Blue Wall Art

Blue Wall Art: Getting the Right Blue for the Light You Have

Blue is the colour customers ask for most often, and the one most likely to disappoint once it is actually on the wall. The cause is almost always light rather than the artwork. Blue surfaces reflect the short, cool end of the spectrum and absorb the warm end, so in a room that receives little warm daylight a blue piece can flatten out and read closer to grey than it did on screen.

Start with which way the room faces. A north-facing room gets cool, indirect light for most of the day, and it will pull the warmth out of an already cool blue — a slate or an ink blue can end up looking washed and slightly dead there. In that room, choose blues carrying some warmth underneath: teal, petrol, or a blue with a violet lean. A south or west-facing room does the opposite. Warm afternoon light lifts a cool blue and makes it sing, which is where sharp cobalts and clear sky blues belong.

Then think about what the blue has to live with. Blue and orange sit opposite each other on the colour wheel, which is why blue artwork looks so settled above oak, walnut, or a tan leather chair — the wood is doing the complementary work for you. Against cool greys and chrome the same piece reads more clinical and more modern, which may be exactly what you want, but it is a different room.

The last question is quantity. Blue recedes visually, so a large blue piece makes a wall feel further away and a small room feel less boxed in. That effect reverses when blue is also on the sofa, the rug and the cushions: at that point the artwork stops being a focal point and becomes more of the same. If the room already leans blue, choose a piece where blue is the ground rather than the subject, and let something warmer carry the eye.

When in doubt, take the sample test: hold something blue you already own against the wall at different times of day. Ten minutes of that tells you more about which blue suits the room than any chart.