Sikes shares advice on artwork

Favorite tips from "The Artful Home" by Toni Sikes.

• Whether you hang your artwork on white or colored walls is individual taste and preference, she said.

In the book, she shows prints on a blue wall in an otherwise very neutral room.

"The prints are a little cool, but light blue warms them up," she said. "It would look so different if those walls were white."

• Pictures hung together need something in common. Most often designers give them similar frames. Sikes did this in her work space, and even got away with making the simple frames different colors.

Unique frames can work for pictures that have the same style and subject matter.

• Give pieces room to breathe. You will see in Sikes' photos that clutter is not the name of the game.

• A great piece of art can be a room's focal point, but you need to support it.

That means if it's fiber art use a similar fabric on a chair. Or pick up a color from a work for pillows or candles.

"When the rest of the room echoes and elaborates on themes it has introduced, it gains emotional force," Sikes said.

• "Small area rugs can define a large room's geography and establish intimate spaces for conversation. Generally the furniture in the grouping should be entirely on or off the rug."

• Using large pieces of artwork -- especially in large rooms or houses -- adds drama and fun and a touch of the fantastic.

-- Deborah Donovan