House Style

Do you want your artwork to blend in or stand out? Framers and interior designers explain how to make your collection feel at home

- Gillian Welsh

So, you’ve bought a new painting and you want to show it off. Sounds simple enough, but hang on a minute: when you fell in love with it in the gallery, you pictured it taking pride of place above the lounge mantelpiece, but now that you have it home, wouldn’t it look better over the console table in the hall – or does it suit the kitchen more? How high up the wall should it go? Will it be properly visible in that space or would it make more impact lit by a spotlight? What about a frame – does it need one? If so, what colour? And what if you have several paintings in the lounge already, and the new one is by a different artist and in a different style – does it matter?

These are just some of the questions you might be asking yourself with a new picture – and there’s a whole load more if it’s a piece of abstract sculpture, or a triptych of photographs, or a thickly woven tapestry. How do you make these a part of your home, allowing them space to breathe and be admired, but without leaving you feeling like you’re living in an art gallery?

Interior designer Lorna Collins of Chelsea Mclaine suggests keeping it simple and putting the emphasis on one principal piece: “Start by choosing a favourite artwork from your collection – if you’re able to whittle it down to just one – and hang it where it will be seen easily and frequently. You want to be able to enjoy it to the max.”