I’ve always been told that when you do something, do it well. And that definitely applies when displaying your things in small apartments. Space comes at a premium so it’s important that each area tells a story, and tells it beautifully.
So fill your space with things you love! This is a poster I found in an antique market in Beijing, playing charades to overcome language barriers, bargain and swap stories with a shop assistant in the middle of a Chinese market place. It travelled all the way around China in a cardboard tube before taking up residence in said cardboard tube at the bottom of my wardrobe back in Melbourne.
Although it cost me very little, this poster has shared BIG adventures with me so it was destined for much greater things than being stashed away in the dark.
It’s not hard to bang a nail into a wall and hang up a picture, but theres a big difference when it’s done well, so here are my top tips:
- Measure up your wall. Pick a space where there is enough room to stand back and appreciate your artwork, but not so much space that your picture will get lost. Smaller pictures can work in a larger spaces if you group them together.
- Understand your colour scheme. What are the colours and features you want to draw out? Picking out a backing colour that drew out the beading in this Shanghai lady’s clutch bag, as well as highlighting her dress and some of the Chinese characters helped to bring this poster to life.
- Pick the right frame. The frame needs to suit the picture and your apartment. I picked French provincial to go with the very French colonial feel of my picture.
- Get help. This is a feature in my apartment so it needed to be done well and it was important to get advice. There are fantastic framing shops who can help you pick out the right colours to make your picture stand out. It’s worth every cent!
- Keep your area simple. When your picture or a painting is a feature, keep the area around it simple. In a little space, too much clutter is sometimes your enemy!
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