Pros and cons of large canvas wall art in your interior

Oversized art has become rather trendy lately. You can see it in almost any home decorator’s collection – big colorful paintings that immediately grab your attention as you come into the room and make a loud statement of style that’s hard to deny. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that this kind of art will work for you as well. Before running to the nearest gallery and stocking up on paintings the size of your wall, consider the pros and cons of using extra large art in your interior.

You should definitely buy a large painting if:

• You have a lot of blank wall space to cover and you don’t know how to do it.
• You need to fill up part of your room that lacks ‘content’, but you can’t think of any furniture to place there.
• You want to create a very contemporary and eye-catching room design that will knock your guests off their feet.
• You are going for a minimalistic look with limited use of wall décor.
• You need to balance an arrangement of smaller paintings on the opposite wall.

You definitely shouldn’t buy a large painting if:

• Your room is too small or cluttered.
• There isn’t enough wall space between the painting and the furniture.
• You already have other pieces of wall décor on the same wall.
• Your interior design isn’t consistent.
• You simply don’t have enough money.

Oversized wall art can become a true eye candy in your home decorator’s collection - or break the entire room design if you use it inappropriately. Measure your wall space available very carefully to avoid bitter disappointment if the painting you acquired turns out to take up a bigger area than you expected. Remember that wall décor should be in line with your room design and enhance its strong points, not vise versa. Classic interiors will benefit from panoramic canvas art – traditionally painted landscapes or seascapes – while large abstractions, impressionistic cityscapes or retro-style celebrity portraits will look great in most contemporary apartments. While choosing a piece of art, you should also consider the color scheme of your room. The palette of the painting should echo the colors of furniture, walls and other decorations. Some interesting effects can be achieved by using a frame of a contrasting color to attract more attention to the painting itself and create a visual support for other interior elements.