At first glance, the paintings are just another decoration of the interior, they do not play any special role in the environment. But with the help of a well-chosen image, you can change a lot: smooth out the unnecessary clumsiness of furniture, mask wall defects, highlight an accent area that attracts attention, emphasize the stylistic concept, enliven the design or, on the contrary, make it stricter and more solid. Pictures with perspective increase the space, make it deeper. The color solution of the interior creates the mood of the room, and the images in the frames correct it, add light notes and halftones. Let’s try to figure out how to choose the right picture for the interior and where to place it in the room.
Criteria for selecting pictures
It is necessary to choose paintings taking into account their main characteristics:
Size. The length and width of the image are of great importance in the visual perception of the space of the room.
Color palette. The picture can become a living, accent element in the interior or, on the contrary, precipitate an overly bright environment.
The plot. One of the most important characteristics. You need to select pictures so that their content satisfies the aesthetic needs of the owners of the house, but at the same time supports the stylistic decision of the room design.
Form. Square, round, oval or rectangular frames create a special geometry that either emphasizes the smoothness of the lines in the setting, or smooths out complex configurations and general clumsiness
The plot is what it takes
The plot of the picture is one of the most important criteria by which you should choose a picture. It is even more important than the color scheme, since this drawback can be supplemented by various additions of decor elements, but the plot discrepancy will be more difficult to replace. Therefore, the selection of the plot should be approached responsibly and carefully.
For a minimalist interior, more abstract plot drawings are suitable, which carry a unique value of the plot for each individual. Instead, animalistic portraits and landscapes, urban photographs and architectural ones – occupy a traditional step among the classic leading subjects for a modern interior.
What about fans of the Magical franchises? Harry Potter, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings? These are the best subjects, in our opinion, because they fill all the necessary categories of a perfect picture: subject, saturation, design, color scheme, size (optional). Agree, a picture of Hogwarts for Potterheads or a Lord of the Rings map for the biggest fan of LoTR will be the most significant present ever. Everything and even more you are able to find the biggest and most affordable source of artworks in the net.
Size plays an important role
Pictures, as you know, can be very different in size. Therefore, you should always imagine where exactly you want to hang it. Pictures that are too small on a wide wall will look lonely and make the interior feel lonely. And excessively large ones can clutter and even visually narrow the space, which is extremely undesirable. Therefore, in terms of size, it is worth following some completely mathematical principles. Also, when placing a picture in the bedroom above the headboard, remember that its width should be half the width of the headboard itself. The same formula is valid for pictures in the living room or in the study above the table. But when hanging a picture above the sofa, you can slightly deviate from the rule and limit yourself to a size that is only a third of the sofa back.
The size of the picture is related to the dimensions of the object located below. If a bed, table, sofa or other large element is attached to the wall, then the image should have a width corresponding to at least half the length of the furniture. Otherwise, the picture will look orphaned and inappropriate. The other part of the wall will finally “crush” the small decor. The exception to the rule will be only modular images, since the distance between the components is not taken into account when calculating the width. Therefore, diptychs and triptychs can relate to the length of the furniture in a ratio of 2:3. The height of the picture also matters. If the room has low ceilings, then use vertical images that stretch the space.
Stylistic solution
Painting has many currents, most of which gave rise to design directions. Paintings made in the style of the same name, romanticism, realism, Empire, academicism, sentimentalism, symbolism, aestheticism are suitable for interior classics. These can be reproductions of famous canvases exhibited in museums and have become part of the cultural heritage, or original works of unknown masters. For minimalism, high-tech, modern direction, paintings in the style of avant-garde, surrealism, chinoiserie, underground, cubism, impressionism, expressionism are suitable. Canvases from the art nouveau or anachronism, neoclassicism period are selected for modern art. Art deco and pop art are suitable for subjects made in the painting style of the same name. Images written according to the principles of Biedermeier are combined with Provence. For eclecticism or fusion, canvases in the style of Art Brut, Luchism are chosen. Futurism is combined with paintings related to fantasy and cosmicism. Loft prefers street art, kitsch, hyperrealism.
To be or not to be?
The frame is chosen first of all for the picture itself. Its combination with the interior recedes into the background. A frame is the clothing of a canvas, in which it can look good or completely ridiculous. Traditionally, the frame is made from a baguette. This is a classic version of the relief frame. Frames are divided into three types: flat, beveled in/out. It can have a different color, shape and additional decoration. A gilded frame with numerous curls or carvings is suitable for classic canvases. Glass and metal frames are chosen for modern paintings. As an option, the image can be hung “without anything” at all. With the above analogy, the picture will be “naked”, which is suitable only for bold interiors.
Modular paintings
Depending on the number of components, modular paintings are classified into diptychs, triptychs, and polyptychs. The practice of dividing the image into segments appeared as early as the Middle Ages, but in the interior, such a solution began to be used relatively recently. In the classic version, the central canvas is the largest, and the size of the side canvases is 1/2 or 1/3 of the main part of the composition. The whole picturesque group is more like a window with shutters. Modular pictures of this format are still used to decorate altars in churches and temples. The main rule for creating triptychs and diptychs is a single theme in the segments, that is, they do not necessarily have to be a continuation of each other.
And in interiors, they use the technique of “cutting” one image into many parts. Modular paintings will become an accent, regardless of what plot is depicted on them. In this case, the role is played by the unusual form of presenting the image, the segmented structure. You can place parts of the picture sequentially horizontally or vertically. Complex compositions, which consist of four or more segments, can be “folded” into a single whole according to more complicated schemes. Flowers, trees, and city panoramas became popular subjects for modular paintings.
Assembling a harmonious ensemble in the interior is not limited to the selection and convenient arrangement of pieces of furniture relative to each other. The interior is something more. You are to decide what exactly. Do the magic to your interior. Choose the best artworks for you.
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