How wall art can transform our living space and support our wellbeing

Mums Tips

Get Creative

Published on Wednesday, 09 June 2021 19:49

Last Updated on 09 June 2021

Monica Costa

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Throughout the pandemic we have appreciated the importance of the arts on our wellbeing. What would have happened to us during lockdown without artistic entertainment – Netflix, music, creative activities. Personally, I have felt that I should treat my home like a temple so I have surrounded myself with artwork. Let’s face it! Art enriches our lives and boosts our wellbeing. A simple photograph or painting hanging on the wall has the power to cheer the spirit and enliven the space. Wall art can make me laugh, evoke emotion, incite conversation and debate, and inspire me on a daily basis.

It’s not about living in an art gallery. It’s about surrounding myself with the art I love, appreciate and find inspiring. ?It’s about bringing life, colour, creativity and personality into my home. Why live in a spartan, sterile environment if we don’t have to? 

Having art in the home creates self-awareness and opens up the opportunity for vulnerability in our personal space. Research shows that viewing art also decreases stress levels, improving critical thinking skills, and relieve mental fatigue. It’s a scientifically proven fact that the arts make a clear contribution in the delivery of better health, wellbeing and improved experience for us all, so much so that it is used in hospitals to support patients with their recovery and medical staff. Effects may be mediated by psychological responses to colour hue, brightness and saturation. Colours that elicit high levels of pleasure with low levels of arousal are most likely to induce a state of calm, while those causing displeasure and high levels of arousal may provoke anxiety.

More than 400 million people suffer from mental health issues worldwide and art can be one type of therapy supporting those who tend to suffer from loneliness and feel like expressing their thoughts creatively. It’s as easy as grabbing a brush and paint our thoughts maybe together with the children. Kids find drawing and splashing colours on paper very relaxing. The resulting artwork can be hung in the house as a reminder of a special happy moment. But we don’t need to be involved in the actual creation of art for it to have a positive impact upon our mental wellbeing. Finding artwork that we have an emotional connection with can also serve as a means to improve our mental health. I personally hang emotive pieces in the form of posters, tapestries, art prints – including my son’s or my own paintings everywhere in my house that I can see passing by to make me feel joyful. It’s as simple as that.

Nowadays technology can facilitate lots of different types of artistic expressions and support our desire for artwork in our homes without spending a fortune.

Hundreds of thousands of independent artists create works of art to decorate our homes and accessorise our life with. When I travel to new places I often buy paintings from local artists at reasonable prices and every time I look at these in my house I remember that holiday.

Photographs and illustrations can be turned into art as well. In fact, this seems quite a trend these days.

Some specialised online shops even have augmented-reality mobile apps that help you see the artwork in your space before you complete the purchase. I find this extraordinary. Personal photos can be transformed into original work of art – digitally hand-painted by artists without the need for filters.

Whether we feel depressed or moody or whether we want our children to ‘absorb’ the power of art without much effort, having wall art hanging in our personal space – no matter how big or small that is – definitely improves our outlook on life.