Home décor rules: how to choose
the perfect paintings for your home?

When we furnish a house, we focus more on the organisation of the space, setting of furniture and lighting as well. We also pay attention to accessories, fabrics and curtains, but we often forget about the most important structural element of the house: walls. Partitions are not only the backbone of the house itself, but also the largest focal point of the environment that strikes the eye. That’s why decorating these “white pages” with shelves and books, flower vases and paintings is so crucial.

Paintings for a modern living room: how to choose them

Podium table, fixed or expandable with a concrete base. Top is made of solid wood, veneer, crystal or scratch-resistant crystal, cement or SuperMarble. Suri chairs with armrests, a revolving structure and wheels made of lacquered metal and with back made of elastic mesh fabric, an elastic fabric seat with compact net or ecological leather – By Bontempi Casa

The mistake you shouldn’t make is thinking that hanging up a random painting on the wall is enough to fill an empty space. The choice of paintings for every room of the house needs to be done with calm and following a precise style that includes both the colours of the house and its inhabitants’ style. No rush, take the time you need to think about it.

Picking up the paintings depends firstly on the final effect that we want. Prints, hand drawings or pieces of art to collect, made in old or modern style, all the paintings we choose need to have an aesthetic value as much as a personal style. The first step to pick them up is understanding that these decorations are part of the environment as much as the pieces of furniture, such as tables, chairs, lamps and storage units. So, they must be connected among each other.

Do we want the paintings in the living room to catch the eye or do we prefer them as a soft background to the environment? Are we more for large frames or small ones? In the first case, is it better to put it in the centre of the walls or not? In the second case, how should we place them? In a modern living room you can easily find a big painting centred on the main wall. The purpose is catching the eye of the guest and highlighting the contemporary style of the house, that is usually composed by white and essential pieces with bold geometrical shapes. Instead, if the wall isn’t large enough to place a big print, we should go for an even number of small paintings that makes the environment look wider and brighter.

How to choose the right paintings for different rooms of the house

Pica sideboard with wooden structure with three doors, internal shelves made of transparent glass, left central compartment in lacquered wood, sides and doors in veneered wood, top at choice. Frame with lacquered steel feet. Puffoso pouf with structure made of lacquered metal, padded and upholstered of ecological leather, Mambo fabric, Lulù fabric, Waterproof Nabuk, printed Waterproof Nabuk, Pure Virgin Wool, Velvet, Decò fabric, Kvadrat Field fabric, Kvadrat Fabric and Premium Leather – by Bontempi Casa

Once we have decided the style, we can concentrate on the subject, colours and frame. All depends on the size of the painting and on the space. Modern living room go with contemporary prints and photographs. Be careful with frames: we should never go for very bold ones, because they could catch the eye more than the painting itself. It’s ok to play with ancient frames if you have an old hand drawing.

Modern and Post-Surrealism-inspired prints are perfect for living room, entrance and hallway up and down the stairs; while drawings and sketches – for example the botanical ones – go with the kitchen. Landscapes, both painted or photographed, make the atmosphere more relaxed so they are perfect for the bedroom. Wall-stickers are instead a great choice for the bathroom: you can stick them on the tiles and take them off with some warm water. Flora and fauna are among the main topics, but you can find everything on the market so you can personalise each and every environment.

Prints, tapestries, 3D decorative panels, but also mirrors can turn into decorations for walls, especially when they have a sculptural detail, such as a diamond cut or a peculiar design. Small rounded mirrors, very simple items, can be placed in a symmetrical or asymmetrical way along a wall, in order to have the space look wider and be an elegant decoration.

Decorating the house with paintings, prints or mirrors is a fun and creative way to make the environment more personal and homey. The rules are a few, the most important one is following our intuition and tell our own vision of the world through them. Our guests will be pleasantly surprised by our style expressed through paintings as much as sideboards, bookcases and lamps.

Diamante mirror, detail, by Bontempi Casa