Art has the potential to not only be beautiful, but to tell a story. It plays a huge role in the overall aesthetic appeal and mood of your guest rooms and suites. When it’s done right, it can help tell your hotel’s unique story and give your guests a refreshing experience.
At Kevin Barry Art Advisory we know there’s a lot to consider when designing hotel guest rooms—and art is only one piece of the puzzle. That’s why we polled our art advisors at Kevin Barry Art Advisory for their top five tips for specifying art for hotel guest rooms.
Tip #1 — Stick to Your Budget
Hotel Kansas City — Kansas City, MO
Creating a budget is an important first step in any project, and art is no exception. This allows your interior designer and hospitality art advisor to create appropriate plans and make sound recommendations for a unique and comfortable space. When you’re ready to create your budget it’s important to keep a few things in mind: be realistic, be prepared for the unexpected, and be on top of your expenses.
Tip #2 — Follow a Narrative
Union Club at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Every property tells a story, just like every brand tells a story, and it’ the art advisor’s job to help bring out those stories. Whether you are specifying art for a new build or a historic property, there’s an opportunity to connect guests narratives and themes throughout the property. The most important thing to keep in mind is that establishing a narrative comes first; it should never be an afterthought. It is much easier to come up with a story to tell and work from there than to try to build a story around an existing, unrelated framework.
Tip #3 — Show Local Pride
The Tuxon Hotel — Tuscon, AZ
Anonymous is no longer the goal of hotel guest room decor; guests want to see something different. Instead of designing towards uniformity, make your rooms stand out and highlight for guests that they are some place with its own local flair. We love to play up local elements and work with local artists whenever possible to make sure that every property we work with tells the story of the area, its history, and why it’s a destination worth visiting.
Tip #4 — Keep Things Interesting
The Sound Hotel Seattle Belltown — Seattle, WA
When it’s time to choose art for your hotel guest rooms, remember that it doesn’t always need to blend seamlessly into your space. In fact, you want to keep your guest’s eyes moving around the space as they take in the personality of the room.
Installing art in unexpected ways can challenge guests to think more deeply about their experience. For example, bringing the outdoors in, placing vintage posters on a simple white wall, playing with reflections, or using natural light and shadows to enhance textures and shapes are easy ways to give your room an unexpected exclamation point.
Tip #5 — Stay Abreast of Trends
Yours Truly — Washington D.C.
Beginning the art curation for a guest room is a great opportunity to weave in elements on what is “on trend” in the design community at the moment. While it’s important not to be too literal with the interpretation of trends, incorporating pieces of things we are all seeing across the fashion, art, and design world makes any space more dynamic. Examples of how to do this in a guest room might include looking a color palettes that have had some staying power in trend reports and working them into a gallery wall. Form and texture are other great ways to bring what is hot right now into your art specification.
