How to choose art for your home that feels right
Fine Art Print by John Withey, Kind Owl Gallery
If you’re anything like me, you’re often drawn to art for a reason you can’t quite explain, at least not at first. It might be a colour, a texture, a tiny detail, or a huge block of colour that just sweeps you away. You don’t know why, but you love that feeling.
Art, in the first instance, isn’t about intellect, it’s about instinct. Like falling in love, you can’t really help yourself, and you don’t want to. When it’s right, it’s right, and you just have to have it. Only later, when you begin to really look, do the layers of meaning start to reveal themselves and your appreciation of the work deepens.
That instinct is something you should trust. It’s how you find work you’ll genuinely want to live with in your home.
I recently saw an Instagram post of a brilliant, ramshackle house filled with eclectic art in colourful rooms, and it looked incredible. It was full of character, life and originality. It felt authentic because it was true to the heart of the person who lived there, not styled to be neat or magazine-ready. Now, I’m not saying every home should be a wild mix of styles and tastes, but it should absolutely be an expression of you, whatever that looks like.
So my gentle, admittedly unsolicited advice is this: when you’re choosing art for your home, start with what moves you, what stops you in your tracks and makes you want to look again.
Then think, where could this live in my space? Where can I enjoy it, share it, and discover more in it each time I see it?
Fine Art Print by John Withey, Kind Owl Gallery
Only after that do the practical things come in. The colour of the room, the light, the mood, the atmosphere. When you approach it this way, you’re far more likely to find a piece that truly belongs, something you’ll keep returning to for years.
You might have a calm, simple room that’s crying out for colour, and that bold, symbolic piece you can’t stop thinking about could bring it to life. Or a vibrant, energetic space might be beautifully grounded by a quieter abstract with a restrained palette. Contrast can be just as powerful as harmony.
In the end, living with art is less about getting it right and more about staying open. Open to what draws you in, to what surprises you, to what keeps revealing itself over time. That’s where the real joy is.
That way of choosing, starting with instinct and then letting a piece find its place, is exactly how I make and think about my own work. I want it to live with people, not just hang on walls.