5 Tips to Create the Vibe You Want in Your Home
Is the vibe off?
Getting your home to be a reflection of the mood, vibe, feel that you actually want is really hard. Go on Instagram and it looks super easy. But it’s not.
Art is the most effective way to create the vibe. Here are 5 tips that will help you create the space you want in your home.
1.Make a statement
A lot of times the vibe is off because your house is too vanilla. Don’t get offended, it’s not your fault. Most of us never take the time to develop our personal style. A statement piece of art can go a long way towards establishing a vibrant living space that reflects who you are.
A statement piece needs to be either visually compelling, or content rich.
That doesn’t necessarily mean loud and large, though it can be. The effect of a statement piece can be achieved by creating dynamic contrasts within your home. Dark on light; color in a neutral space; a calming, soft, organic abstract hung in an otherwise busy and visually stimulating room.
Content rich does not necessarily mean political or overt. Ways that content can become a statement include bringing parts of yourself forth that are not otherwise obvious or talked about. Sensuality immediately comes to mind, but so does spiritual beliefs and deep soul—yearnings. A piece becomes a statement if someone walks into your space, contemplates the subject matter and says “hmm”. It invites curiosity, exploration, and dialogue. It says something about you that other people may not have known, or shares outward what otherwise goes unstated.
2. Make your art a whole vibe
In an example above I mention calming abstract in an otherwise visually stimulating room. If you’ve been anywhere lately you know neutrals are people’s thing right now. Trendy for most, genuine for some. If that’s a genuine compatibility with your personality, let the art you buy lead the way into that, and allow your whole home to follow.
Same can apply for the opposite. If you find the core of who you are actually wants to be vibrant, colorful, and bold, find artwork that reflects that, that reflects you, and bring everything else into alignment with that. Avoid clashing by picking a palette, but otherwise go nuts.
And don’t be afraid to bring this outside of the home too—into your social media presence, your wardrobe, how you present yourself. Art choices can remake you if you follow them joyfully and intuitively.
As Helena Bonham Carter says, “I think everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality.”
3. Subtle and tasteful
All of that ^^ is not for everyone. You can create a vibe through art in nuanced and unassuming ways. Incorporating art throughout your house in ways that indicate you are thoughtful and sophisticated will very subtly and effectively create the feel of your home.
I don’t mean a ton of art, I just mean art in every room. Typically your approach here would be purely aesthetic art, simply beautiful to look at. Think a little classical—landscapes, oils paintings, soft and unassuming portraits. Nothing dramatic, nothing eye-catching. But infuse your house with this, and you will establish your vibe as sophisticated and classy.
4. Culture and taste-making
I am here for this.
If you want your vibe to be that of a cultural taste-maker, art is your best friend. Collecting art from upcoming artists that speaks to our collective contemporary experience is a super powerful way to set a vibe.
The actual aesthetics may shift around a bit as you collect, and that is okay, because you are making and aligning with culture. You are supporting the very people who lead the way in what we like, what we think about, and the tone of our experiences.
This one really leans on collecting—being a more active art buyer who is engaging with new artists on the scene and being a steward of their work. Don’t think this means you have to buy new art every year. The surge of an artists career is much more of a long-term swell than the rest of our culture. We stay interested and connected to the relevancy of upcoming artists for years. So while this approach will probably require you to collect new pieces semi-regularly, it’s not as often as you think.
5. Personal narrative
The vibe is you baby. If you already have a pretty good sense of who you are, what you stand for, what you connect with bringing forth your personal story can be a very effective way to set the tone in your home.
You can do this through the art you buy, by connecting each piece to a meaningful component of your story, personality and sense of self. I like to think of it as a visual memoir.
It doesn’t all have to be heartfelt and somber either. Humorous and goofy art is amazing. You can tastefully incorporate things like art from musicians who are core to your being. Variation is your friend here. And creative thinking to get there.
For example, let’s say travel is a big part of your life. It’s going to get boring to fill your home with photography from every place you’ve visited. Make it interesting by abstracting. Like, buying a piece of art that is rich in a particular color that evokes a memory of the tuk tuks in Thailand. I know an artist who makes art using water from various oceans and seas. The final piece doesn’t actually depict those places, but the knowing the background you can weave your story throughout it.
Humans are excellent meaning-makers, so don’t be afraid to stretch into metaphors and abstractions.
That’s it, those are my five tips for creating THE vibe you want in your home through art. I hope this was helpful for you. If any of this piqued your curiosity and you’d like to explore your options, please consider filling out an application to work with me.