Choosing A Wall Color For Painting
If you are painting your home, or it may be time for a repaint, selecting aesthetic colors can be a major pain. The answer to what wall color to use can be found in colorful art rather than the fan deck.
What if I told you that many artists consider the wall their work hangs on as part of their art?
It is an idea few think about. This became popular around the Mid 20th Century among many artists and has carried forward in time.
Too few consider the walls within their home as a canvass even if it is one solid color. Yet a wall is exactly that.
It is time to ignore the most popular colors of whatever year and begin tailoring things to your needs. Turn off the HGTV mindset and consider an artists perspective on revolutionizing your life.
Why Are Home Walls A Canvas For Aesthetic Colors?
When you hang a picture or piece of art it does not exist alone. In the 1950’s when Monochromatic Art came onto the scene a few spin off arts began to flourish.
Abstract and Non Representational Art gained a foothold that was hard to get traction within before. How did it work?
These artists would create multiple pieces of art yet while individual works they did not exist alone. The art would only be complete when it was hung with its other pieces to tell the story behind the works.
They were done in a series of works and hung together on one wall.
The wall itself was also a part of this story. Its color was painted to play its role within the display. It was a very unique idea for their time and these late Art Deco concepts have carried forward to today.
When you begin to shop for home decor the common places to go would be such as Kirklands, Hobby Lobby, and yes even Walmart. Certainly there are many other names out there and people have their favorites.
Yet they all are the same in the end other than the price.
Art Deco and home decor has turned into an industry of mass produced products to be made and sold as cheap as is possible. While this is not all bad what it creates is horrible.
No longer does anyone really care about what really makes a home beautiful through artistic taste. Their desire is for you to pay attention to their ads and buy as much as you can afford.
The walls within our home are not meant to be displays for these retailers and cheap merchants. Around the year 1900 few know that artists were the real interior decorators of that day.
It was from their works that the Art Deco age was born.
A home is sacred. It is a safe space. It is a part of who you are in personality. It reflects those things which you want to surround yourself with.
It should give you something you need in peace, home health, and a comfort after the days work is done.
The walls within your home are your canvas to be used representing these ideals. The space you create should immediately make you want to stay within it and let go of the world.
We need to get rid of the marketing to achieve this and reach back into principles of art.
Selecting Aesthetic Colors For Painting Walls
Selecting an aesthetic color to paint your walls should not be done within a vacuum. At least most people try to match the existing furniture.
Yet too often the focus is on the color alone. Clearly you will want to like the color that is selected, but how you arrive there is what is important.
The idea of choosing a wall color to match the items you have within the room or home is actually backwards. First and foremost the art you display on the walls should be the greatest determining factor.
Why is this the case?
If you have selected works that have meaning to you rather than merely for decoration then you will better understand.
Wall art should have a purpose beyond being pretty. When it holds a meaning it then begins to define that room for you.
Within it are the colors that will play the greatest role in painting. You can learn more about how to better match the colors you find within an art piece.
It does not need to be exact, yet understanding how color schemes work within artwork will give you the boundaries you need.
The walls within the room should reflect the art. When the color for the room is selected in this way then you can move beyond this in your decoration.
Remove items that are clutter for a minimalist approach. Maintain the definition or meaning you wish to project.
Odds are that the color you select from the artwork will match with the furniture. While people can tend to obsess over this aspect they shouldn’t.
Furniture designers spend a lot of time ensuring the texture and colors they use will go with many different designs. Their goal is to fit everyone’s need.
Alternative Aesthetic Colors With Accent Walls
Years ago the accent wall became an “in thing” to do. This too is another spin off from the Art Deco period.
I cannot count how many times people have selected the color of the accent wall based upon the color of the other three walls. Do not do this.
First one needs to know when it is best to use an accent wall or if it should not be used. It needs a purpose and a function.
The point is not to be trendy. When an accent wall is used the purpose is to build something within the room for atmosphere and presentation.
In another article I wrote about using a wall for family portraits and decor. This could be a good purpose for a wall being made an accent.
Also if this wall is the primary wall for displaying artwork and will thus be a showpiece then it is very practical to paint the wall with an accent color.
In these cases you are drawing focus to this point for a purpose. In turn the focus serves you in giving an atmosphere that you sought to achieve for the space.
