How to Buy Multiple Art Prints That Look Good Together

If you’re looking for the opportunity to express your unique personal taste, add colour and personality to your spaces, and treat guests to your home with a welcoming and artsy vibe, typography or illustration art prints are the way to go. But if you’re new to decorating your place with art prints, it may be a challenge to choose more than one. What if you want the pieces to stand out individually, but also harmonise well when displayed with others? 

 

The trick lies in deciding on a personal vision for your decorating scheme and knowing how to strike a balance so that the prints look like they make sense together, rather than like they’re competing for attention or clashing with the overall aesthetic of your space. 

Here are some tips from online art platform DROOL on how you can achieve that perfect balance with multiple unique art prints: 

 

1) Define the Underlying Theme or Style

 

 

A collection of art prints that displays thematic coherence will be much more pleasing to the eye than a wildly disorganised mix of works with contrasting styles. Before you buy prints, try choosing an overarching theme or style that vibes with you and that’s sure to complement what you’ve already got going on in your home. 

 

Whether it's a specific artistic movement, colour scheme, subject matter like movies or pop culture references, or eras like the ‘60s or ‘80s, it will be good to narrow down your focus. Not only will it make it easier for you to choose art prints that will look great together; it will also make it easy for visitors to your home to learn something about you and the story of your life when they look at your collection. 

 

2) Prioritise Quality over Quantity

 

 

When you first begin collecting prints for yourself, it may seem tempting to grow your collection right away by buying lots of artworks at the same time. But don’t fall into the trap of purchasing low-quality art prints just for the sake of building a big collection and satisfying your impulses. 

 

For purchases like cool graphic design prints, it’s important to prioritise quality over quantity. High-quality materials will maintain the visual impact of each print and keep the pieces looking sharp and colourful together for the longest possible time. 

 

It’s an option to buy contemporary art prints in pairs first so that you can work with them just a couple at a time. For recommendations on prints that look awesome together because of a common theme or aesthetic, browse the paired offerings at DROOL Art.

 

Make it your goal to invest in a few high-quality pieces at first so that you’re sure they’ll stand the test of time. Each print you purchase should be something you’d be proud to display for years, in a space that truly feels like your own.

 

3) Plan the Display in Advance

 

 

Before committing to a purchase, envision how and where you’ll display your prints. Pre-planning can help you visualise how the prints will look together with existing elements in your room, like the design of your coffee table or TV console. 

 

Buy art prints that match the overall decor and colour scheme of the intended space, or use layout apps or sketches to experiment with different arrangements. Try to get a feel of the ideal spacing and alignment of the prints you’ll buy, plus how the subject matter of each piece will contribute to the overall look and feel of your display. 

 

4) Coordinate Colour Schemes 

 

 

One quick tip to easily match several art prints together is to coordinate their colours. You can choose prints with similar hues or prints that display variations within a specific colour palette, e.g. warm colours or cool colours. This approach can help you create a more cohesive look within your space, even if the prints have different styles or designs. Just remember to consider the existing colours in your space and choose prints that either complement or thoughtfully contrast these tones. 

 

For example, if the dominant colour in your room is a neutral tone like beige, white, or grey, you can choose prints that either blend in with these colours (with the same neutral tones) or subtly contrast these (e.g., desaturated primary colours). A well-thought-out colour scheme can bridge the style differences between prints and make them appear as if they were always meant to be displayed together.

 

5) Pick a Consistent Frame Design

 

 

You should also make sure that the prints’ frames look good together, as these can make all the difference in making the space look neat and put-together. See for yourself how well-connected your display will look as a whole if the prints all sport matching wood or aluminium frames. 

 

6) Seek Inspiration from Other Home Decorators

 

 

Feeling uninspired and stuck in an artistic rut trying to plan out your art print display? Try drawing further inspiration from art galleries, interior design magazines, or even social media. You can also observe how professionals arrange and pair multiple art prints to gain ideas for your own collection, learning about how they use innovative layout options or come up with unexpected thematic connections. 

 

The more prints you add to your collection, the more challenging it may be to create the exact vibe you have for them in your head. All the same, treat it like a pleasant challenge and an opportunity to explore your own evolving taste in art. Let these rules serve as a rough guide, but also make sure to allow yourself the freedom to experiment and come up with combinations you’ll be happy with.