Thinking about buying art for your new home? Here’s how to do it.

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One of the main concerns when moving into a new home is “How am I going to fill all of these blank walls?”. We all know it can be a scary commitment to look for those decorating pieces (such as paintings, pictures, mirrors, etc.) that the new home needs. But, on the other hand, it is also an exciting time to evaluate your taste and feelings. Ideally, not just the decorating that goes into our dream homes should express our lifestyles and emotions, but also our house design plans. However, these decorating pieces are mostly recommended because they represent a way for us to express our unique feelings and lifestyle. Therefore, decorating walls or other spots in our homes will ultimately influence us positively in the most gratifying ways. Luckily, we can give you a few tips as to how exactly to do that:

Define what you're looking for in terms of style

Whether it is only you, your partner and you, or the whole family, there needs to be a consensus on the types of decorating art you would enjoy the most in your home. It could be contemporary, modern, still lives, realistic, cubist, photography, vintage, etc. Also, define its main characteristics: colorful, monochrome, pastel, black and white, etc. This should give you a ballpark idea of what type of art you’ll want to look for, reducing your search infinitely.

This may be an excellent time to start a Pinterest board with all the ideas and inspiration you’ve seen so far and have it all gathered neatly in one place. Then, as you go alone, try to study what types of images you’re drawn to the most, noting the styles that come up more frequently and their names.

Understand what you need

Here it’s best to look first at your house design style and floor plans. If your home is already built, you should understand the scale and proportions of each room you want to decorate. Then, write down precisely what you’re looking for in terms of the size and placement of the artwork.

At this point, you should know the furniture style and decor you’re thinking of for your home. If not, this is an excellent time to start thinking of that. Try to draw, create on a mood board or plan out everything you want. It is often helpful to use decor software to visualize how all the furniture and art fit in your home digitally. This will give a bit more order to your ideas. Thus, the “huh, that colorful painting is cool” can turn into “hey, a colorful, abstract painting would look great beside the window because it would contrast the colors and texture of the nature outside.” See what I mean? To take this a step further, looking at the proportions will give you one more clue about what exactly you’re looking for. In no time, you’ll have a clear idea of what you need for each room and perhaps not only in art but the decoration in general. It is always helpful to reinforce the design style of your home through the decorating mood used.

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Get your hands on some art

Once you understand what you’re looking for and have your budget in mind, it’s time to get hunting. Art is available in many shapes, sizes, prices, and venues. Finding the perfect pieces for you may start in different ways. Here I will mention a few of them to help you find places to look:

• Scrolling through various social media platforms, you can find hundreds of artists you can commission custom artwork or buy from their existing stock. They can usually ship it directly to your door, and bang, you’ve got a unique painting of an up-and-coming artist. The same thing applies to almost any social media platform. Thousands of people are selling their art on Instagram and YouTube; you name it.
• Looking on Etsy for prints, photography or artists you can buy from or commission something is also a great idea. You can see their reviews and guarantee a quality piece and how it looks in other spaces. You also have access to artists worldwide through a secure and trustworthy selling platform, which is a huge plus.
• Attending art events featuring established or emerging artists can help you understand art and its different styles (classical, modern, vintage, and contemporary. Try to see what galleries are around your neighborhood or get information on the local art movement to know what’s selling now. There are also pop-ups and bazaars where you can also get to see a lot of local and regional artists.
• Learning about paper artwork can also be helpful, as this option is much less expensive than other types of art.
• Another alternative is to opt for a piece of artwork that you can professionally print and frame wherever you feel is most suitable. This option is both easy and cost-effective.

Learn about framing

There are tons of options online and probably in your town, which can vary immensely in cost. You can go for less expensive frames, especially if you’re up for finding some fantastic pieces in vintage markets. But make sure that the mats touching the material are acid-free. Not checking this can lead to your artwork deteriorating more quickly. You can also ask around framing shops how much they charge and try to find one that will do an excellent job for a reasonable price.

It’s okay to play around a bit and test out the look of the artwork through apps and websites that recreate how it would look digitally. But, most importantly, remember to have fun through the process. Finding what you like to decorate your new home is fascinating. By doing so, you are also finding other ways to express yourself and foster healthy Self-Expression... Get to know your taste and how to express it as a homeowner.