I have been a huge fan of Brooks Burns art for a few years (ever since I discovered it on IG – one of the BEST, most positive things about social media IMHO). I “liked” every painting he ever posted and have tried to figure out a way to put them into any and every project, but we are always on tight deadlines, and investing in something sight unseen from across the country can feel risky. But when I saw this painting, in those colors, I immediately did what I had done before and Dm’d. I think my exact message was “I want. OMG. So good. Those colors. I don’t know where it will go, but how big and how much?) Apparently he had seen my enthusiasm before, knew about my following, and proposed a deal. It arrived 10 days later, and it is obviously more incredible in person. Having contemporary art in my home is not something I take for granted, and I appreciate the hell out of it. I’ve always said that it’s what I would splurge on over anything else because it’s what makes your home interesting. There are so many great sofas out there that are more affordable. Save your money on furniture (unless it’s statement furniture) and buy art instead.

It arrived, and I loved it even more. It’s both powerful and whimsical, with such strong lines and in my colors. But there wasn’t an obvious spot for it in my house, so I figured I’d show you all the places that I was debating putting it and see what you think.

The Dining Nook

Everywhere I put it, I loved it, honestly, but in some places it made more sense, or it got more attention. Here it works in both scale and shape, perfectly. In the photos, it looks fantastic, but in real life, it doesn’t get a lot of natural light and feels a little dark – it oddly didn’t pop. Like it took a second for your eye to fully understand it because of the contrast, because of the low-light, bright white, and how deep and dark it is.

Over The Fireplace

While this fireplace certainly wants a big horizontal piece, once I styled it out, I thought that it looked pretty darn great. It draws your eye, obviously pops off the white, and again, the color palette works perfectly. And a quick update – with all the lighter furniture (the double Barbs – blue and pink), I don’t want to paint the fireplace right now. The whole room (with the initial Scandinavian eclectic intent from years ago) really just flows so nicely and feels so light and airy and happy.

While it looks good here in the photos, in real life, it’s dark up here as well – not enough light on it. Now I could hang it properly and put a spot light or picture light on it, which I’m very tempted to do. It just needs to get real love.

First Landing

While this seems like an unimportant place, it actually gets a ton of attention every time we go up and down the stairs, which is frequent, obviously. But as you can see in the photos, the side light made it hard to see the painting. I think this might have to do with the type of paint it is (oil, maybe?) that reflects a lot, whereas the painting we had there before didn’t do that.

So while it fit nicely there, from the living room, I didn’t like how I experienced the painting. Also, yes, right now I have that chair there because it’s one of my favorite vintage pieces ever, and I like the soft lines and that color (I have two of them, and they are always trying to find a home).

The Top Of The Landing

So then I tried it at the top of the landing, which again, is such a powerful place that gets a ton of attention. It also works here, but near all the family photos, it felt really intense.

Up here, it also has that side light that hits it (and I’m also fearful of the light damaging the painting).

If you are wondering if the entry would be a good place, I can tell you absolutely yes, but no one ever goes in and out of our entry, so it’s a last resort. I would love to place it somewhere that gets more attention (at least from me). Right now I’m leaning towards mantel OR (get this) trying it over our bed in our bedroom (not shown, sorry). I finally ordered a new bed in there, and I think the colors could work so nicely; the darkness talks to the curtains, and it would be a lower contrast from a white wall. And perhaps this painting, which is a larger scale and the object that is on it is large, actually needs a larger room (like the bedroom) to give it space around it so you view it more from afar and not so up close (which it feels oddly intense).

But of course I’d love your thoughts 🙂 A huge thanks to Brooks Burns, the artist who painted this incredible piece. I feel so grateful and lucky to be able to put it in my home anywhere. Please, please, please go check out his work, and if you have the budget to support artists (and collect original art), think about him for a future piece. His Instagram is where he puts his paintings first (and how I snagged this one).

*Photos by Kaitlin Green