NicheCanvas: 5 Creative Ways to Showcase a Canvas

Decorating your home with art is a powerful way to enhance your living space. Rather than being a mere afterthought, a well-chosen artwork has the potential to completely transform the ambiance of a room and bring delight for years to come.

Art can be used to infuse your personal style into your home and to help define specific areas of a room. It is a useful tool for interior design, allowing you to draw attention to focal points and create a cohesive narrative.

However, with such a vast array of genres, styles, and mediums to choose from, selecting and displaying artwork can be a daunting task. To simplify the process, we have compiled a range of ideas for incorporating art into your home, along with expert advice on how to best showcase your collection.

1. Let artwork lead the way

If you're searching for inspiration for an interior color scheme, look no further than your favorite artwork. There are varying approaches to decorating with art. While some may use it as a starting point, others may prefer to use it as a finishing touch to complement existing decor.

When matching artwork to a color scheme, try selecting one or two bold colors in your room and incorporating them into your chosen artwork. Alternatively, you could select a color from your artwork and incorporate it into soft furnishings like cushions. This technique can also be applied to shapes, such as pairing a spherical vase or sculptural lamp with an image that contains circular shapes.

2. Experiment with mural

Don't be afraid to get creative when incorporating art into your decor. In larger spaces, consider using an enveloping panoramic wall mural as a striking backdrop in a living room. This allows you to truly live with the artwork. You could even commission a hand-painted mural, such as one in the elegant Chinoiserie style. Alternatively, there are many printed wallpapers available based on original artworks.

For example, what about a show-stopping mural that brings delicate trees, meandering rivers, and soft clouds to a living room. Printed onto textural grasscloth, it adds both color and texture to the space.

To ensure that the detailed artwork remains the focal point of the room, opt for furniture with sleek lines and simple silhouettes. This will help to create a cohesive and harmonious space.

3. Mix things up

Decorating with art doesn't have to be limited to framed paintings and drawings. There are many different mediums that can transform an interior, such as textile art, ceramics, glass, or metalwork. For example, a large antique tapestry can cover a wall of a country house dining room, setting the tone for the room's overall scheme.

It's important to play with scale when displaying a collection, varying the sizes helps to emphasize each item and the shadows created become very interesting. This approach creates visual interest and allows each piece to shine in its own right.

4. Try a gallery wall

Decorating with a gallery wall is a fun and creative way to group different themed artworks and family photos. It allows for experimentation with various arrangements and mixing and matching of different picture frames, making it an eye-catching focal point above a bed or sofa. Sometimes, the frame itself can serve as a decorative feature even when not filled with a picture.

To create a gallery wall, lay out the frames on the floor first to ensure that the shapes and colors complement each other. Alternatively, templates of each frame can be made on paper and temporarily stuck on the wall using masking tape until the desired layout is achieved.

5. Think abstract

Integrating art into your home decor doesn't have to stop at hanging it on the wall. You can get creative with your storage solutions, like using it to hide your mess or hanging it on a bookcase.

For the best results, start with your art when it comes to interior design. Don't treat it as an afterthought because it just won't have the same impact.

Decorating with art is a wonderful way to infuse personality, style, and beauty into any space. With so many different approaches to arranging artwork, from traditional gallery walls to more unconventional methods, there is no one right way to do it. The key is to find a way that speaks to your personal taste and style, and that allows your artwork to shine.