How to Choose the Perfect Art for Your Home
Choosing art for your home is one of those decisions that feels enormous when you're standing in a half-empty living room, and surprisingly simple once you know what to ask yourself. Over the years of designing prints and drawing personalised portraits of people's homes, I've noticed the same questions come up again and again. So here, finally, is a friendly, no-nonsense guide to choosing pieces you'll love for years to come.
Start with the space, not the art
Before you fall in love with a print, take a quiet moment to look at the room. What's the light like? Cool morning light, or warm evening sun? What's already on the walls — paint colour, wallpaper, existing furniture? Big open spaces can carry bold statement pieces; quieter corners often want something gentler and more intimate.
The art you choose should belong to the room, not fight with it. That doesn't mean playing it safe — it means thinking about how the piece will live in the space, day in and day out.
Get the size right (this matters more than you think)
The single most common mistake people make is buying art that's too small. A beautiful print can disappear on a large wall if it isn't sized to suit it.
As a rough rule of thumb, art should fill around two-thirds of the width of the furniture beneath it — a sofa, sideboard, fireplace or bed. On a blank wall, aim for the piece to take up at least 60% of the wall's width.
If you're not sure, here's a tip I always give customers: cut a piece of newspaper or brown parcel paper to the size you're considering, tape it to the wall, and live with it for a day. You'll quickly see whether it feels right or whether you need to go bigger (you almost always need to go bigger).
Think about colour and palette
Your art doesn't have to match your sofa, but it should sit in conversation with the rest of the room.
If your space leans neutral — creams, greys, natural linens — a bold coloured print can be the lift it's been waiting for. If your room is already busy with patterns, a black and white piece will calm everything down and add quiet sophistication. This is exactly why I offer my travel prints in both palettes — so they can flex with different home styles rather than dictating one.
A useful mental check: imagine the room at dusk, with lamps on. Does the art still hold its own? If a piece only looks good in daylight, it's working too hard.
Choose for personality, not just for decor
The best art tells a story. Maybe it's the city where you got engaged. The place where you grew up. The view from a holiday that's stayed with you ever since. The pub where you first met your other half.
When a piece means something to you, it stops being decor and starts being a memory you live with. That's the difference between art that fades into the background of a home and art you find yourself pointing out to every visitor for the next ten years.
This is also why I draw bespoke house portraits — there's something about a hand-illustrated piece of the place you actually live (or used to live) that mass-produced art cannot match.
Mix your styles, but keep one thread
You don't have to commit to a single style across the whole house. Some of the most beautiful rooms I've designed prints for mix a detailed architectural drawing with a soft watercolour print and an abstract piece — all hanging together as a small gallery wall.
The key is one common thread that ties it all together. It might be:
A consistent frame style across every piece
A shared colour running through each work
A common subject matter (architecture, travel, landscapes)
A similar level of detail or visual weight
When there's one quiet thing in common, the contrast between styles starts to feel deliberate rather than accidental.
Don't skip the frame
A beautiful print in the wrong frame can look unfinished — like wearing a brilliant outfit with the wrong shoes.
A few quick principles:
Black frames are versatile and modern, and pair particularly well with bold or graphic prints
Wooden frames feel warm, lived-in and considered, and work beautifully with natural-toned interiors
White frames suit lighter, more minimalist spaces and let the artwork breathe
Beige or natural frames add subtle warmth without competing with the print itself
I offer all four options on my prints because the right frame quietly transforms the whole piece. It's worth getting this bit right.
Personalised art is a different category altogether
There's something about a hand-drawn portrait of your own home, or a print of the church where you got married, that no off-the-shelf piece can match. It's not just art — it's a record of somewhere that matters.
If you've ever moved house, lost a beloved family home, or want to give a gift that genuinely cannot be bought anywhere else, a bespoke commission is worth thinking about. My personalised house portraits start at £35, and they become the kind of piece people keep for life — often passed down rather than replaced.
Buy what you love (the only rule that truly matters)
Every piece of advice above is useful, but if you've fallen for something, buy it. Trust your gut.
The homes that feel most like home are filled with art the owners genuinely love, not art that "goes with" everything. You'll always find a corner where it belongs. And if you're choosing between two pieces and can't decide, ask yourself which one you'd miss if it weren't there. That's your answer.
Where to start
If you're not sure where to begin, my travel prints are designed to feel both personal and easy to live with — from quiet British landscapes (Holy Island, the Tyne, Tynemouth sunsets) to global favourites (Venice, New York, the Maldives). They come in black-and-white or coloured, and in A4 or A3 sizes with framing options to suit any room.
And if you're after something truly one-of-a-kind, my bespoke commissions are open year-round. Tell me about the place you'd love to have captured — a home, a building, a destination — and I'll get back to you within 48 hours with a price and timeframe.
Whichever direction you take, take your time. The best homes are built slowly, one piece you love at a time.
— Mollie