How to place art around your home to boost your happiness.

Hello again my fellow creatrixes!

What’s your environment like right now?

Are you reading this in your living room? In a café? In bed, on a lazy morning?

Is it too warm? Too cold? Are you like Goldilocks, and you’re just right?

Our environment is everything. It affects our mood, how we perceive things, our stress and anxiety levels, our inspiration and creativity, our retention and more.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is…

What kind of art do I want around my home?

Think colour schemes. Are they important to you? If you’re not particularly precious about matching colour schemes, you might be surprised at how much a burst of colour on walls brightens up a room.

What sort of medium do you like? Oil, watercolour, pencil? You don’t have to stick to one, but I often find certain mediums pull me in more than others.

What sort of size are you looking for? Are you looking for large feature pieces, smaller pieces, maybe a mishmash that you can collage together?

Do you like abstract or realism? Art with quotes and words, shapes and bold colours, nature and animals?

I would personally encourage you to be fearless in your artistic display. Our homes are the one space we can truly customise to make it ours, and art is a fab way to do that.

Show off

I love to show off my family in my home. Pictures my kids have drawn me, photos of our family, certificates of achievements.

What do you want to show off?

For some people, it’s their family too. For others, it’s maybe their own photography or artwork, or something else they’re proud of. Framed graduation caps always look brilliant, for example! Or, you could even do something completely out there like this...

Use picture hanging strips so you don’t limit yourself

This might seem like an obvious one, but don’t go banging nails into your wall willy nilly if you can help it.

Using sticky wall strips are great because they’re strong and durable, but they don’t pull your wallpaper off or leave an ugly hole in your wall. It also gives you the freedom to move your pieces around, change the arrangement and swap pieces out.

Be seasonal

I love having a furniture reshuffle, it feels like I’m refreshing my space - and I often do it with my art, too.

Something you might not have considered is changing your art throughout the seasons. A lot of people can suffer from poorer mental health throughout the winter months (sometimes known as S.A.D) and brightening up your home with warm colours and images might make those months a little easier to get through.

Arrange in a way that reflects your home and your personality

Hang your pictures in a straight row, or a neat grid for that sleek, modern, clean look. This is great for logical, analytical people who like their space to look like it makes sense. This style is often called 'minimalist.'

Or, if you’re a little more scatterbrained and messy, hang your art in different shapes, with contrasting colours. It’s often a feast for the eyes.

Put it where you can see it

Art is meant to be seen and enjoyed - so don’t go sticking it on the toilet door!

Hang your favourite pieces wherever you spend the majority of your time.

Art isn’t just pictures and paintings

Colourful rugs and mats, ornaments, scarves, jewellery on show, plates and crockery, thimbles, furniture, mantelpiece displays, lamps and light coverings, clocks, fairy lights, ornamental plants, throws and pillows - it never ends!

(In the best way possible, of course).

All I’m saying is that you can always find ways to inject even more personality into your spaces.

In a nutshell, our environment really does have quite an impact on how we feel. It also sets an atmosphere for your home, so it’s up to you to decide what you want that atmosphere to be, and how to go about achieving it.

The first place you should be looking to create a livable environment, though, is within yourself. If you haven’t yet, read about why a little self-love encourages a lot of creativity in just 4 minutes.

I look forward to your pictures of your new art walls!

Talk soon,

Emma x

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P.P.S: We’re creeping out of the cooler months and we’re coming out of lockdown - something I know lots of us are very excited about. It’s going to be a lovely summer - why not pick up a new hobby?

Join me in my workshop for completely chilled out, stress-free art classes and tutorials. You’ll come away with a sense of pride, accomplishment, a beautiful new art piece (that you can display in your home!) and friendship.

If you’re still a little nervous about everything opening up, I’ve got you covered for that too. You can find my online classes and courses that you can book in for and do with me over Zoom.

I can’t wait to see you all there!