Artwork Considerations for Home Staging

(Note: this is an older post that has been updated and revised)

At the request of several clients, I've worked to compile a quick list for consideration when selecting the artwork for a staging project. I'll continue to revise this and possibly develop a more comprehensive document, but so far this is what I have come up with. I am deeply indebted to the insight of the Nora Flaherty of the IAHSP, the talented ladies at Chicago Home Staging and interior designer Laurel Feldman for sharing their thoughts and insights with me.

1)Mass Appeal – Kim Baker of Chicago Home Staging reminded me just the other day of the number one essential consideration for staging – creating an environment that has the greatest appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers. When considering artwork, which is highly subjective, this should remain the guiding principle. Personally, I love Caravaggio's work – intense lights and darks and often violent scenes with heavy religious connotations. That works very well... for the walls of an Italian church. For staging, however, it's probably just about as far from what you would want to use as possible. Religious artwork, nudes, violence – while these sometimes make for great artworks, they are going to appeal only to a small portion of home buyers and run the risk of offending or turning off other. While this might seem like common sense to many of us, we're not always conditioned to be aware of what is or is not offensive. Some stagers suggest staying away from figures entirely and using only landscapes and abstracts. I believe figurative artwork like those by Jim Parenti or something like Movement by Doug Birkenheuer can be incorporated in some cases, but it should always be subject to careful consideration.

2)Artwork vs Space - from conversations with stagers as well as projects we've worked on, this seems to be one of the single most important factors. When people walk into a staged home, what should come forward is the space rather than the artwork. It's typically about creating an environment where the artwork forms the right background - essentially the exact opposite of an art gallery space which is designed to showcase the artwork and make it the focus of your attention (if part of the appeal of the home is as a creative loft space in an art district, however, creating more of a gallery feel might make sense – it all depends on who the audience is). Something we've been doing lately is taking pictures from several different angels and then reviewing them at least a few hours after we have left the site. This gives us a chance to readjust our thinking and we can look a bit more objectively at the photos and ask ourselves, is the space or the artwork what draws our attention the most? If the answer is "the space," than we are on the right track.

3)Style - this goes without saying but what type of home or room are you working with? Is it a traditional home where landscapes done in oils or black and white photography would work best? Is it a contemporary home where high-end abstract works and textile or installation works like those by Jessica Joy would be most appropriate? Are the potential buyers going to be sophisticated collectors? Does the living room couch beg for a more impressionistic Renee Nemir piece above it - the furniture has a significant impact on the dynamic of the room as well. All of these questions come into play and how you answer them can make a real impact on what artwork you select.

4)Colors - as above this may seem fairly obvious, but it can be easy to miss. Modern homes in the city may have a lot of glass and steel surfaces, which can create an unintentionally cold atmosphere. Some organic greens and still life of fruit can warm it up nicely without commanding too much attention. Some of Judi Hechtman's floral prints or the watercolors of Dorothy Mason can do the trick very well. Flesh tones compliment many lighter woods nicely and vic-a-versa (something to consider when selecting the framing), while blue and white can really pop against a dark accent wall. I have to confess that I actually keep a copy of the good old color wheel on hand and I am never too proud to consult it when I'm thinking about color suggestions. Also, even though it's not always color-true, I always snap a picture or two of an artwork, even if it's just on my phone, so that I can hold it up against a space to make sure the colors will work as I intended. Technology is a major friend in this regard - thanks iPhone!

5)Themes and Motifs - many artists use these to convey messages - sometimes through subtle repetition of particular images. This same concept can carry over into selecting the art for a staging project. For example, is the view of the city skyline from the third floor balcony something you want to highlight? Why not do it with some skyline photography or artwork in the study on the second floor? Is the backyard garden a key selling point for the home? Why not utilize some garden imagery very sparingly in other places throughout the house? With “Green” being the current zeitgeist, we often incorporate artwork by one of our “Green Artists,” like Dennis Downes, who carves his own frames and often pulps his own paper and creates his own dyes from natural sources. It's an interesting talking point that is also thematically relevant. Thoughtful use of artwork create the difference between a feature or amenity that's "just nice" as opposed to being a real jaw-dropper. Conversely, however, it's also easy to overdo a theme. It's a technique that calls for discretion and we always try to keep in mind the old phrase, "less is more."

6)Placement - we've been doing a lot of work with artwork across multiple panels, which is nice for several reasons: 1) you can space them out to fill a very wide wall-space so that it doesn't seem so empty or that the artwork gets lost on the wall, 2) you can stagger them in interesting shapes and designs which can contribute to the "flow" of a room (i.e. a few photos going up a stairwell) and 3) you can use as many or as few as you like (and in more than one place) - just because a particular piece was created as 7 panels doesn't mean that all of them necessarily need to be used - breaking them up into two sets may have a better impact on the space. While there is no hard rule for using artwork in a series, there are some other considerations for placement that should always be followed. If your potential buyers are serious collectors, then hanging a beautiful watercolor or other photo-sensitive artworks in a shaft of direct sunlight might make them cringe, no matter how perfectly it seems to occupy the space. It would be like putting a glass frame over an oil painting - a major no-no that causes the paint to eventually crack as the oil tries to breath in a vacuum. While that may seem obvious to many of us, I have on occasion witnessed these and other unintentional abuse of artwork.

7)Details - maybe that picture of a wide open Arizona landscape by Predrag Djordjevic really fits the room perfectly... but you're staging a home in Minnesota (which is not to say that it won't work, just something to be cognizant of). Likewise, maybe that seascape really seems to pop in the study, but the home is in the middle of New Mexico where artwork of adobe buildings or a desertscape at night might make more sense. This isn't a hard rule, and sometimes creating a juxtaposition is what's called for, if done with care. Kim Baker mentioned that she sometimes like to use an unusual piece that stands out a bit to keep a staged home from swinging so far toward mass-appeal that it becomes bland. A sculpture by Bouba, stained-glass artwork by Larry Zgoda or ceramic wall pieces by Lou Pierozzi can be perfect for adding an eccentric twist to a room while remaining within the framework of mass appeal. The frames are another consideration – they may look gorgeous when you pick them up from the fame shop, but how will those ornate, silver frames look in a room where the molding on the floor and ceiling is a totally different style? The devil is in the details, as they say, and everything even down to the matting around a framed print can enhance or detract from an atmosphere. Laurel Feldman's foyer at the 2009 Dream Home is a great example of what attention to these sorts of details can achieve.

These are just some initial thoughts and I will try to explore other areas where design and art intersect.