place.

Happy Designing!