Cork curator shares the best wall art ideas for your home

Art, photography and posters add personality and extra visual interest, and there are so many new ways of displaying them

Sat, 16 Jul, 2022 - 12:08

Carol O’Callaghan

I'm a serial re-arranger. Give me a drizzly Saturday afternoon and I’ll take everything off my bookcases and restyle them just for fun.

Lamps and side tables also migrate from sitting room to bedroom, and if I’ve indulged in a recent spate of cushion styling but the constant need to plump them up is getting tiresome, they’ll be sequestered to the airing cupboard for a few months’ hibernation.

However, one thing that can stymie a good re-arranging is moving pictures.

Propping a large artwork against a wall if floor space allows means the art can be moved around with ease, without any unsightly damage left by wall hooks (artwork unframed €100 www.abstracthouse.com).

How often have you stood in front of a blank wall and were reluctant to commit to hammering in a picture hook knowing you might demolish a chunk of plaster? Or if you’re a renter, a less generous landlord might not allow any picture hooks, no matter how carefully hung.

A new trend can mitigate this as a follow-on from the fashion for leaning mirrors with ornate frames against a wall rather than being fastened on, making them more a decorative feature rather than simply a functional item in a hall or bedroom.

Now, art display is heading the same way with the vogue for frames leaning casually against a wall rather than the greater commitment of hanging them up.

According to art consultant and artists’ mentor Sheelah Moloney of 2020 Curates, the trend is rooted in the desire to personalise your space to match your style.

Large art pieces can be placed on a shallow shelf to add height in a room and draw the eye upwards (Soot and Gold industrial metal prints by Elisabeth Fredriksson from €79 at Wallsauce.com).

“Fashion trends have leaned this way also,” Sheelah says, “so it makes sense that this would transfer to interiors. We’ve all spent so much time in our homes in the last few years, a shift from neutral interiors to more expressive ones makes sense.”

However, it’s not simply about taking a framed artwork and propping it against a wall. There are some things to consider, she says.

“When adding artwork to any room you have to consider the size of the space and the furniture in the room,” she says. “Obviously, if you only have a small, free wall space, propping a large artwork against it won’t work.

A shelf breaking up a blank wall can be a spot for displaying art frames at random among ornaments and objet d'art (framed print, €7 at Penneys).

“The other thing to consider is how you use the room. Consider how high-traffic it is. For example, a hallway wouldn’t be so conducive to freestanding artwork whereas a sitting room with seating positioned in the direction of a blank space could be ideal. Think about positioning artwork where you can view it to enjoy it most.”

While the ease of siting frames in this way is appealing and you can move them at random without leaving unsightly holes in the wall where they once hung, larger artworks, even the more affordable posters, can be expensive to frame.

“My best advice for buying artwork is to buy it framed where at all possible,” says Sheelah. “This might seem like an added expense at the time but it’s very likely to cost you more to have it framed independently, not to mention the time it will take for you to do it. Many an artwork has been relegated to a corner or car boot because no matter how well-intentioned the buyer is, getting round to the framing job doesn’t happen.”

A FURTHER development to this emerging trend is leaning art on shallow shelves to avoid it taking up valuable floor space. This adds additional height, drawing the eye upwards, especially in rooms with higher ceilings.

The layered look is another option for displaying art where frames of different sizes are propped against a wall overlapping slightly (from €4.95 at www.posterstore.ie).

Art is also no longer confined to reception rooms but is seeping into other spaces such as kitchens, especially where wall cupboards have been eliminated leaving a blank space for creativity.

“Art can really be displayed any way and anywhere you like,” says Sheelah. “There are no rules. Just consider the space and how it’s used before positioning work to make sure it’s not a trip hazard or too exposed to damage.

“Don’t be afraid to layer pieces of different sizes, shapes, and medium also,” Sheelah says. “This creates an effect similar to the gallery wall trend we saw so much of in the last decade but with a fresh twist.

“The grid pattern associated with the gallery wall trend is deconstructed using the layering technique, which can be applied on shelves, ledges, or on the floor or propped against a wall. This format of display also allows you to change around and swap out artworks as often as you like too, resulting in a refreshed look as the mood takes you.”