THE ART OF ART part I

The icing on the cake for me when designing a home is completing the look with artwork.  Selecting the right images that coordinate with the fabrics and color scheme in the home as well as considering the size and location can become overwhelming for clients.  My accessibility to custom art showrooms and vendors make selecting artwork a much easier task.  Here are some tips and a behind the scenes look at how I select art.

Step 1: 

Find images that work with the style and colors in the home 

 I bring my fabric swatches with me to make sure to find images that really pull out the colors I want to focus on.  For this home the color scheme I am working on is Blue and White with Orange accents.

 I select several images in a few different styles and take them out on "memo" (borrow) to present to my clients in their home.  Even though the home has a certain "style" to it sometimes it doesn't work exactly right with the clients style in artwork.  I work on finding images that appeal to their taste in art but will also work with the direction of their homes interior.

 I look through hundreds of images and narrow down to just a few selections. 

Step 2:

 After the client has selected the pieces they want I work next on selecting the frame molding.

A great frame can elevate even the most inexpensive art piece to new heights.  The framing process really brings the artwork to life!

If custom framing is not in your budget here are some tips for you to DIY:

1.  There is plenty of artwork to chose from at places like Homegoods or any other discount store.  The difficult part is finding the right frame with the right image.  I suggest looking through their artwork not really focusing on the images as much as the frame size and style.  If you identify a frame that is the right size but the image doesn't work you can take out the image (keep the mat) and replace it with something that works.  

2. To find an image that works with your style look at online stores like art.com.

If the print you like is too big for the frame and mat you have you can easily crop it.

Stay tuned for part II of this post.  I will be framing the selected images from above next week.  They should be installed in about 2 weeks.  I'll post more tips and pictures of the finished product.  Even more exciting, I might actually have a new fancy camera by then!!  If I want to keep up on this blog I MUST invest in a decent camera.  As much as I love my iphone the camera quality isn't that great. :)