Let’s talk about wall art
How do you perceive it? An important design feature? An afterthought? Something that can wait and be dealt with in time, long after the space has been finished and furnished or an important piece of puzzle when a design concept is created?
To me wall art is a big feature to be considered when you design a space. Be it a design concept done by a professional, or a diy home design project. It’s so important that it could easily make or break a space. It could add character, charm and set the mood of a space.
How about photography as wall art? Well, for obvious reasons this is even more up my alley. Sure, you can call my opinion partial, biased, afterall photography as wall art is what I create. But let me explain. There are so many reasons behind my WHY.
THE MEMORIES - Having portraits on the walls, on the coffee table and well, practically throughout the house was a big part of our culture, of our childhood. My great grandmother had a photography collage as a feature in the living and dining areas. Don’t imagine anything similar to what a collage would be now - It was a big frame filled with lots of photos from different stages of their lives arranged together. And that frame was always treated with the same respect and importance as the icon was. Adorned by beautifully embroidered runners and always talked about with guests and family.
There’s something so special about walking into a room with photography on display. Big portraits or entire gallery walls. It gives you an insight on the story/ history of the people that inhabit the space. It also gives you an insight on who they are, what is important to them. On who is important to them.
And that brings us to another aspect that makes photography as wall art so important. The fact that it clearly shows who is important to the owner of the space, it creates a SENSE OF BELONGING AND CONNECTION when it comes to family members. You are in photos on display - you can see how loved and important you are - these people want to see you, or the photos of them with you on daily basis, multiple times a day. You can observe similarities. The children can see how they have their daddy’s eyes and mum’s smile. Or they simply see the beautiful connection they all have.
MIRROR MIRROR. This is so important! Most of us have heard of the mirroring effect in psychology. Imagine the effect on how you perceive yourself can have images that show you at your best. Surrounding yourself with beautiful images of you is bound to give you a confidence boost every day. Great images of you will also make you learn seeing yourself from a new perspective, possible one that you could have never imagined before.
SHOW STOPPER AND CONVERSATION STARTER. There’s absolutely no way anyone can enter a space with portraits on the walls without stopping to admire them. Personal photos on the walls are bound to be a conversation starter. Meaningful, full of emotion conversation starter. Don’t like small talk with guests at the dinner table? Design a gallery wall in your dining area and here you go - no more conversations about weather. You can be sure you’ll be getting deep memory dives with each dinner.
Long story short - wall art is an important design feature of your home. Personal photography as wall art is an amazing design feature that brings out emotion, connection, stories and helps with creating a positive self image.
Convinced or not? What is your experience with photography? Is it an important feature of your space?
