Did you know that there are things you can add to your Home Decor pitch that make you stand out? You don’t just want to show your art on a pillow, but there are ‘finishing techniques’ you can add to a basic pillow to make it really special. Today we’ll show you…
In our upcoming course ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’, top art director Margo Tantau shares finishing techniques for each of the five most popular materials used for products in this market. These allow you to play with your product to make your presentation to the client even more exciting and marketable! We hope you’ll find them inspiring, and feel confident to try new and varied looks in your product pitches. That, in turn, will make your pitch more desirable and unique.
Finishing techniques are different processes that can be done by the manufacturer’s factory to enhance the material you are working with. Examples include:
- Placing pom poms, trims or embroidery on a pillow
- Embossing, shaping, or silkscreening on metal
- Painting or decoupaging on wood, etc.
Understanding and knowing about different techniques is a great way to stand out, to be creative, and to show that you know how to add value to a design.
Every day this week, for your #homedecsecrets, we are going to share one technique from the course and a fun creative prompt. You don’t have to be signed up for the class to get involved. Anyone can join in and start to explore the fascinating (and lucrative) world of home décor!
In class we share a ton of these, to give you dozens more design ideas for your arsenal. Your art will flourish as a result, you’ll sell more, and you’ll be having more fun! Be sure to join the full class (which starts on Monday August 7) if you want to get set up for this market, ready to pitch your creative ideas to dream clients in home decor.
First up is metal. We’re starting with metal because it’s fun to work with, affordable, and there is a lot you can do with it. Many techniques can be used to give your final pieces lots of variety. Metal is used in many types of home decor such as lighting, furniture, wall art and accessories. It’s functional and decorative.
The finishing technique we want to share today is… Cut-outs, piercing, and painting
Look at the holes in the pretty blue stool below. This finishing technique is called ‘piercing’. Note how the paint is distressed, or worn off, around some of the holes. The paint is applied directly to the metal. The two metal decorative plates on the wall are hand painted, the paint is applied directly on to the metal surface.
Midwest CBK
Below, on this hanging wall art piece, you see how the hearts have cut out shapes within them. They are also handpainted.
Sundance
Here’s a more intricate example:
houzz.com
Here, a word is created within the art using cut-outs.
Etsy: BuckandFawnMetal
Your #homedecsecrets creative exercise today is:
Either:
(1) Go out and about and find examples of this finishing technique all around you
(2) Take an icon you have previously drawn and imagine how you could use this finishing technique to enhance it as a product. Which bits would you cut out?
Share your discoveries on Instagram using #homedecsecrets (and make sure you’re following us @makeartthatsells )
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Want a piece of the $60 Billion Home Decor industry?
What is home décor? It’s all the gorgeous and/or functional items in your house. It’s a booming market that needs tons of art, with over $60 billion in annual sales. Its massive growth is due in part to the popularity of home design TV shows, Pinterest, and Instagram, and stylish online retailers like One Kings Lane and Dot&Bo.
Art directors NEED your great art!
Our next live e-course, Make Art That Sells: Creating Collections for Home Décor starts on Monday, 7th August and teaches you everything you need to know to create killer presentations with your art. Registration is open and we look forward to seeing your gorgeous designs.
This will be the last time we will be offering this course this year! Don’t miss out, sign up here.
