Home Interior Design Tips on Decorating your Space with Wall Art

How to Decorate your Space with Wall Pictures

If a room in your house lacks character, by simply placing some fine art prints on the walls can actually make quite an impact. Wall pictures are a necessary accessory in your home and are great to tie in with the room's style and color accent. Before you go off to buy some new pictures for your walls there are a few things you need to plan and decide upon. Here is a home interior design guide on how to decorate your space with wall art.

Shop for Wall Art by Room

The kind of home you have and the mood, ambience and style of decor you create, should be perfectly designed to suit your lifestyle. Deciding on a style for your room should be determined by the lifestyle you choose and not by what's the latest home interior design trend.

Whichever room you are wanting to decorate, whether it be your bedroom, living area, kitchen or office space, you need to decide what you want to get out of that space. For example:

• do you want to hold dinner parties or entertain?
• do you want a quiet retreat to get away from the hustle and bustle?
• Is this an area for the kids to play in?
• Is this a room for your hobby?

Once you have decided what you want to use the room for, you can now choose a color theme to suit the function of the room. For example, mellow greens and neutrals for your 'quiet retreat room', lively yellow for the kids room, or pale tranquil blue for your office space.

So far we have established the function and color of the room in question, this then gives us the basis on choosing the right art prints for the area.

For example:

• bright colorful cartoon pictures for the kids room
• mellow pastel floral pictures for your quiet retreat area, or
• tranquil landscape and scenic pictures for your office space

Choose your Style

Like paint color, artwork can immediately establish or change a room's mood. Not only can it pull the room together, but you can use it to create a style uniquely your own.

• traditional & classic
• modern
• contemporary
• fun & entertaining
• casual
• romantic

The style of the room is totally dependent on your own personal taste and this is the time when you can inject your own personality into the room through artwork and textured accessories.

Suggested art picture styles:

Fun & Entertaining: Pictures can include bright colors both in the print and on the frame. Fun and entertaining pictures can include kittens and puppies, or comedian actors such as the Three Stooges or Laurel & Hardy.

Modern: With the strong black accents in the framed iron-work and the tapestries, striking black and white photos are a natural choice for a modern and sophisticated look.

Calm Retreat: To reinforce the mood of a nestled, cozy retreat, use artwork with neutral, earthy colors and a horizontal landscape subject.

You can even mix and match different styles to create a unique style of your own. For example, frame traditional black and white photo prints in a modern black iron frame.

Arranging and Hanging your Pictures

In order to get the maximum effect of your wall pictures in terms of adding character and a focal point to the room, you need to decide where and how you want to hang them.

Here are some suggestions to help you decide how to get the best effects from your pictures:-

Modern Gallery Look: To create a modern art gallery feel, particularly nice in hallways, lobbies and stairwells, give each piece ample breathing room. Stand at the center of the first piece and take one swift, or two small steps along the wall. This is a good center for the next piece.

Above a Sofa: When placing art above furniture such as a sofa, you need to hang the picture about six to nine inches above the sofa, or at eye level.

Cluster Arrangements: Tightly group an even number of pictures together to give a statement or a focal point. This works on either large or small wall spaces, depending on the look you want.

In a row: By placing an odd number of pictures in a horizontal line to each other gives balance and the sense of space. This works well in hallways or stairwells.

By deciding where and how to hang your pictures, whether it be a tight cluster or a single print above a sofa, you can then determine the size and shape of the pictures you need to buy.

When you have decided on the room's function, color and style, you are in a much better position to go shopping for wall pictures that fit in with the overall theme.

Summary

Wall pictures are an underestimated home interior design accessory. This is probably because most people do not know what to do with their pictures in order to get the maximum effect in a room. Before you go hanging up your pictures make sure you plan ahead what you want to get out of that room. Decide on the function, style and color of the room first before you buy your artwork. By doing this you are in a much better position to buy the right type of art picture to fit in with the theme and color accent of your room.

Claire Bowes is a successful freelance writer and owner of Online Home Improvement Ideas.

