Art in your home - we ask two interiors designers for advice, top tips and a unique insight into making the most of art.

​1. Where are your favourite places to look to find original art?

Becci - Hiltingbury Interiors
For me personally, I’ll often look for art when we are travelling either in the UK or abroad. I also attend exhibitions, open studios, art/craft fairs and I’m far more likely to purchase art if I’ve met the artist. I think social media is also really important and I’ll follow artists so that I can see who’s putting what out there. 
For clients, I will often hook them up with artists I know. I have relationships with an eclectic mix of artists so can often match the client with an artist to suit their personality and interior design style.

​Sarah - Sarah Beam Interiors
I’m always very excited to put the work of local artists into the homes of my clients #shoplocal. You can’t beat pop-up art exhibitions and local galleries - seeing a variety of collections up close with their varying styles and mediums broadens the chance of finding something that really hits the spot. Meeting the artists is invaluable too, especially if there is an opportunity to commission a piece specifically for my project – I can chat through the possibilities there and then to get the ball rolling.
 
I also increasingly value the opportunity provided by Instagram and other social media channels to get to know brands and the artists behind them.  I’m basically matchmaking my clients to art(ists) I think they’ll resonate with.

"...social media content gives you so much more. Incorporating a piece of art into your home is personal, so getting a real sense of an artist’s values, approaches and inspiration is brilliant." Sarah

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"in too deep" by artist Emma J Read of Cedars Yard

​2.If you're designing a room from scratch, do you start with choosing art or does that fit into other styling?

Becci - Hiltingbury Interiors
The answer to that is both. 
Sometimes a piece of art will be the starting point for the scheme. So it’s where we’ll take our colour scheme and inspiration from. 
For other projects artwork and accessories come towards end of the process. I always include art work ideas in my interior design schemes for clients. Sometimes clients can see that these play an integral part of the room and it's potential WOW from the start. Other people don’t see the importance or need for a piece of art until their room is finished and they have a gaps to fill on the walls! If I hook clients up with an artist, I’ll often provide a swatch pack of paints, wallpapers, fabrics we’ve used so the artist can see the colours and textures the client has chosen.  

Sarah - Sarah Beam Interiors
I have to be ready for anything! Some clients come to me with a completely blank sheet of paper, whilst others have a specific canvas, print, fabric or item of furniture that they want to be incorporated. Either way, it’s never a good idea to buy a piece of art as an afterthought or to reverse engineer it into a design scheme that’s almost completed. Chances are you’ll choose something for the wrong reasons – and as a result both the artwork and the overall design of the room will fall short of their potential.
 
The ideal scenario is that a client shares with me their preferences on how they want the space to feel and function. I then spend time getting to know their tastes before shaping a design they’ll love. Feature artwork should be sourced at the early stages of the design process wherever possible; if done right it becomes the glue that brings the design scheme together. It affects the ambiance and layout of the space, as well as providing a steer on the textures, forms and overall colour palette to be used in the scheme.

"She rises" by artist Emma J Read of Cedars Yard

​3.Is the gallery wall trend still current?

Becci - Hiltingbury Interiors
I think that depends on the client and the property! 
I would suggest it to a client who’s interior leant its self to that look either due to the period of the property, or because they have a large volume existing of artwork, family photographs or treasured children projects they wish to display. Done well, a gallery wall can be a great way go grouping “stuff” that a client want to display. 

Gallery walls, of maybe 3 or 5 pieces, are also a good way of filling a long hallway or wall in a corridor, especially if the images go together and tell a story.   

Sarah - Sarah Beam Interiors
I hope not!  That sounds brutal, but I’ve never been a huge fan of them. To me a gallery wall acts to belittle the value of each of its component parts by making them compete with each other, whereas a standalone piece of art gets the focused attention it deserves. Think of it as the contrast between mindlessly scrolling through a social media feed versus getting absorbed in a really good book. 
Gallery walls are embedded in popular design, so I doubt they will disappear anytime soon, but their composition is ever evolving. Coherent collections of meaningful photos, and multi-panel canvases will likely persist longer than sporadic selections of formatted quotes and slogans for example

4.Where would be your favourite place to put a statement piece of art in a home. ​

Becci - Hiltingbury Interiors
Anywhere that can take it! But you need to remember that a wow piece of art is only a statement if you allow it the space to shine. For statement pieces its all about identifying the locations that can take it in a property. When working on new build/extension or whole house refurbishments with clients I’ll identify locations that can become feature walls at the planning stages. This enables you to consider the potential sight lines and vistas along with furniture layout, electrical plans and natural day light all of which will help to show of your artwork at its finest. 

Where appropriate, I offer clients is a specialist service where their windows are filmed to filter out UV rays (as well as heat and light depending on the product they chose). This guarantees to protect artwork, carpets and furniture from sun damage and bleaching. Its a great product which customers seem to love, we use it if clients want silk curtains and blinds as they perish v quickly otherwise. 

