Art is a tricky thing; it can make us nervous! We all know what we like when we see it — for example, when you whip out your phone to snap a cool sticker or some graffiti that makes you smile, that is realtime art appreciation — but a lot of us are intimidated by the idea of “art”. What is art? What is beauty? What does it all MEAN? (Right?!)

Okay, so I can point out what I like, & I can pinpoint individual pieces, but I don’t know a lot about the subject. I have no idea what goes together, & I don’t have enough knowledge of the various movements to be able to identify them. A lot of the time, I’ll look at some famous piece & say to my husband — the art history major — “I don’t get it”.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. If something appeals to you, if it makes you laugh or think or feel like you’re falling into it, then it is art.

Knowing this doesn’t make anything any easier, though! We all know that art can has the power to transform a space, but when you finally get to the stage where a roomful of posters just isn’t cutting it anymore, where the hell are you supposed to start? Last month, I started to answer that question for myself.

From Vogue, February 1963, by Louis Faurer.

Last month’s whirlwind trip to San Francisco was in celebration of the relaunch of Art.com, the world’s biggest online art retailer. I was one of 25 bloggers invited along, & at first I didn’t know what to expect. My fears completely subsided when the CEO described their mission as “ridding the art world of risk, anxiety & snobbery, one piece at a time!” I knew I was in the right place!

Truth time: I have to admit that I had never bought anything from Art.com. I knew about the site & I had visited it before, but the homepage was so crowded that it felt overwhelming. Art.com has 1.5 million available images, which is incredible, but before the redesign, if you didn’t know exactly what you were looking for, making any headway quickly felt like an insurmountable task!

Their relaunch is absolutely fantastic. Just take a gander at their homepage to see what I mean! They have turned Art.com into an indispensable resource for people with taste… But who aren’t quite sure what to do with it!

The thing that I love most about the Art.com redesign is that you can look at other people’s taste, as well as see how other people would arrange or curate a wall. All you have to do is click on Get Inspired, & you’re presented with a slew of fantastic — & truly inspirational! — options. It really takes the worry & guesswork out of putting a wall together.

The other completely brilliant feature that I love is the ability to upload a photo of your own wall, & rearrange pieces of art on it… to scale! As soon as I was back in NYC, I took a quick snapshot of our living room & started mixing & matching. The idea is genius in its simplicity.

I’m so amazed by the diversity of art available, too. Living with a man isn’t easy at the best of times — something my fellow fans of shocking pink, sparkle & glitter can attest to! — so picking art that we both like is a priority. I was delighted to discover Symbol Silly by Robert Williams, an artist my husband loves so much, he has one of his pieces tattooed on the top of his hand! It’s going to take pride of place in our living room.

Other than that, my plan is to mix together black & white photos of motorcycles & Steve McQueen with fantastic Vogue editorials from the 1960s. That way, we’ll both be happy… & I can even show my husband what our finished wall will look like before I click “BUY”!

I can’t wait for our living room to really start reflecting our taste! Of course, I will probably have to paint the damn thing first… !

This post was sponsored by the amazing people at Art.com — thank you!