Putting Art in your Home

Let’s discuss art. Art is a tough one. The best way I know how to break it down for you is in four categories: collecting as you travel, local galleries, vintage pieces, botanicals, and lastly something I just consider as “getting creative”.

The most important thing is that it reflects YOU! As you read this pay attention to what categories excite you and which ones you want to just scroll through because you don’t see it as an option you would put in your own house. 

1. Items you’ve collected as you travel – I have found that this is the easiest way to gradually grow your collection AND have some really meaningful pieces. I’m not an art-focused person so it’s hard for me to just go out and buy something. But I really do love having it around my house and when I pass by a piece that I remember getting on our honeymoon, or trip to Europe, or that really special family vacation, it’s a day maker. This little pair pictured above has been with me in every house I’ve owned.

2. Local galleries—This is a huge way to not only support your local community by giving your business to them but to have pieces that reflect where you are and what you love about it. There are so many local galleries that rotate Minnesota artists of all kinds. Paintings, pottery, jewelry, you name it. If the price point of a one of a kind item isn’t your favorite there are usually always young, up and coming artists that a gallery will highlight and their items may be in a bit of a lower price range (bonus is the beginning piece you have will be really meaningful in a few years as their career blossoms!). Some of our favorites include Allison Johanson, Gallery 360, Gamut Gallery, and the MCAD Art Sale (one of my favorite events of the year!)

3. Vintage pieces—Similar in going to hunt for the right piece at a gallery, there are always vintage pieces in antique stores, second-hand stores, or probably even your parent’s unfinished basement. Whether you only get inspired from the frame or what’s inside you can always change one or the other out. Vintage pieces hold memories and stories that can add so much value to a wall in your home. 

4. Botanicals – A day brightener for everyone. Whimsical, natural, colorful, peaceful. There are so many resources to find botanically themed arts and even ways to replicate them yourself. We have had clients use dried wedding flowers for decor, a botanical painting that holds symbolic value, etc. Many of them even come in sets like this so you can make what you want out of it! This category is one of our favorites so we are always happy to help you source botanical arts.

5. “Getting creative” – We all have so many items that feel special to us. Plenty of those items are in boxes where no one can see them. Let’s change that. Whether it’s an old book cover that is tattered from the many times you’ve read it or has the names of everyone in your family who has passed it down, this is worth hanging! Get a cute frame and hang it in your favorite reading corner. One of our client’s bought a historical home and as they cleaned it up they saved a handful of wallpaper scraps that were original to the house. She is now framing them and placing them in a row of frames above the most amazing custom upholstered bench we specified for her entryway. There are a million special ways to use what you have and we hope we sparked an idea in your mind from this article! 

Art is everything. It ranges from a one of a kind piece to an old soda bottle you drank as a kid. Antiqued or a million dollars, your taste is unique to you and we are here to help you find that! There is nothing that screams “home” more than walls that reflect where you’ve been and what you love.