Sarah - Sarah Beam Interiors
Beyond the conventional spots of over the fireplace or above the headboard, my top three favourite places for statement pieces are: 
· Hallway/staircase/landing: As typically narrow, functional spaces, my clients often assume they should keep the décor of their hallway, staircase and landing plain. But these spaces play a role in creating a first impression for you and your guests get on entering your home; hanging a statement piece of art is a great opportunity to create a wow factor that welcomes you into your home. Position art at the top or bottom of a staircase or at the end of a hallway to maximise the time you have to admire it as you move around your home. And be sure to ‘go big’ to take advantage of the available wall space – you don’t tend to pause long enough in these spaces to appreciate detail.
 
· Dining room: Dining rooms are the perfect spot for a statement piece for two main reasons. Firstly, dwell time – whether you’re having a romantic evening in or hosting a dinner party for friends, you spend quality time in this room and as such have time to absorb and enjoy the artwork on display. This contrasts with a lounge or kitchen environment where there’s a lot more going on that art must compete with, likely including a TV. Secondly, there’s a reason why galleries tend to use deep, rich colours on their display walls – it sets the art off beautifully. Of all the rooms in the house, I love using atmospheric and regal wall colours for my clients in their dining rooms, and in doing so they become the perfect spot to show off beautiful artwork.  
 
· Cloakroom: It’s often the smallest room in the house and you don’t tend to spend very much time in it, but I always encourage my clients to be a little more daring and flamboyant with their decor in their downstairs loo. Bold colours and a piece of statement art make this room a surprising spectacle for you and your guests, much better than gazing at a blank wall!

"But you need to remember that a wow piece of art is only a statement if you allow it the space to shine" Becci

5.How do you incorporate art into your designs in unexpected ways?

Becci - Hiltingbury Interiors
Art can take many forms. Often clients think of it as a painting or picture, but I try get people to think three dimensionally too. It's often about a well curated collection of items, in the right place with the right amount of space. Often its about reframing existing pieces to fit into a revamped room or moving things around that have been hidden. 

I’ll also show clients products they may not be aware of. For example, I’m a big fan of Caroline Egleston, from Piccolpasso who makes and paints tiles. These are completely unique and can be commissioned for your project. The client ends up with a work of art as part of their kitchen or bathroom. (Check out Carolines website  https://piccolpasso.com,  if you want to see what I mean. I also have some of her tiles in my shower room, so have created my own piece of artwork in a space that otherwise could be quite dull!) 

Sarah - Sarah Beam Interiors
I see walls as a blank canvas and love to create full-wall bespoke murals as part of my designs. Whether it utilises bold geometric colour-blocking or subtle freehand shapes these feature walls have proven to be a fabulous way to inject huge amounts of personality into décor, creating real impact in the process. Whilst some homeowners may be apprehensive of this approach (instead using gallery walls or display shelves to bring interest to a wall), I help my clients to see that going bold on the walls removes the need for decorative clutter and actually gives you a more coherent, loveable design outcome. [See photo 1 attached]
 
I love to transform the tops of coffee tables and occasional tables into pieces of art. I use a variety of different medium to do so. From ceramic mosaics to draught pieces and scrabble tiles, you can create fabulous one-off pieces that bring colour, pattern and personality into your room. I especially love the fact that doing this unleashes art from its conventional position on the walls and brings it into the very heart of the room. [See photo 2 attached]

6. What's exciting you in interior design right now?

Becci - Hiltingbury Interiors
Natural materials, wood, metal and natures influences. Clean lines and simplicity but with crafting inspired quirky accessories. 

​Sarah - Sarah Beam Interiors
​As 2020 progresses, we’ve seen changes to so many elements of our lives – there’s a good chance some of the interiors trends we saw emerging at the outset of the year will alter and evolve in the coming months to reflect this. But there are a couple of things that give me reason to get extremely excited for what comes next for interior design: 
Sustainability – There’s an increased focus on the future, and ensuring we’re making responsible, conscientious choices for our homes and for our planet. With this comes an increased use of reclaimed materials to create bespoke furniture pieces – all finished to an exceptionally high-quality with no compromise on elegance. Paired with increased use of abstract forms, soft edges, intriguing textures, and beautiful nature-inspired illusions, the end result is graceful comfortable interior schemes that induce feelings of serenity and security.
 
Confidence – Our time in lockdown will leave us all with a greater awareness of the elements of our homes that really work for us, and equally the elements that fall short. We will have truly tested the ability of our homes to cater for all angles of our family’s day to day needs. We will have found ways to ensure our homes can be both our safe haven and our happy place. We will have so much more respect for our homes. Going forwards, we’ll consequently be more true to ourselves in our approach to choosing design schemes for our homes, and to me that is really exciting. It will bring homeowners the confidence to incorporate the colours, patterns and styles they love rather than the on-trend ones they think they’d better use in order to conform with the majority. In a world where people have embraced rainbows to seek comfort and to express hope, this colourful future couldn’t be more appropriate. Bring it on.

Thankyou so much to Becci and Sarah for their contributions. Do check them out.

Becci Oldham 
Hiltingbury Interiors 
www.hiltingburyinteriors.co.uk 
@hiltingburyinteriors

Sarah Beams
Sarah Beams Interiors
www.sarahbeamsinteriors.com
​@sarah.beams.interiors