“So what should I put here??”  This is the question my clients ask the most often. Pretty much everyday. I feel like I’ve carved a niche for myself just helping others further their art-collecting addictions. It’s fun for me because I’m an art addict – or pretty much just an addict of everything pretty. It’s like getting paid to drink at a cocktail party.
Here’s the deal:  sofas, sectionals, couches, credenzas – all these are part of one discussion. But art, there’s a whole day of shopping and brainstorming. “What does my art say about me?”  “Am I playful or serious, moody and mysterious or light and breezy?”
Take this gallery wall installation….

Lots of disparate pieces, just hanging out. Yet all connected by little more than infrequent hits of gold leaf framing and blocked pops of orangey-reds. It seems to say, “I’m cool and randomn and don’t really care what my art collection looks like because we’re all sipping on dry martinis and throwing our heads back to laugh wildly and loudly.”  Except this install took like two whole days of sweat and tears to get everything hung perfectly and still look ‘randomn’ and ‘martini-ready’.
Easy, right?  Not s’much.
So. There’s that.
And, yet, if maximalism isn’t quite your thing…..let’s take three pieces from the gallery mix above and use them in a different way.  Take this grouping…
 

More tightly centered, more clearly organized. Still a little randomn (because these pieces don’t necessarily have anything in common except the color of the frames) and yet more cohesive because art, when tightly grouped, takes on a more specific, intentional connotation.
And for good reason. Hanging art seems semi-permanent – committing to holes in the plaster, hiring professional installers, having to decide what to buy and where to hang it. A  person could go crazy!
Hopefully, I can help address this issue. More next month…

Active in the Little Rock design scene since 2006, Joshua Plumlee is passionate about reimagining elegant interiors with a focus on original artwork and an unconventional approach to luxurious style.