Years ago, my friend Kymberlie was determined to get these beautiful black and white photos of her kids framed and put on the wall.  Do you know this story? Her husband, Will, is an unbelievable photographer and what is more personal than framing beautiful photos taken by your very own husband!?  We designed her office around these photos.  The built-in shelves and desk were painted in a bright white and the walls; a dark grayish blue as the perfect backdrop for black and white photos.

The funny thing is though, and we often have a good laugh about it, is those frames didn't make it up on the wall…ever!  I would stop by, trade kids, STILL on the floor.  I would be over for New Year's or Halloween, STILL on the floor. Weeks… months…years later… STILL on the floor.  I am trying to remember if she ever got them up before she moved…five years later!

The truth is, life happens. Most times, those projects we were so motivated to do, slowly become less and less of a priority. Before you know it, those left-overs; those "so important" tasks seem to blend into the background of our daily life. For Kymberlie it was art work, for me, it is just about everything… a bolt of fabric in the corner of the living room, a pot on the floor waiting for the right houseplant to come along…a dresser drawer filled with everything from a secretary sold months ago. 

Ok, get on with it Sarah! Everyone experiences this with projects, but in my interior design experience, Art seems to be the #1 struggle in terms of lost or forgotten projects.  So I am going to coach you through this one and we are going to get you inspired. Let's start with determining what “excuse category” you fall into. I don’t mean to sound harsh BTW

What’s Your Excuse?

1. You have a vision, you just can't seem to get it done

2. You have a lot of empty walls because you are waiting for the art to “speak to you” before you buy (but…it's been 10 years and you still have nothing)

3. Your walls are full but everything could use a refresh (ie. Your son is 40 with kids, but you only have his 3rd grade photo up)

4. You believe, “Art is expensive, and if I can't have what I want, just leave those walls blank.”

Truth be told, just like not making your bed, all four of these are just an excuse. There is a solution for each category and it starts with Step 1. After that, everyone and anyone can get to the end. Remember, the idea is not to have million dollar art, but rather, dress up your walls and finish the job- no matter your budget!

Step 1. Make a Plan: Determine your needs, timeline and budget and Then Fully COMMIT 

No matter what your excuse is, this basic step is where you probably went wrong before. Just like anything, you have to commit to finishing! Another point, specific to planning, is determining where you need art in your home and come up with a basic plan.  For instance, if you have a gallery wall, great.  Just make sure you don't have another gallery wall in the same room.  It's all about balance, perhaps have one large statement piece on canvas, a series of 3 horizontal or vertical, all framed and matted the same and then a gallery wall. Simply put, don’t repeat the same thing or same color and texture; mixing up actually creates balance when decorating your home.

Step 2. Shop til you drop

It would be easy to say, just go to the store and pick something out. However, as we all know, art is subjective and art should be personal. As you begin your search, continue to ask yourself, "Do I want to look at this everyday." We are not talking forever, but for the next few years, will you enjoy it?

In a perfect world, all of my art would be originals collected from my travels or fellow artists, but yeah, no. I will keep that as a “big picture” goal for now. So understand not everything can be perfect, or even personal, but it can look great! While you shop, consider different sizes, textures, frames, and even materials. Art can be anything so think outside the box. Perhaps you have great grandma's beaded coin purse from the 1930's, a love letter, a vintage record cover, ticket stubs from a historical event you were at.  If you love it, you should incorporate it into the mix! 

Previously mentioned, my “big picture goal would make sure every art piece in my home tells a story. This might be why I am not big on mass produced art or prints. It may also be why I love the diamond in the rough; a good thrift, estate sale or flea market score. There is nothing more thrilling than finding a forgotten masterpiece by some unknown artist (and shame on whoever it was who put Aunt Aida’s rose painting in the Goodwill bin). I LOVE all of my painting, sketches, pottery and sculptures and I could tell you exactly what garage sale, flea market or thrift store I found it in. It’s personal, at least to me! But if you are not that person, I totally understand. It’s not for everyone.

Etsy would be my next stop.  I like Etsy as I feel like the artist is getting all of the proceeds and once again, the art is not mass produced. You can find anything there! It's a giant art faire online!  There are also online print shops who carry specific current artists' work, I love Juniper Print Shop as they size all of their prints for IKEA frames so you can take the guess work out and save a ton of money. They do other sizes and frames as well. Another idea is seeking out your local model home outlets or consignment shops if you have them. Let someone else do all the work, framing, and matting.  You can usually find really beautiful art, specifically, big statement pieces for a fraction of the price. Lastly,  and only last because I am typically on a budget, (dang kids!) but look for your local artists!  Art walks, festivals (if we ever have them again), college art shows, and other community art events make for wonderful finds.  Often times, you will be able to meet the artist, hear the story behind the piece which can make it personally priceless! 

Step 3. Printing & Framing: 

So back to Etsy for a moment, you can find finished art, even framed art or stretched art but if you really want creative freedom in terms of size (or color- you didn't hear me say that), you have to go with digital downloads.  It might seem a little scary if you have never printed these but rest assure, you can do it! The wonderful thing about buying digital art these days is that the options are endless in terms of size and finding subject matter that "speaks to you." Once you purchase your printable download, an email is usually sent with a downloadable link, typically each download is a different size. If possible, download only the size you think you need.  Those files, because they are in a high resolution, can take up a lot of storage on your computer. 

Once you have it, you simply need to send it to a print shop. If possible, take it to a local printer.  I am sure they could really use our support right now. However, there are a ton of options online for printing and they will send them right to you. I was a little overwhelmed on how to print or deciding on what paper to print.  I don't know anything about printing professionally!  However, after purchasing a download on this Etsy shop, Heirloom Print Shop they sent me this amazing guide I have deemed priceless information.  It is a 7 page guide on paper types, costs, printing tips and even resources on where to have things printed for every budget.  Take a look and then shop their store on Etsy for traditional art. I love it all and bought 3 painting for $15! 

For more online digital art resources and tips, I love what The Gold Hive wrote in this blog post.  Check it out! 

Step 4. Get it up! 

Wrapping up, let's chat about hanging up your new art. For the sake of time, I am not going to address the “how to” hang or arrange your art but rather, give you my best quick tips for hanging art in your home. These tips are are tried and true! I promise too, I will circle back to how to hang and arrange another day.

Tips & Tricks

• Assuming your wall is super wide or high, do not feel like you have to fill space simply to fill space. Group your art, or hang things in a vertical or horizontal row; keeping things tight so it looks like a collection instead of you trying to fill in a 12 foot wall with 3 small pictures. For good measure keep art 1” to 6” apart at most on one wall in one room.

• Art should be hung at eye level (unless you are under 5ft or over 7ft). If you are hanging art in areas where you sit most of time, lower your art slightly lower than eye level. You don't want people looking too far up when they are sitting down.

• When hanging art above a table or sofa, the bottom of the frame should be approx. 4-8" above.

• Do not hang giant art over small things. You want the grounded furniture to anchor- so if you put a large art piece above a tiny thing, it WAY out of proportion. The opposite applies as well.

• Don't feel like all of your frames have to match or be one color. Mix the metals with painted and the wood.

As always, I could just keep rambling/ writing! Is it a Covid thing? Perhaps I have been in my bubble too long because writing these posts out to a universe, who may or may not be listening is getting way too easy! LOL. Regardless of my total tangent, I hope you found some helpful information here. I am always up for questions or advice, so by all means… Send them my way!