Choosing Art for your Home is One of the Easiest Ways to Make a Space Feel Yours
When we first moved into our home in Liverpool, it didn’t reflect our own style at all. The walls were a kind of textured wallpaper in a colour we branded “nicotine yellow,” and everything had been through a rushed early 2000s renovation, so the effect sat somewhere between an office space and a retirement home. With an eight-month-old in tow, we weren’t able to get stuck into decorating properly, but we still had the art from our old flat.
We decided to pick out the right pieces from the boxes we’d been living out of and hang them up right away, rather than waiting for everything to be perfect. The effect was immediate. Hanging the art we had chosen, which already meant so much to us, gave us an anchor in a new space. It was the first step in making it our own.
Feeling Stuck? Start with What You Don’t Like
The hardest part is often just getting started. When you haven’t decorated an entire space of your own before, that first step can feel paralysing. So here’s one way to make it easier: start with what you don't like.
Making a note of what you don't like is a great way to get out of the stuckness of needing to make a decision. It feels way more low stakes to say 'I don't like Live Laugh Love vinyls' or 'neutrals are not for me' than it does to commit to a certain style. Once you have made that first decision, it is much easier to make subsequent decisions as your brain doesn't fear the commitment so much.
Notice What Feels Like Home
Start taking notice of how things make you feel when you're somewhere that does feel like home to you. This might be somewhere like a favourite cafe, or shop, a family home or even a theatre. Notice what kind of decor you're surrounded by when you're there. You don't have to do anything else, just notice it. Your brain will remember and start to become attuned to it, then you'll start picking up similarities in things you see elsewhere.
Think of it like when you get a new car, and suddenly you start seeing that exact make and model everywhere. You’re just letting your brain start to attune itself.
Choose Just One Piece - and Hang It
Now that you’re starting to trust your gut a bit more, try choosing just one piece that means something to you - and hang it up. (If you need practical help, we have a full Framing & Hanging Guide to make this part easier.)
Notice how it makes you feel. Notice how it changes the room. That’s all you need to begin. Your confidence will grow, and your collection will start to come together naturally.
Should I Worry About Trends?
The tricky thing about trends is that they are always changing, which means that they can be really popular for a minute and then fantastically dated the next (I’m looking at you, 80’s chintz and millennial grey).
After more than a decade as professional artists, we’ve learned to tune trends out and simply make what feels meaningful to us. That same instinct guides how we choose art for our own home, too.
We think about the feeling we want a space to give - calm, joyful, playful, motivational, - and choose art that evokes that feeling for us. Paying attention to what you really love and what means something to you will mean that you end up with a space that feels much more comfortable to you in the long run.
Start with What You Already Love
One of the most rewarding things about making art for a living is hearing how people connect our work to their own stories. Years ago, a customer messaged to tell us she’d bought several of our city prints for her husband as a Father’s Day gift from their daughter — all cities he hoped to visit with her one day. That story has always stuck with us.
When we lived in Liverpool, our entryway was filled with Liverpool prints: a Liver Building print, Toucan Tango’s beautiful Liverpool screen print, Bo Lundberg’s John Lennon piece, and our own Liverpool Panoramic Skyline. It felt warm and grounding to come home to them.
Now that we’ve moved halfway across the world to a much smaller space, we still make room for those same pieces. They’re a little hint of home, and they carry our memories with them.
So if you’re not sure where to start, start there. What do you already love? What do you eat, drink, celebrate, dream about? What memories do you want to hold onto? Let those guide your choices.
It’s Okay to Take Your Time
Decorating your home is something that can and will take time. And art can be an easy, affordable place to begin, before you're able to tackle the big jobs like painting or investing in furniture.
Don’t worry about getting it perfect. Just start with something that feels good to look at. If you’re getting stuck on practical questions like what size to get or how to find a frame, you might find some helpful starting points in our other articles on choosing quality wall art & framing - or just have a browse through our collection. You might come across something that’s just right for you.