Are your walls empty because you don’t know where to start? Make home decorating easier with a checklist for choosing art prints for your walls! Even styling your home can be made into a simpler task with the right list.
I am a list junkie. I have lists for the usual stuff: groceries, toiletries, school assignments, work tasks, kid events……and on and on. I have the weekly to-do list, the monthly to-do list. An annual to-do list. I even have long-term lists full of the titles of my smaller lists!
Checklists are great. They can make any monumental project into a breeze with actionable steps to check off. Art collecting and home styling are not any different! You can break the task of decorating your home into easily digestible chunks, or even turn the conceptualizing into checkboxes.
Here is a checklist I am offering for choosing art prints for your walls. I suggest using it as more of a template and altering it for each room as you decorate your home. After all, the list is a tool, you don’t need to be married to it.
A Checklist for Choosing Art Prints
1.Whoosh.
What the heck do I mean by whoosh??? The whoosh is your true style. What makes you breathe a sigh of relief when you walk in the door of your home? Your home is your sanctuary from the outside world. You should be entering your happy space. Is that a minimalist space filled with calm, serenity and negative white space? Or are you happy surrounded by maximalist feels with knickknacks and quirky patterns?
2. Color.
What is your main color?
What color are you always drawn to at a shop, flea market, garage sale, flower arrangement, etc.? I am not talking about the trendy, neutral tones you think you should have in your home. I am talking about the color that always catches your eye and makes you wish you had the guts to just go for it with shoes/handbag/pillows/accent wall/whatever. Be honest with yourself.
3. Why.
What is your goal for finding an art print for the wall in question?
You don’t need to be deep. Maybe you just want it to be “not beige”. Maybe you want to pull the room together. Maybe your are feeling in a funk and are pouring yourself into trying to find happiness in your environment. Maybe you just really want a six foot tall lavender pineapple on your wall.
4. Size.
Pick your size. Standard sizes will be easier to source. Bigger is almost always better when it comes to wall art. Large scale adds drama to the space. It is what grabs attention. No one is amazed by your décor when they see a 12 inch dog portrait on your wall. However, a four foot by five foot dog portrait makes a statement. (Whatever that statement may be, LOL.) Especially if you like a minimal aesthetic that will only have one piece in the room.
5. Map it.
Buy a roll of painters tape and literally map out the size and shape on the exact location on your wall. This will be helpful with visualizing the prints in your space. Keep it up until it is replaced by the print. The big, blue outline will be motivating.
6. Source it.
Now that we have the style(whoosh), color, reason, size, and a mapped out location for the piece, it is time to hunt and scour. This part can actually be pretty easy if you are relaxed and casual about it. This checklist is for buying a print, not an original. We are not talking about a $12k original canvas. There is no need for analysis paralysis. If you come across any print that has the style, color, and size you decided upon in your checklist, add it to a wishlist.
Since we are looking for a print, it may be worth your time to stick to markets like Etsy, Society6, RedBubble, or FineArtAmerica. These websites allow you to make wish lists and offer a huge variety of artists all in one place for sourcing your print. In the case of the last three, you can usually even have the print made on canvas or framed, which is much easier for you since it one less thing to worry about after you finally chose your art print. They also offer mockups that give you an idea of what the art print may look like on a wall. (FYI, if you see a print in my art shop, but want it framed or printed on canvas instead, reach out to me! I can accommodate custom orders to an extent!)
7. Buy it.
DO NOT hem and haw for months about it! The print does not need to be the perfect piece to end all pieces. It is a print. Maybe it is perfect. May be it is just good enough. Maybe it is a placeholder until you find the perfect piece. So what? All of these are fine. The important part is you made a decision.
8. Hang.
Don’t let it sit around for months. You already taped out the space for visual information. You already bought it. For goodness sake, hang it up already. If you bought it already framed, the hanging hardware should be tucked into plastic on the back of the frame. Just make sure you are using real picture hangers and picture wire rated for the weight if your piece does not come with hardware.
Alrighty. There we go. The checklist.
- The Whoosh (style)
- The Color
- The Why
- The Size
- Map It
- Source It
- Buy It
- Hang It
You did it and your room feels great when you get home from work. You sigh in relief when walking through the door. Or smile with a brighter mood from a zany print of busy patterns. Or maybe you cringe at the six foot lavender pineapple and wish you went with the six foot turquoise armadillo. That’s OK. The pineapple might grow on you. And it is a good talking piece for years to come. In coming decades you can show it to people in your basement and make fun of yourself for your lavender pineapple phase.
The point is to have fun.
And yes, some of us really do need a checklist for that.