Our past campaigns have aimed to readdress the meaning behind the term ‘luxury’, which we’ve long accepted as associated with exorbitant price tags, flashy cars and dwarfing interiors. A refreshed definition focuses on our need to curate our interior décor, becoming our own personal sanctuary and improving our wellbeing.

Top tips by Fion Lee

As our homes are a much bigger part of our daily lives, how do we make the most of our space to improve our quality of life? Besides redecorating the furniture and decor, one area that will make a big difference is incorporating art into your home.

While choosing the right art feels new and intimidating for many, it is actually rather easy (and fun) once you’re armed with a few practical tips. The rest is up to your personal style and what feels right just for you.

Big and small

To start, find the focal point in the room. One way to do this is to simply walk into the room, and notice where your eyes would naturally land. This is good indication that this is a great spot to put a piece of statement artwork, where you can base the rest of the room’s design on (or complement the existing design). For example, you can use a statement piece to unify the other accent colors. It doesn’t have to dominate the design of the room, but would be good to simple draw visual interest.

It is also a good idea to mix up small and large pieces of art. You can display smaller artwork on bookshelves or on top of pieces of furniture. They can also be displayed together to form a gallery wall. One advantage of using a few less-assuming pieces is that they have the potential to make the wall seem much bigger visually.

On colors

To narrow down your choices, one useful and important guiding factor is choosing the right color tone of your artwork. Generally, the color you choose will help set the mood in each room. For example, grey and neutral colors are great for setting a calming tone for the room. Such colors might be good for the bedroom. Brighter colors such as yellow will emit energy and make the room pop. Finally, colors like red and orange might be a color for the dining room to enhance appetites and conversation.

One note of caution is choosing white as a color tone for art, especially if you have white walls. You don’t want art that blends into the wall and is ignored!

Moods & seasons

A great thing about art is that it’s easy to change. There are many inspirations you could work off of. Perhaps you could use art to mimic a country that you’ve been to and loved, certain scenes of nature, or you can even just have an artist for each season. So once you’ve found art that feels right, just go for it and don’t overthink it. You can always change it down the road (and change back), depending on the mood you want to set, or even the season you are in life.

A few practical tips

Besides a few good guiding principles, here are a few more practical tips on choosing art for your Hong Kong apartment.

Hanging art

How high should you hang your statement art piece on your wall? A good rule of thumb is that they should be 8-16 inches off the top of your sofa, sideboard, or table. If possible, you’d want to be eye level with the center point of your artwork. A similar rule applies for a gallery wall of small artwork, try to have some space between the top of your furniture and be eye level with the heart of the gallery wall art.

Leaning

Leaning your art against a wall can give your space a relaxed look and could also make for a great focal point of the room. Shelves, console tables, and sideboards are great ideas for places to lean your art. The floor could also be a good place, too!

Careful with sunlight

A note of caution to not put your artwork on spaces where intense sunlight lands throughout the day. This is especially true for watercolors or photo prints.

Huge thanks to Fion for her fantastic tips, which just leave us itching to purchase some new pieces for our walls. You’ll be able to find a diverse range of local, national and international art at our Hong Kong fair, where you’ll now be prepped to browse with your home in mind. We’ll see you there!

Image credits:
All image credits to The Editors Company.