Ever wonder why advertisers use 6-foot images in bus shelters or billboard-sized ads in subway stations? Part of the reason is that scaling up in a small space can be really effective. The same thing works at home, as you can see in the first photo above, where a huge image of a laughing girl gives an entryway a distinct personality.
Large art can be the defining element of a small space, tying together a color scheme and creating a single focal point that anchors the other items in the room. It can be anything: a painting, a map, found signage, or a rug hung on the wall.
When choosing large art for a room, the most important thing is that you love it. As a central piece, it sets the tone for everything else and you want to choose something that reflects your personal taste and style.
We've pulled together a few examples of people who have used large art effectively in small spaces. Though media and styles vary widely, these artworks fit in will with their rooms and act as a strong center of gravity around which furniture and accessories revolve.
FIRST ROW
• 1 Galen's Ad-Hoc Apartment for the Arts
• 2 EricMcFly's Constant Curating
• 3 Arzee's Urban Jungle Oasis
• 4 dp2r's Organized Abode
• 5 Lital's Earth Toned Living Room
SECOND ROW
• 6 Praveen's High Ceilings
• 7 Summer and Josh's Pumped Up Traditional
• 8 Lori's Eye Popping Neutra
• 9 Jessica and Erik's Cozy Bungalow
• 10 Annie's Logan Square Home
RELATED POSTS
• Using Large-Scale Artwork to Anchor a Room
• Found and Salvaged: Extra-Large Wall Art
• Large-Scale Artwork on a Budget
Photos: Ann Manubay & Dabney Frake, Erin, Arzee, dp2r, Lital, Praveen, Evan Thomas, Lori, Jessica Engeman, Annie
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I love the first picture. Where can you find large photography like this?
That fist image looks like what used to be a panel of an in-store signage display for abercrombie and fitch.
Yea, I agree. The first image looks like it may very well have come directly from a Hollister or Abercrombie store.
I'm an amateur photographer and like to hang up my own photos for art (cheaper than buying!). Sometimes I'll even buy pieces from stock photography Web sites for a song. But I've found it's really difficult to find an image that can be blown up large.
The largest I've been able to get any photo was about 16x20. At what resolution would I have to take pictures to blow them up as big as some of the examples here?
I love the look of really large photographs, but even with my Nikon D40 I have trouble getting them crisp/clean when I make them really large.
Advice?
I adore huge pieces of artwork especially in small spaces. I love seeing these here!
Mrs.Mack - it's been a while since I've worked with large scale printing but I remember it being printed at an odd dpi... seems like 96 maybe? You obviously loose a ton of resolution since the images like a billboard are intended to be viewed from a distance and detail is not as important so a lot is lost. A place like www.giganticcolor.com might be a good starting point.
Now, if I could just find the pre-printed images like the wall of aspen trees that was in an old cb2 catalog I think.
I wanted a large photo of clouds for my daughters room so I started by looking on Etsy. When I found something I liked, I emailed the photographer and asked what the biggest print size was for that image on canvas. In the end, I got something that was about 3 ft x 4 ft and its looks perfectly clear. It only cost 127 USD (shipping included) but I can't remember which company it was. You can see it here:
http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/small-kids-big-color-2009/georgias-sweet-sophisticated-nursery-small-kids-big-color-entry-32--100764
As an artist, I like using large 5' x 4' canvases for my paintings but they are a harder sell. One of my large abstracts is hanging in our guest bathroom and the color of the towels are pulled from the abstract painting. The painting also serves as "wallpaper" since it covers the entire wall!