One of my offbeat hobbies is to look at real estate online. I especially love looking at high-end condos and homes in urban areas like New York and L.A. You've probably heard of merchandising. It's what real estate brokers do to a home to make it look presentable and therefore more saleable. All the junk is removed and the house looks like no one really lives there. They take all the family photographs and mementos out and leave a few stark accent pieces on the tables and the walls.
But if you watch cable TV where people are just thinking about selling their homes, the look of their walls isn't much different, there's a lot of clutter but not real “pop”. There's nothing that distinguishes these homes and makes them sing.
And making a house really sing is easy. It's not a matter of covering the walls from one end to the other with art work. In fact, doing that can make things worse. I have a friend who loves art. And she's got terrific taste too. Unfortunately, in order to appreciate all her art, she'd have to have a house triple the size of the one she lives in now. All the art is jammed against each other from one end of the wall to the next.
But all it takes is a few stunning pieces and a boring living room can all of a sudden turn into a dynamic room that makes people interact and have fun. Suppose the space below this paragraph were blank:
Not much to look at is there. Nothing to stimulate you or start a conversation. It's just a boring white space, like the walls of so many houses. Now let's put something below and see what happens.
Put a Tobacco Flower adjacent to a Hydrangea and suddenly the wall takes on a new look. And if it so happens that your sofa below these photos is a neutral green, your whole wall will “pop” with color. A table with fresh flowers will reinforce the floral theme and suddenly your whole room has come alive.
So where do you get your art work? Money is tight for everyone and when you walk into a retail gallery, if the snooty gallery managers don't intimidate you, the price tags undoubtedly will. The last time I walked into a gallery, a very lovely floral in a vase that was so realistic I was afraid I'd cut my hand on the crystal was priced at $1500. Not in my budget.
But these are the days of the Internet. Internet stores don't have the overhead of mall stores. They don't have the rent; they don't have commission sales people; and they don't have galleries - except online. When I went looking for a gallery, I chose one online, where customers could look at photographic images and then in the privacy of their homes, pick mats that went with the photos and frames that fit the style of the photo and the décor of their home. And no one is looking down their nose telling you what's “in” and what's “not”. It doesn't matter how fashionable something may be in the pages of Vogue, if it looks ridiculous in your home. You're the one who has to live with it.
There are many online galleries with photographs, reprints of famous painters, reprints of new up and coming painters, anything you could possibly want to decorate your home. If you're decorating your living room, you probably want something vibrant and alive that will stimulate conversation. Shopping for the guest room, you more than likely want something restful that will promote a good night's sleep.
If you already have your furniture and paint, pick some wall art by pulling a color from what you already have in your living room. If doesn't have to match exactly. If it matches too much, you're back to basic boring. However, if you're living room is bright red, an orangey/pink floral might not be your best choice. You probably can't print a large photo from the Internet since the software is generally protected to keep people from stealing images, but you can bring your computer into the room you're decorating and see how the colors look together.
Once you've done one room with wall art, you won't be able to stop. There are photographs and paintings that will make every room in your home come alive and every member of the family will want to select something for their own room.
Of course, this is perfect for kids who want their rooms to be an expression of who they are. If your daughter has dreams of becoming a ballerina, a Degas print of ballet dancers will inspire her and turn her room into a thing of beauty. And if she picks out the wall art first, she can use the colors to discover what comforter, pillows and drapes coordinate best. And then surprise, surprise, she might be so excited at having such a cool bedroom; she might even keep it cleaned up. I did say might - don't get too excited about that one.
Decorating in the age of the Internet can both easy and fun. Sitting in front of your computer you can put together a room that will dazzle family and friends and make your living room a place where people really come to live.
