There are two kinds of art you can put on a wall. The first kind decorates. The second kind holds you. Most people are choosing the first kind without intending to.

How decorating art gets chosen

Decorating art usually starts from the room. You are looking for something to fit. Fitting is the criterion. And the result of fitting as a criterion is art that disappears into the room it was chosen to serve. It does not demand attention because it was chosen to be inoffensive. It does not give the room a feeling because it was never selected for what it would do but only for where it would go.

There is nothing wrong with art that decorates. But if you have ever stood in a room with everything in place and felt something was still missing, you are experiencing the absence of the second kind. For more on why this happens, read my post on why your home might feel flat even though it looks lovely.

How holding art gets chosen

Art that holds you is chosen from a different starting point. Not from the room. From yourself. The question is not does this work with the sofa. It is what does this do to me when I look at it? This is also the reason to avoid the most common mistake people make when choosing wall art.

Art chosen this way does not fit the room in the coordinating sense. It transforms the room. It becomes the room's emotional centre. For the stories of what this transformation actually looks like in real homes, read my post on the paintings that found their homes.

What holding art does over time

People who live with holding art consistently tell me the room is easier to be in. Coming home feels slightly different. For more on the relationship between how your home feels and what you need from it, read my post on what your home says about how you want to feel. And for the specific question of how to make the room feel genuinely yours, read my post on how to make a room feel like yours. Art that holds you is not a luxury addition to a complete room. It is the thing that makes the room complete in the way that actually counts. For help finding yours, download my free guide.

My collection is made for the second kind. Find yours here and I cannot wait to see you there.