How to transform your home with art

New artworks can transform a living space, and also inspire future interests, intentions, or the desire for fresh goals. Even repositioning our existing paintings, prints and photographs can revitalise a home and feel like a new start.

Imaginatively chosen and displayed art can both revive cherished memories and prompt feelings of wellbeing – and it can change the whole ambience of a space. Abstract art, for instance, evokes moods in a non-literal, suggestive way – a large painting or print dominated by loose, expressionistic mark-making can give a home a romantic, free-spirited feel, while a more hard-edged, graphic style gives a space a modern, urban feel.

Acquiring and displaying art isn’t the preserve of homeowners, either; in fact, it’s a great way to make a rental home feel more personal, without having to redecorate – and your pictures can move on when you do. It’s this flexibility that makes art such a useful element of home décor – artworks can be arranged, then reconfigured to change the character of a room. “A piece doesn’t have to be in one location forever,” says Katherine Kittoe, founder of Kittoe Contemporary, an online and physical art gallery and art consultancy that promotes emerging and established artists. “A re-hang of artworks every few years – similar in principle to re-hangs in large public galleries, though obviously on a more modest scale – can be hugely rewarding and refreshing.”

This, though, raises the practical but important question of how to repair walls dented by holes left after hanging. “Small nails are your best friend – they’re easy to patch up with spackling paste when it’s time to move out,” says Cathy Glazer, founder of Artfully Walls, a curated site for art-buyers in the UK and US. “Lightweight pieces can be hung with thin nails and hooks from a basic picture-hanging kit. Most standard picture-hangers hold up to 30lbs. It’s easier still to lean art on ledges or on stacks of books, mantelpieces or consoles for a very casual look.”

Of course, when art is added to a home, it must coexist with furniture and homeware accumulated over time. Yet it needn’t vie for attention with existing elements or get visually lost among them – it can be artfully displayed adjacent to homeware with similar qualities, for example echoing the bold, colourful pattern in a rug or the sensual curves of ceramics. And it can be shown with ephemera – from postcards to family snaps – to create aesthetically pleasing juxtapositions.

Wall-hung art can counterbalance the bulky, imposing look of furniture that occupies a permanent spot, such as sofas, according to Sophie Goldhill, co-founder of Liddicoat & Goldhill and its interior design arm, Hector Interiors: “A striking painting can serve as a visual focal point paired with sofas and tables, and can offset the weight of larger pieces that could otherwise dominate a space,” she tells the BBC.