How to beatify your home and give it an "artsy" feel

Collecting art is a big step. When we moved into our new home and my parents wanted to give us something special, I said I wanted a lithograph by Jean Cocteau. A look at artsy.net proved to me that it was out of reach for now and furniture would be a much wiser choice. I painted a master study of a painting I love and that has a special meaning to me for the time being and hung it as a place holder, until I'm ready to invest in that lithograph... but making a home look artistic and different doesn't require you painting, or taking out a second mortgage. This is how:

1. Art books, lots of them.  No matter if we read our novels on our kindles, phones or as old, ragged print versions lent from friends in our beds... every house needs nice art books. They are a pleasure for the eye, and art pieces themselves - on shelves, coffee tables, mantles, even stacked on floors. In our digital age, it's a joy to take - if only a couple minutes - to browse through them, just to get inspired or distracted. I think Taschen and Dumont publishing make the best art books.

2. Original prints, drawings, watercolors, embroideries

Nicely framed and assembled, these can elevate any space. Apart from Etsy, I look for artists on Instagram and at local art fairs.

I'm currently obsessed with these illustrations: www.helenelacombe.co

3. Precious objects

Museum stores, flea markets and antique stores are all places to get something special. The latter occasionally have art, too, but it's mostly nothing too good (though the frames can be amazing). 

I recently got Degas's Little Dancer from the Met store and am very happy - it reminds me of my New York trip with my husband, how we were tired and hungover and how much we loved being at the Met, it kind of started our tradition of going to museums when we travel. Then we went to the Degas house in New Orleans... oh, to travel again! 😞 

One of my best friends gave me this precious little art work by an artist named Brini that depicts our hometown Hamburg after I left for Dallas. My daughter likes to pick it up from the shelf and say "from Daria".

Postcards from my friend Alexander and his dad Nikolai. Imagine these framed! www.estis.de

4. Reproductions

This isn't always done nicely. The safest would be to get a framed print of a lithograph - of Alfonse Mucha's or Henri Toulouse-Lautrec's work for example. Reprints of vintage advertising posters are an interesting idea as well. As for old masters, some copies just look tacky. I managed find these tiny genre prints on a Dutch flea market - their small size hides their imperfections well (I think).  

5. Your own photography

A photo of a gorgeous landscape or architecture that reminds you of your last trip? Printed on a canvas? In black and white even? Inexpensive, personal and creative!

6. Inspiration, inspiration, inspiration 

Online, on instagram accounts like @artfullywalls, in magazines like Elle Decor OR by looking at my friend Jill's house! She and her husband are avid travelers who not only have been pretty much everywhere in the world, but have also managed to collect many gorgeous pieces from their trips. "If we can't travel at least we are surrounded by our memories" Jill says and advises to invest in good quality and to be sure to really adore an item so you can display it forever.

Jill's daughter Indie playing on her great-great grandpa's table

Jill's bedroom

The whole family in the family room

Isn't this house a dream and a great reflection of the family's passions? 

Are you collecting art or planning to do so?

Talk to you soon,

J.