Displaying Artwork In Your Maryland or Washington DC Home
Your home is your sanctuary, and as such, it should reflect your personality, passions, interests, and experiences. One easy way to do this is by displaying your various trinkets, knickknacks, photos, and pieces of art around your home. But how can you do this creatively, in a way that makes everything fit together and look good without it being cluttered and clunky?
Let’s talk about it!
Turning Your Home Into Your Own Personal Art Gallery
Keep in mind that everyone has a different idea of what looks good and what the right way is to display your cherished possessions. If something doesn’t work for you and your personal style, there’s no point trying to force it. In that spirit, take our ideas with a pinch of salt and a splash of artistic license, and adapt them to suit your taste and personality.
Grouping
When you walk into an art gallery, the first thing you’ll notice is that the displays are grouped into collections and exhibits. This technique lends continuity, both aesthetically and thematically. Pieces could be arranged by artist, by time period, or even by ‘movement.’
The nice thing is that it’s easy to apply this principle in your home. Unless you’re a true-blue art collector, you probably don’t have enough art to organize your pieces by movement, but there are still plenty of other ways to create mini-exhibits.
Consider grouping things using the following categories:
- Color scheme
- Media type
- Texture
- Theme
- Artist/Collection
We don’t recommend grouping art pieces together by size—at least, not in the way you might expect. One eye-catching way to display your art is by creating a gallery wall, and a fabulous way to do this is to group together several pieces of all different sizes and shapes. This variety adds an extra layer of visual interest while ensuring that your grouping doesn’t look sparse or awkward.
Also, keep in mind that grouping isn’t the only way to organize your art. Some pieces just demand their own space – so don’t be afraid to let larger or more vibrant pieces be the stars of their own shows.
Levels
It’s all about the levels. We’ve already talked about creating a gallery wall using artworks of various shapes and sizes, and levels play into this as well. When you’re creating your gallery wall, think of your artwork as being part of a collage. Use your pieces to create a textured interlocking visual with different heights and placements.
Conversely, you can keep it simple and linear by stacking your art either horizontally or vertically. This approach typically works best with art that is of a similar size and shape, but ultimately you can do it any way you like. The beauty of it is that it’s so flexible and versatile! These display tricks give your space visual interest and depth and keep your gallery wall from becoming repetitive.
If you have non-wall art that you want to display, consider using tables, pedestals, and shelves (wall-mounted and/or free-hanging) to show off the goods. This utilizes the levels, allowing you to bring visual interest to every corner of the room.
Framing
Some people like to put all their artworks in matching frames, but we say embrace the eclectic. There’s nothing wrong with making your frames all matchy-matchy, and if that’s your style, then go for it! It can look minimal, sleek, cohesive, and stylish. But investing in identical frames of all shapes and sizes can be a bit of a drain on the budget. Here are a few options to consider instead.
Try different frames in a single color palette. This gives your artwork a cohesive tone while allowing for unique, diverse, and eye-catching frames that add to the overall look of your gallery wall. Black and white are excellent choices because they’re so neutral, and they go with nearly everything. This also opens up your selection of framing options. There are tons of black and white frames to choose from if you’re buying new, but it’s also easy to DIY color-matching frames of your own. Check out your local thrift shops for budget-friendly frames or use the ones you already have at home, then just cover them in a few good coats of spray paint!
If you couldn’t care less about cohesion, that’s fine, too. Colorful, eccentric, and vintage frames can be art on their own, so let them speak for themselves!
We hope this gives you some inspiring ideas to help you curate your own home gallery. And if you took these tips into account, we’d love to see what you created! Get in touch with us at Winthorpe Design & Build today.
