How do you choose paintings for your bedroom? What genres would fit into which interior? What will be visually harmonious?
When choosing a painting for a room, especially a living room, we always take into account its purpose. Paintings for adults’ bedrooms and paintings for children’s rooms will obviously be different. Works of art in different rooms have different roles – from decoration, a design element to the trigger of personal memories or inspiration.
For example, if you often have guests in your living room, you may want art to draw attention and prompt conversation. It also speaks to your taste, your desire to follow modern trends or, conversely, a commitment to tradition.
Theme
It is logical that, for example, images related to the war – not the best option. Let’s also add images of machinery, transport, and urban landscapes.
Ellie Farrow (Sixth Avenue Interior Design Studio) believes that the subject matter of works of art should match the space: For example, in the bedroom, battle scenes and still lifes would look strange. She is also against paintings with active-aggressive energy. They are more appropriate for public areas.
Stylist and decorator Emily Henderson emphasizes in her book “Style” that the bedroom is a private space because no one else needs to see it. How and what to fill this room with (including what artwork), in what style, what subject matter is your own business. Likewise, Emily believes that a sense of peacefulness is important in this room – “not many people prefer to sleep in a solemn room.”
Color
Experts advise refraining from using bright, “bothersome” colors: black, purple, and red. In a painting for the bedroom, the number of such colors should be minimal or they should be unsaturated. For example, not deep black, but gray with a lot of tones.
Barbara Theodori recommends the following:
“A bedroom is a place of rest and recuperation, and the art should reflect this. Abstraction in a calm color palette or shades can be a good option. Do you like photography? Look for landscapes in dim colors.”
A big picture
Please, pay attention that your bed, sheets, pillows, and mattress should also match the design of your picture. A sagging mattress does not look really good, does it? It is a perfect example of poor bedroom decoration. We advise you to pay more attention to those small details as they have an important role in the whole design process:
- Invest in a sag-proof mattress;
- Invest in pillows that keep their shape;
- Invest in a good bed frame;
- Opt for white walls. It is easier to play with colors later on.
What kind of painting to hang in the bedroom?
We have made several selections: abstract, nature theme, paintings depicting people, nudes, conceptual. All pictures are from interior shootings by professional designers and stylists. As you can see there are no restrictions on style – from impressionism to surrealism and abstraction.
Abstract art
Abstraction is one of the most popular options for modern styles (neoclassical, minimalism, loft, high-tech). In this direction of painting, there is no artist-defined “subject matter.” A particular work attracts on the level of emotion with a combination of color spots, texture, composition. Looking at the work associatively one can find something subjective, but in general, abstraction is like music – the experienced feelings are often difficult to express in words.
In the pictures below we have intentionally selected several blacks and white abstract works to show the variability of the use of this “gloomy” color and its permissibility for the room in question.
Nature theme.
Landscapes (any – sea, mountains, forest), flowers, other artifacts. If the interior is classic, then pick a realistic painting (also in terms of color).
In the examples below, there are Venetian and Parisian landscapes. Yes, they are images of the city, but they are made in a calm coloring, and impressionistic style and that is why they are appropriate in the bedroom.
Paintings depicting people
There can be two options – nudes or images of imaginary people. With portraits of acquaintances or people close to you, it is more difficult since life events and, accordingly, feelings are inevitably connected to them. It is more difficult to be distracted before going to sleep. But, remembering E. Henderson, the bedroom is your room; rigid rules are inappropriate here.
The same rule applies to landscapes. If the style of space is classic, then choose realism. Other styles are avant-garde, pop art, collage, etc.
Paintings depicting people There can be two options – nudes or images of imaginary people. With portraits of acquaintances or people close to you, it is more difficult since life events and, accordingly, feelings are inevitably connected to them.
It is more difficult to be distracted before going to sleep.
But, remembering E. Conceptual, philosophical and surrealistic painting. After all, dreams are an area where the real and imaginary worlds collide, a world of fantasy.
It’s possible that you just like the general color, or pattern, or texture. In the pictures we gave the example of paintings by M. Tikhonov, on which female figures are painted elegantly, softly, almost abstract.
How to place it?
The best place for a painting in the bedroom is above the bed or on the opposite wall. For height, be guided by eye level.
In a large bedroom – large paintings.
The decoration can be minimal, the work can hang without a frame at all.
In this room, it is better to focus on the work of art itself rather than on additional
What if the wall is wallpapered?
And finally, a tip for bedrooms with wallpaper – what to do? Is it possible to place a picture on the wall with wallpaper? This is a whole separate story, but in short, we can advise three things.
- Try placing a black and white graphic on the wall.
- The graphic art should be framed in a wide (of principle) frame, which would “separate” the pattern on the picture from the pattern on the wallpaper. It can be neutral in color or the same color as the background of the wallpaper.
- A painting on the wall is likely to be framed in molding with the aim to “separate” the picture from the wallpaper pattern. The wider the frame, the better (but do not forget about the general proportions, so that everything looks harmonious in the end). The exceptions are large areas of the background without a picture in the picture.