Art for your home

I often get the same message. Someone has a wall they look at every day, and they know something is missing. But they're unsure what to choose, how big it should be, and whether they'll get it wrong.

So here's how I would approach it myself. Not rules, but what I've learned from painting for many years and from following works home to people.

Art is one of the few things in your home you don't choose for practical reasons

Everything else in a house has a job. The sofa is for sitting, the lamp is for light. Art doesn't have to do anything. It simply hangs there and does something to the room, every single day.

That's why it matters so much. A home without art can be perfectly nice, but it's rarely personal. Art is where you can see who lives there.

Start with the feeling, not the colour

Most people start by looking for something that matches the sofa. Try turning it around. First think about how you want to feel when you walk into the room. Do you want to settle down, or be lifted a little?

A calm piece in soft tones makes a room quiet. A piece with more contrast and movement does the opposite. Both can be right, but they don't do the same thing, and it's worth choosing deliberately.

Once the feeling is in place, the colours usually fall into place by themselves afterwards.

Size is what people most often get wrong

If I could give only one piece of advice, it would be this: go one size up from what you first had in mind.

A piece that's too small on a large wall looks like a mistake. A large piece does the opposite – it pulls the room together and makes it feel calmer, not fuller.

A rule of thumb above a sofa or a sideboard: the piece can take up around two thirds of the furniture's width. If you hang a group of several works, count them as one combined area.

Hang it lower than you think

The centre of the piece should sit at around 150 cm, roughly eye level for a standing adult. Most people hang their art too high.

If the piece hangs above a sofa, leave around 20 to 30 cm from the back of the sofa to the frame. That way the two belong together instead of floating separately.

Look at the light in the room

The same piece looks different in the morning and in the evening. Before you decide, notice how the light falls on the wall over the course of a day.

Avoid hanging a painting where the sun hits it directly for hours. That goes for all art, both originals and prints. A wall with indirect daylight is almost always the best spot.

Original, art print or canvas print

There's no single right choice here – it's about what you want from it.

An original painting exists in only one copy. You can see the brushstrokes, and the surface changes with the light. It's the investment you keep.

A giclée art print is printed on 310 g cotton paper with a matte surface. It's the easy way to get started, and it looks beautiful framed.

A canvas print is printed on matte canvas and hung without glass. It gives you more of the same feeling as a painting, without being one.

Build it up over time

You don't need to fill every wall at once. The best homes are usually the ones where things have arrived little by little, and where every piece has a reason to be there.

Start with the room you spend the most time in. Live with the piece for a while. Then you'll find out for yourself what's missing afterwards.

When nothing fits quite right

Sometimes the wall is an odd shape, or the ceiling is low, or you have a very specific feeling in mind that you can't find anything to match.

That's where a commission makes sense. We start with your room and your light, the canvas is built to measure – including unusual sizes – and I paint from there. It typically takes 3-4 months, and you'll get photos along the way.

It's also the most personal gift you can give. I've painted for weddings, new parents and milestone birthdays, and those works keep hanging long after the day itself has passed.

Have a question about your wall?

Write to me at contact@malenegeorgsen.com with a photo of the room and the measurements. I'm happy to answer, even if you're not buying anything right now.