Growing up in a home with a family full of artists certainly did not leave much room on the walls however, I can recall the warmth we all shared in that home as a result of all the artwork. The memories abounded and the house felt comfortable, homey, it felt lived in, it held the memories to a bunch of happy spirits, and this is what made it a home.
I feel as though artwork takes something ordinary and plain and turns it into something that exudes an essence and each space is different. It doesn’t matter what room in your house needs artwork, one thing that will fundamentally change the way you feel about coming home at the end of a long day is what you’ve built at home. Artwork transforms those emotions from a blank and empty room to something that is more of a sanctuary and a place of refuge.
Fundamentally, it is important to go with your intuition when it comes to choosing artwork. If I am being very honest, there isn’t a human being on earth that can choose your artwork for you. There’s a good reason for this too, it stems from a place of emotions and what you want to feel when you are in your place of respite. Now recommendations are altogether a different thing and I believe that having someone able to recommend work to you is helpful however ultimately, you are the owner of your destiny and the captain of your own ship! The decision on what artwork to place and where should rest in what you believe looks the best to you.
A home office is a great place for us to begin with! Many of us have a small place in our home where we can handle day to day finances, meetings and somewhere we can go off to in order to be productive and pay attention to what builds this life were living. A home office needs structure, attention to detail and often is a place where we need to be confident, methodical and creative. Artwork for our home office is often something that I would call inspirational, foundational, constructive, hopeful and strong. Artwork that you place in your office often is much different than what you would place in a den, dining room or living area, which we will touch on a bit more here shortly. Often Fine Art Photographs of mountain ranges, lone trees and other sentinels of strength or serenity are great prospective focal points for these spaces.
Mt. Hood Majesty
Living areas are the gateway to our stress relief, arguably, our living areas are the primary place that we make first contact with! If I could actually count the times, I’ve taken off my coat and hit the couch! I don’t know about you, however, after a long tough day, taking my shoes off and plopping down for a bit is about second to none and most often times I don’t want any screens in my face. I generally want a moment of peace and quiet to myself in order to unwind and breathe for a bit. Many times, I will simply sit in my living area to gather my thoughts on what I feel like doing next. Most often I look at artwork that is presently gracing my walls. At the moment I have an image on my wall of a spring fed waterfall in Northern California, this place was so magical right at dusk that evening as I shot it, I can remember it now as vividly as the moment I captured it. The mossy greens were earthy and spread a beautiful scent through the air, the water gently rolled off of the mossy rock covered walls and in this moment, I felt such a serene sensation of peace and relaxation. I can search its length for special details I had previously not seen and enjoy a bit of nature in a stunning moment where I am at peace. These images evoke a mood unto their own and you will likely find one that speaks to you in a way that draws you into it as well. No two are alike and each one will bring its own manner of serenity into your space in a way that is necessary and meaningful.
Serenade
Our bedrooms are a another very significant and special place for our health and spiritual well-being. Our bedrooms are a sacred place not just relegated for sleep but also acts of joy and love. Our bedrooms evoke eroticism, sensuality and tell much about us in ways we can rarely rely on words to interpret. Arguably so, our bedrooms are a place where it is absolutely necessary to block out any and all negative energy, these spaces need to make us happy and a place where we quite literally recharge our bodies in every way. This is a way for important works of art to take center stage and create and entire vibe, something mysterious or sensual, works that make our enjoyment of an area from mundane and uninspired into entirely magical places where you can internally and externally manifest acts of passion and beauty along with the much needed rest we all require.
In so many ways, our home is where the art is! Once we close escrow on a new house, we acquire things to add to our houses that eventually turn these spaces into our homes. We envision how we want things to be, what we want it to feel like. It is in these details where the true aesthetic of our being comes out.
Artwork and your home is a detail to pay special attention to. Everyone buys a couch, a table, an area rug, yes you want them to match your aesthetic, yes you want them to be tailored and stylized to your preference, however I do not know a single person who sits and stares at their sofa for hours and admires it. Likewise, I do not know of a single homeowner who literally walks around their home and stares at all the furnishings for hours with any sort of passionate or admirable gaze. I know it may sound odd, as in who stares at their furniture? However, how is it that so many homeowners make art their last acquisition? Artwork is simply an unknown and not always easily acquired, that is the true reason. Many people are afraid of the idea of Acquiring Fine Art simply because not many know where to start or what to buy. The reality is that Fine Art should truly be the basis for which the home is built around. Meaning a home that is decorated to a particular aesthetic based upon a few focal art pieces will arguably have a stronger definition of self, your home will have a much better flow and be much more anchored. A strong and artistically cohesive flow always begins with strong focal points by which garner attention.
The reality is that over the years we have worked with and contracted with hundreds of designers, while the work we contract with ends up being the visually stunning masterpiece we envision, the facts are hard and cold. Designers do not get paid to make artwork a priority, however it is easy for them to mark up a custom set of bar stools, bed sets, accent pieces and so on. Many designers often make artwork last because the margin is not in artwork to make it worthwhile. Now with that said, they’re not all bad and as a matter of fact we contract with hundreds of incredible designers that understand that a Home is truly where the Art is! These individuals truly care about the flow of your home and pick Fine Artworks that are catered to you and your life, not just some generic stock art to take up an awkward space on your wall. When a home is built around truly phenomenal focal points, it tells a story and there is incredible cohesion from room to room. When you step into a home designed around Art, there is a foundationally different appeal to it than one which is designed around an interior alone.
I bring all of these points up simply because we live life once! We work our entire lives and everything we do surrounds being able to provide a life for our families that is worth the energy and effort that we place upon ourselves each day. I feel that one of the greatest tragedies in life is not realizing our full potential, we have seen it in our lives every day whether it is a coworker that always tries to do things the hard way or watching someone do something, even ourselves sometimes for the first time, it can be painfully agonizing to watch. When we go into building our dream home or creating a place of rest in our homes, it is so very important to make sure that we build these spaces to their full potential so that we can also realize our own true potential. It is for these reasons and so many more that I always say, Home is Where the Art is!