Learn how to make your
home's interior look as good as the ones
you see on the home-decorating shows--without a budget running
into thousands of dollars--using art prints.
With the new craze for interior decorating inspired by "home
makeover" television programs, more and more people are tempted
to hire a professional decorator, even if they can't afford one.
Simplicity: the Art of Home Decorating
If you're thinking about breaking the bank for the sake of a
beautiful room, think again. You don't have to spend as much as
an oil tycoon to have a home every bit as beautiful. Here's why:
A pair of human eyes can only take in so much, no matter how
much is put before them.
The secret is not to aim for beauty that comes from opulence,
but for a simple beauty. And simple beauty is usually less
expensive.
The best way to go for simple beauty in interior design is to
make the focus of a room a single well-chosen decorative element.
Art Prints: Simple Home Décor Focus
But what single beautiful element could you actually afford?
Unless you happen to get really, really lucky at a crafts fair
or estate sale, there's only one sure way to buy high taste on a
low budget. Not original paintings or expensive wallpaper. Just
a well-chosen print of a painting or photograph that reflects
your style and taste and matches your room.
Surprised at such a simple answer to the decorating conundrum?
Perhaps, like most people, you do not understand what art prints
really are.
What Art Prints Are Not
Art prints are not posters.
Posters are made using paper stock similar to what magazines
use. Art prints are made using special heavier print stock
especially for prints.
Posters often play rather loose with the original image,
cropping it, resizing it, adding text, or even changing shading.
Prints will typically come much closer to the original, and will
rarely crop the original image or alter its appearance
significantly.
Posters are vastly less durable than art prints. You can expect
a high-quality print to last decades without showing signs of
age.
Art prints are not reproductions (though they are close).
Reproductions of a work of art, usually a painting, involve
using exactly or nearly exactly the same brush strokes and
materials, which is why they are so expensive. Prints,
meanwhile, reproduce the look of the artwork without reproducing
every detail of it. For instance, even though many prints of
paintings use textured surfaces or even artificial brush
strokes, the exact brush strokes of the original are not copied.
Reproductions also have to be conserved as carefully as original
paintings in most cases, or they will fade. High-quality prints
are given protection against fading, either in the form of a
coating to the surface, or a Plexiglas case.
Reproductions, being paintings, are not very durable, and must
be treated with special care. Prints, though not indestructible,
are more likely to survive accidents. Some prints can even be
washed with glass cleaner.
Of course, no art print will be a good anchor for a room's décor
if it's not well chosen. Unfortunately, many people either don't
have any particular tastes when it comes to art or décor, or
else do not trust their own taste. Luckily, the internet puts
the accumulated knowledge of thousands of decorators, artists,
and art experts at your disposal. Thanks to the internet, your
home can look as good as the ones on TV.
