Affordable Ways To Incorporate Art into Your Living Room Decor
Modern living room design isn’t complete without art. It’s what can tie a room together or be the inspiration for the color palette. So while art can often be left as an afterthought, it should really be one of the first things you think of when looking at your living room interior design.
However, as much as our team here at House to Home loves art, we understand and can appreciate that it’s not usually an affordable option. Art can range from $3,000 to $25,000 per piece and even continue to exceed this price range. Artwork can get increasingly expensive with its size and also your chosen artist. But we don’t think that should stop you from having art in your living room. So, we’ve put together all our tips and tricks for incorporating art affordably into your living room decor.
Why Include Art in Your Living Room Design?
If you’re in San Diego and don’t have any art currently in your home, we’ve got plenty of reasons why you should add some. We’ve listed just a few reasons why you should add art to your home and how much of an impact it can create.
It Sets the Tone
Art does a brilliant job of setting the tone for your living room and your entire home. It can work in alignment with the interior design style of your home to emphasize existing pieces or provide brilliant contrast. Whether you choose art to match your style or go against it, it adds massive value to your home.
Creates a Focal Point
In interior design, creating a focal point is one of the main principles and art does this perfectly. When you bring in a large piece of art or even a smaller canvas, you add something for the eye to hone in on. By drawing attention to an art piece, you’re using it as an anchor for the rest of the room.
Makes Your Home Look Expensive
While these tips are all budget-friendly, the look and feel they give off are luxe. Giving off the look that you’ve invested in art pieces is a great way to make your home feel more luxurious than it is.
Affordable Ways To Incorporate Art Into Your Living Room Decor
Now we know why you should include art in your living room and all of the benefits that come with it. Here are some ways you can include art affordably in your living room and home.
Go Bold With Colour
While painting a wall a bold color may not be the same as including a piece of artwork, it has the same effect. Going bold with color allows you to pick and choose a bright, punchy color or soft and elegant color. You’re able to match the interior of your home and use a feature as a focal point for your living room decor.
DIY
For those with a large wall, you’ll need a large print or art piece. While this is great for design, it’s not great for budget. So instead, grab yourself a large canvas and paint something yourself. You don’t need to be an artist to do this. Try painting something abstract, blending a few colors, or even painting a few simple lines. Even test out different mediums; try acrylic or watercolor. Creating a DIY painting is a great way to fill a wall without spending a fortune.
Group Artwork
If you want to create impact in your living room, grouping artwork is a great way to go. However, if you’re considerate of budget, why not try mixing some high and low-end art? This is a great way to give off that high-end look for less.
Use Travel or Family Photos
Instead of painted art, why not jump on the trend of using family photos or photos of your travels instead? Personal pictures add a homely touch and create a talking point for when guests are over. It’s the perfect solution to getting all those photos out of a box and up on display.
Use Different Frames, or No Frames at All
Depending on where or how you’re sourcing your art, the pieces may not come with frames. This leaves you with the additional cost of purchasing a frame, which can be costly. Why not switch it up and add some interest by not using a frame at all? Exposing the canvas’s raw edge can add texture and warmth to your modern living room design. While this tip may not be for everyone, it’s definitely worth trying.
Printing High-Quality Images
If you’ve ever seen images online that you can’t help but love. Images like cityscapes, nature and landscapes, why not try and find a high-quality version and print them out yourself? This is a great weekend project where you can easily incorporate art into your modern living room design without splurging.
Select your images of choice from a website like Unsplash, then head to your local printer and get them printed on canvas or photo paper. Then, grab some budget-friendly frames from IKEA to save even more, and you’ll have affordable art in no time.
Create a Budget Gallery Wall
Following on from our tip of printing high-quality images, this is great when amplified with a budget gallery wall. Printing out your favorite images in a range of sizes and then grouping these all creates a huge amount of impact on your modern living room design. Creating a gallery wall also gives you the freedom to pick and choose which frames complement your design.
If you’re planning to go down the route of a gallery wall, you need to plan before you do anything else. You also need to consider size, shape and scale to ensure all of your proportions are right. This also means ensuring the spacing between the pieces is the same. As a rule of thumb, this is usually around 3 to 6 inches, depending on the size of your pieces. Avoiding planning will leave your wall feeling messy, awkward and unrefined. So take the time to plan before anything else.
Find Local Artists
While we love DIY, sourcing art from local artists might be the way to go if you don’t have the time. In the Rancho Santa Fe or San Diego area, plenty of local artists won’t charge as much per piece as bigger name artists. Not only is this a great way to support your community, but you get the chance to support an independent artist.
Add Art in Unexpected Places
While our points mainly relate to the living room design, why not take these tips and add art into unexpected places? Include art in all other rooms in your home. The bathroom, kitchen and wherever else you feel needs it. This is a great way to inject some personality into your home and add vibrancy.
Tips for Hanging Art
Now that we’ve bundled all our budget-friendly tips together, everyone should know a few things about hanging art. If you’ve tried hanging artwork before, you’ll know that it can be more so about measuring rather than anything else. Artwork that’s hung incorrectly is distracting. It takes away from the art itself and makes the space look awkward. These are our top tips for hanging artwork correctly.
Don’t Hang Your Artwork Too High
This is potentially the biggest mistake that we’ve seen people make. Hanging your artwork too high draws the attention away from the art. From the center of your artwork, it should be hung 57 to 60 inches from the floor.
Hanging Art Above Furniture
Similar to hanging art too high, hanging art above furniture is tricky. It can take a lot of measuring to get the position just right. When you hang art above a sideboard or couch, your art should hang 4 to 6 inches from the top of the furniture. In addition to this, your art should be ⅔ of the width of the piece of furniture that it’s hanging above.
Weight
The weight of a canvas or print isn’t something that’s considered right away when people hang art. However, this is incredibly important to ensure that your walls and hooks are structurally sound, particularly for larger pieces. Figure out the weight of your canvas and check that the hooks you’re using will hold the art piece.
What Now?
If you’re in need of a premier design build contractor in Rancho Santa Fe, the House to Home team is here to help. We have over 25 years of experience creating innovative luxury homes. Working with a customer-centric foundation, we help to provide you with a building solution that works for you and your family. The homes we create are beautiful but tailored to fit your needs and lifestyle. Contact our friendly team if you’re ready to begin your building journey. Alternatively, stay up to date with us on our social media or discover our blogs for all the insider tips.