How to Choose Art for Your Home: In Conversation with Interior Designer Micaela Sharp
Have you ever bought a painting you loved, brought it home, hung it up… and it just looked wrong?
It's one of the most common things I hear from people who love art. So I asked someone who chooses art for homes for a living.
Micaela Sharp is an interior designer and upholsterer, and the woman whose story inspired my painting Where She Becomes. We sat down together to talk about art, interiors and courage, and she shared some really practical advice.
Why I painted Micaela
Most of my paintings celebrate remarkable women from African history whose stories have been overlooked.
This year, the theme of Black History Month in the UK was Honouring Our Communities. It made me want to paint someone from my own community, someone doing something brave right now.
Micaela had moved abroad to begin a new chapter. When I saw photos of her gathering wildflowers in the countryside near her new home, the idea for Where She Becomes came to me: a woman walking through a field of flowers towards an open landscape, carrying a basket of what she has gathered.
The painting isn't a portrait of Micaela. It's about that space between where you've been and who you're becoming.
It sold within eight minutes of its release, and someone got in touch ten minutes later hoping to buy it. I'm so grateful to everyone who followed its journey.
Micaela's advice on choosing art for your home
1. Start with scale
When Micaela chooses a piece for a client's home, the first thing she thinks about isn't colour. It's scale.
She often wants one large piece in an area, so she starts with the size and proportions the space needs, then works backwards to decide what would benefit the room most: colour, form, or something else.
A painting that's too small for its wall is one of the main reasons art ends up looking lost.
2. One large piece rather than lots of small ones
It's tempting to fill a wall with a cluster of small pieces. But as Micaela points out, it adds up in cost, means more to source and arrange, and can make a space feel fragmented. Sometimes too many small things can even cheapen a room.
One impactful piece, for example by a dining table, often does far more.
3. Build your collection slowly
Micaela encourages her clients to build an art collection slowly rather than relying on lots of prints.
She's clear that if your budget doesn't allow for originals, you should still bring art into your home in whatever way you can. But if you can wait a little longer and save, she believes an original does wonders for a home: the texture of the paint, knowing it's a complete one-off, and being able to connect with the artist directly.
4. It only has to speak to you
This is my favourite piece of her advice. A painting doesn't have to appeal to your friends or family. It only has to appeal to you, so that every time you look at it, it makes you feel something.
When she's choosing for clients, Micaela looks at what they already love, such as favourite artists, to understand their taste.
Her advice for anyone facing a big change
We ended by talking about courage, and what Micaela would say to someone who's thinking about a big change but hasn't yet found the confidence to take the first step.
Her answer has stayed with me: if you've decided you're going to do it, you're already on the path. Every small step counts, whether it's saving money, building a network of people who've done something similar, or doing your research.
And trust your intuition. If you feel a calling to do something, do it.
That's what my work is really about too. We all have more courage and resilience within us than we realise.
Thinking about art for your own home?
If you'd like more ideas, my free guide on choosing art that makes your home feel like a home walks you through it.
You can see my available original paintings here, and if a painting like Where She Becomes speaks to you, I'd love to hear from you about a commission. Just email info@onaiiart.com.
You can find more of Micaela's work at micaelasharpdesign.com.