Shopping Online for Wall Art

So you're finally ready to buy some art to decorate the walls of your new home. You have some vague idea of the kind of art that would fit in with the decor of your home. But you have a problem. Where are you going to find them? You could paint them yourself  but you're not an artist. You could go to your nearest art shop and choose from the limited variety they have on offer  but the shop is miles away. The only other option is to go online to search for your ideal art piece, and have it shipped to your doorstep. Shopping online for art has significant advantages over buying art from a retail store. Heres why:

An online store has more variety  much, much more. You will never find so many different genres of art in a normal retail store. The reason is simple; retail stores do not have enough space to keep so many art pieces. So you are terribly limited when it comes to choices.

Online shopping is accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. If you can buy your art from an online store, why bother to travel miles to your nearest art shop? People living in remote areas away from the city do not have easy access to art shops or galleries. Occasionally the flea market would come into town, but even then you might not find anything you fancy. Even in the city itself, there normally aren't too many art shops around for you to pick and choose.

Buying art from an art shop is inconvenient for those who have to travel quite a distance. Even if you did find an art piece you like, you still need to bring it home after you purchase it. You might choose a large art piece, and that would pose a major problem if you had to lug it all the way home. You also risk damaging it if you were not careful. Online merchants handle all the shipping for you, giving you no worries at all. If your art piece arrives damaged, you can always send it back, requesting for another one.

Online stores offer a huge number of products as compared to retail stores. How many art retail stores can squeeze thousands of art pieces into their shop? Not many I suppose. This is not the case with online galleries. An online retailer does not have to worry about shop space, only disk space. Many of them offer thousands of art pieces for you to choose from. You are literally spoilt for choice.

Online art shopping expedites your purchase decision. Shopping online will shorten the time you'll need to choose your favorite art pieces. Many online art galleries allow you to view thumbnail images of their art pieces. You can view as many as twenty thumbnails on one single page. This allows you to view more variety of products within a shorter amount of time, enabling you to make your purchase decision faster.

You can instantly decide if the art is right for your home. All you need to do is fire up your laptop, log on to your online store, and walk around your house. You'll be able to see in an instant if the art pieces displayed will fit in nicely with the theme of your home. This is a significant advantage over buying art from a retail store, where many a times you will be disappointed because the art piece looked great in the store, but didn't fit in with your home when you brought it back.

Online stores are also able to provide value added services like framing. They will do everything for you; all you need to do is choose the frame and materials. The framed art piece will then be shipped to you with all the necessary accessories to mount on your wall. Your job is just to receive the goods, unwrap it, and hang it up. Its that simple. Because you choose to make use of the merchants framing services, many of them are also able to give a discount on the overall cost. This means significant savings as compared to purchasing the art, and then framing it somewhere else.

Enjoy your art shopping!

Staples of Asian Home Decor

Asian home decor is very popular and not hard to achieve if you have some imagination and are ready to invest in a few essential accessories. What you should remember is that Asian home decor is all about subtlety and smart distribution of things inside the house. Either it is based on feng shui, minimalism, or tropical patterns  the goal is to evoke an Asian look. In fact, even just a few simple accessories can create Asian feel and make your home look exotic.

Red and Gold, Not Gaudy

Chinese influence made red a very popular Asian furniture and accessory color. You can safely use red furniture for your Asian home decor. Real antique Chinese furniture does not generally have Chinese words or gaudy flowers painted on it. Avoid cheap and poorly stylized pieces of furniture  they will fail to create an authentic look, simply because Asian home decor is all about good taste.

While carving and gilt are staples of Asian home decor, they dont look gaudy, but rather subtle and rich. Throughout Asia, adding a little gilt detail to furniture is common and tasteful. There is also a symbolism to the carving for people who know how to read it. Experts can tell where and why a piece was created just by looking at the kinds of patterns carved into the wood.

Fine Fabrics

Asia was already home to a thriving silk industry thousands of years ago. While silk is still a luxury, it is also typical of fine Asian home decor. This does not mean your whole couch must be upholstered in silk, but it does mean some throw pillows or a footstool covered in silk should be part of the look. There are really plenty of choices, and you just need to be creative. You could hang a picture of a woman wearing a kimono, or you could even hang a real kimono. The latter is definitely more interesting.

Batik or hand-woven textiles of Southeast Asia are good option to help create Asian home decor. In Indonesia and Malaysia, intricate batiks are used in traditional clothing for everyone from peasants to sultans. The best are hand-made in a restrained, geometric style. Some communities still weave on handlooms and create symmetric masterpieces with just a few colors of silk or cotton thread. Simply hanging one of the fabrics on the wall is a beautiful and authentic touch for your Asian home decor.

Flowers to Complete the Look

Normally, Asian home decor doesnt use flowery fabrics, but fresh flowers are a definitely a must in the home. Of course, in Western countries fresh stems of orchid and lotus are a luxury and might not be available at all unlike in tropical Asia. Yet, a few high-quality silk flowers, pictures or paintings of flowers can complete the look of your Asian home decor.