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Art in the home greatly enhances the architectural experience especially when planned properly. The best effects are achieved when the planning starts while the home is being designed. 

Most interior design takes place after a new home is complete. Paintings are usually hung and accessories displayed where space allows. Good lighting is often just a matter of luck. Switches and outlets are often in the wrong place.

Here’s 7 of my favorite ways to greatly enhance the presentation of your art and your enjoyment of collecting.

1. Inventory the art that is going into your new home. Act as if you are the art director of a new gallery. Don’t try to plan it in just because you own it. Is it still special to you? Does it fit your current theme or style? Don’t be afraid to cull your collection. Good galleries are constantly changing and staying fresh.

2. You don’t have to fill every space initially. Plan for new acquisitions. Plan empty display spaces. Give yourself room for future acquisitions. Give yourself something to shop for. 

3. Lighting is critical. Good lighting makes your collection come alive. Good galleries have good lighting and that piece you fell in love with under good lighting just won’t have the same effect in bad lighting. Recessed can lighting with halogen lamps is the most popular way to illuminate art. Set eyeball cans 2-3 feet away from 8-10’ tall walls, farther out for taller walls. When lighting niches be sure to set the cans farther away from the wall so that the niche ceiling doesn’t shade the object. Track lighting with halogen lamp heads is another good method.

4. Niches can really enhance 3 dimensional art. Paintings are easy. They have a frame and can just hang on a wall. Glass, pottery, and other 3 dimensional art need a place to sit. Curio cabinets work fine for small pieces but larger pieces need furniture or a niche to sit in. A niche gives an important piece a special place to be displayed where it can be isolated from competing elements and illuminated properly. Keep the niches relatively shallow to prevent dark shadows from developing in the rear. Generally I try to stay under 18” in depth for a large niche, shallower for smaller niches.

Niches can be shallow depressions in walls to hang a relief piece. The niche can be an interesting shape such as an arched wall depression over a fireplace where a relief sculpture can be nested.

It’s important to keep niches within the normal viewing range of a standing person (3-7 feet from the floor). Objects higher than 7’ just aren’t noticed much. Plant ledges are passe’ because they are usually set too high to display anything important and are hard to keep clean. I call them dust ledges; OK for plastic plants, baskets, and plates, but not much else.

5. Think about special requirements for your art. Does it need an electrical outlet or switch? Install wood blocking in the walls to hang heavy objects such as mirrors and large ceramic pieces.

6. Audio-video components create big design challenges. Modern homes have big TV’s, AV components, and speakers. They might be attractive to techno-geeks but not to art collectors. The challenge is to place the AV equipment where it needs to be but make it look good. The best way I have found is to tone down the AV components and surround them with well presented art integrated into a built-in entertainment center.

The TV should be set in the middle in the best viewing position. Speakers should be on the left and right so as to form an equilateral triangle between the speakers and the viewer. Speakers should be set on plane with the center of the TV screen. TV niches should be sized for the largest TV appropriate for the viewing distance from your furniture. In-wall speakers hide well but their audio quality isn’t the greatest. I like to build nooks to house good quality bookshelf speakers and then hide them with a grill clothed frame to make them look like built-ins. AV equipment can be set behind wood or smoked glass doors. Infrared pick-ups can be installed in wood doors to receive remote commands. Don’t forget to install wire chases between the component nooks to run cords. Pre-wire for speakers and add an extra cable run to the attic for future data feeds. Don’t forget a phone outlet for DSS and a nook with power for a subwoofer. Rear channel speakers can be in-walls. It’s a good idea to install access panels from the rear to make it easy to connect the AV equipment. 

Add art niches and drywall sculpting to combine and compliment the AV spaces and you’ve got a cool custom entertainment center that’s flexible and looks great!

7. Use a little color to enhance your presentation. White walls and white trim look good in hospitals and museums but they’re just too antiseptic for a rich presentation of art. Consider colors that work with your art and frames. Earth tones, such as Taupe, and neutrals work well with most art. Splashes of color liven up a space. The walls are your canvas. Have you ever bought a painting on a plain white canvas or with a plain white frame? Here’s your chance to add some artistic expression of your own and enhance your collection. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment. It’s just wall paint and it’s easy to change. Paint a 5’x5’ test patch on a naturally well lit wall and hold up your fabrics, floor coverings, and art work. Keep experimenting until you’re happy. It’s well worth the effort.