Custom Metal Art Decorations

Custom metal art decorative accents in homes, hotels, restaurants, cabins, ranches, and yards have become an increasingly popular trend. Western metal art in particular is among the most common uses in old fashioned decorating. In addition, customizing pieces to fit the environment is highly desired so that the surroundings and metal art mesh well together.

If you have ever traveled through Texas and some of the lower Midwestern states, as well as the rest of the Midwest reaching all the way to the most western parts of the United States, you will find that old frontier, western, on-the-range, and southwestern themes of decoration are strongly prevalent. I have become quite content when in these areas, because it allows me to sit back and think and reflect on how societies have progressed beyond these old days, while a large part of me wishes to travel back into time and live like people did in the old days. Perhaps they are feelings like mine that makes custom metal art in the southwestern style so trendy.

I remember traveling years ago in San Antonio, where I stopped into this hotel/restaurant. It was truly unique in because of its old western theme. The steakhouse that connected to the hotel was very classy, and fancy with all of the custom metal art. The metal art was designed to serve many purposes, not only elegant mirror backdrops for the bar, but also as chandeliers, light fixtures, napkin holders, and glamorous dining tables. I was privileged to have a conversation with the owner, who was an interesting entrepreneur. In our conversation I congratulated him on the classy look of the restaurant. He explained to me that he met an artist by the name of Jerry Kirby, who designs and produces custom metal art by use of a hand torch. He said his craftsmanship is pretty amazing and has never seen such talent with a torch. Jerry was the man behind every piece of custom metal art in the restaurant, and without him the restaurant wouldn't shine like it does. However, "the downside to this is that the owner of the restaurant explained that the process isn't exactly cheap, nor can you find bargains on this kind of stuff-if you expect quality like this," explained the owner.

Finally, I obtained the contact information for the remarkable artist and decided to get in touch with him about some pieces for my ranch. After I put in a call and spoke with Mr. Kirby we worked together to design an outstanding ranch gate. The quote was high, somewhere above two-thousand dollars, but I handed him a deposit and he produced the artwork. The final piece was magnificent. I can't tell you how proud I am when I drive through the entrance of my ranch, and how impressive it is to my guests. Since that purchase I have bought smaller items, such as a custom metal art fireplace screen with cowboy art, and a fancy chandelier that looks like a wagon wheel, all which are a matching, authentic western theme.

Custom metal art is an excellent source of true accents of western themes, ranches, and country property. I have found it to be very fun to design pieces and have them made exactly as I instructed and enjoy them in my surroundings.

To view examples of custom metal art by Torchcraft please visit http://www.torchcraft.com.

Easy Tips for Decorating Small Apartments

Whenever you are decorating a small apartment, there are often two major concerns. The primary focus is almost always to give the impression that the room is larger than it actually is. Secondly, because you are renting, to be careful of any changes you are making.

An important point to remember while decorating small apartments is to always consult the landlord first. Being the primary decision-maker of the property, the landlord may or may not consent to any redecorating ideas that you may have. When you are denied painting or making significant changes, remember that you can always create a new feel for the place without distressing your landlord too greatly. It is imperative to get approval from the landlord before getting started on your project!

Whenever your landlord does not agree to your painting the apartment, you can often improve the character of a room simply by allowing your persona to shape your choices in décor. For instance, as you are decorating a small apartment, hang up old photos or graphic art on the walls. One option is to go to a flea-market and buy reasonably-priced, unfinished picture frames and paint or varnish them yourself. Posters, woven rugs, and mosaics can produce the essence of your spirit while adding color and flare to the apartment.

Fortunately, most apartments originally are painted in subtle colors. Consequently, while decorating a small apartment, don't worry about altering the color since these colors will create the impression of larger rooms. Remember that attempting to crowd the room with too many effects will only cause the room to feel cramped. My suggestion is to select furnishings that fit the dimensions of the room. This allows you to be at ease in your surroundings while maintaining a stylish appearance!

To learn more about decorating your home while staying within your decorating budget, download a free copy of the ebook "Budget Home Decorating Tips". Download it free here: Budget Home Decorating Tips.

Lynn Cressy has a love for decorating and shopping for home decor. She owns a home decor web site and writes articles on home decorating and organizing your home and your life.