It is the sum of the parts which come together. Most often this is for compliment or contrast in art by color.
It is never a good idea to use an accent wall and leave it blank. Likewise it should have more than just one picture hanging on this wall.
There should be enough room on the wall for it to serve as a showpiece. If it cannot do this then leave it the same as the other walls.
The idea behind the accent wall heralds back to the artists who gave birth to the Monochromatic Art movement. Likewise many who began to develop abstract arts also used these principles.
Its foundation can be traced back within art history and its purpose was practically functional for aesthetic colors.
Cookie Cutter Mindset Hinders Aesthetic Color Home Design
Typically a home evolves over time rather than everything being done just before one moves in. Often it can be a room by room process across time.
This is actually quite normal. Yet in the United States we have developed a syndrome.
Within modern America the problem is that people rarely live in one place long enough to ever really cultivate character within a home. When compared to families from the 1800’s you find people of that generation which lived in one place for most of their life.
The term “family home” or “family land” meant something.
In our time people keep trying to find their “forever home” like they are trying to adopt a dog. This makes things challenging for the result is a cookie cutter mindset.
Too many homes sport the same design, colors, and features with little personalization. Aesthetic colors for deep and meaningful home design is lost.
If you walk into Sherwin Williams and asked them the most popular color used in homes today they could show you. In turn so many people use these colors because they are made popular by media or other promotion.
This is cookie cutter. Instead, by customizing a room for your purposes makes the home your canvas.
The next issue are the hoarders. Money that is spent in the home decor industry is abysmal.
If a wall is to be a showpiece then so also the room should be. It does not need to be like a museum, but rather it should generate the feel and emotions you need.
Hoarding more things because they are pretty does not help you. It takes up more space and creates more work in cleaning. If it does not add to the energy you wish to project within the room then it needs to go.
One Room Color For All
When we move into a new house or one that was owned before it is common to find the same color throughout most of the house. A general color is picked from a popular list and we move in.
Some can afford to do some repainting before hand yet this is less common.
The home should not have one color for everyone throughout being the same. If you plan on staying there a while then make it truly your home.
Open common spaces will often share the same color. Halls can be a transition color. Individual rooms should be different for each personality.
Within the more open common areas accents can be used with prominent art display walls. If those selected walls primary focus is for display and colors are selected from within the artwork they will not conflict.
The eyes will recognize the symmetry that has been built from one place to the next.
This is much the same in how galleries display their works. It is the sum of the whole which comes together.
It will take your home from being average to beautiful and unique. All you did was allow the best parts to stand out with proper structure and organization.
How To Select Art If You Have None
It is surprising how few homes have art today. I know this does not bode well for me in my work. Artists are almost a forgotten thing in our world. Yet art does not have to be expensive.
If you are on a budget quality prints can be had yet it is always best to acquire original works along the way. The problem is knowing what to buy and what to avoid.
In order to know this it is rather simple really. First break the habit of purchasing something because it is pretty or will match the room.
Rather art should speak to you in some way. Whether it is motivating, healing, or it brings reflection, it should speak.
Art should evoke an emotion of some kind. If it does not do this for you then it merely is pretty and will hold little weight in your efforts to build an atmosphere. Keep in mind this is personal to you. It is you who will live there not the friends who come to visit you.
Whether or not it evokes the same emotions in others is immaterial. This is your place to recharge and let the world drift away.
Selecting art should be focused on concepts that are important to you.
Building The Right Atmosphere Using Aesthetic Colors In A Room
If you begin with the foundation in art first then the rest of the room will follow. How the room is tailored will be with that same mindset you began with in the art selection. It is your personal gallery.
Motivational works should remain in spaces tailored for productivity and work. Relaxing works should be in spaces where you need to recharge. Reflective pieces should be in study areas.
Lighting should match the activity. The spectrum of the light matters in how it impacts this atmosphere. The furniture should likewise match the intended purpose for this space.
Adding natural features such as air plants, mirrors, wood tables, and other accessories should be done where applicable. It is a process which begins with an idea to get what you need for your well being out of your home.
When selecting things like a aesthetic colors for your walls it requires more than something that will just be nice and go with everything. The truth is that if one takes their time then your entire world can be revolutionized.
Coming home will be a welcomed thing that you look forward to.