The fashionable home of the moment is warm and quiet: cream walls, oak floors, linen, terracotta, a jute rug. It is calm and easy to live in. It can also be a little anonymous. A lot of people with a room like this find themselves drawn to something it doesn't contain: a neon street, a purple galaxy, a glowing skull.
The fear is that it won't go. In fact, a single bold piece is often what a neutral room needs. The interior designers who favour warm, earthy schemes also talk about adding one unexpected thing. Here is how to make a neon piece that thing.
Why it can work
A neutral room is a blank stage. With nothing loud in it, whatever you add becomes the focus. One vivid picture in a calm room looks confident. It says the calm is a choice, and so is the picture.
Warm and cool colours also set each other off. Cool blue against warm wood, or violet against cream, makes both look richer. We explain this in warm vs cool colours.
The danger is in doing it halfway. Several small neon things scattered around a beige room look like clutter from another house. One large piece, properly supported, looks like design.
Step one: choose a piece with a bridge
The easiest neon art to place in a warm room is art that has some warmth in it. Look for a piece that contains orange, amber, coral, gold or warm pink alongside its cool colours.
- Japanese City Punk FX.2 Koi Attack is ideal. Orange koi and red signs against blue towers. The orange speaks to terracotta, tan leather and oak. The blue gives the contrast. See our closer look.
- Hand of the Stars has a sky that runs from deep red to indigo. The red and pink connect with warm tones.
- Japanese City Punk FX.3 is all red and pink neon. It is warm through and through, and it suits rooms with rust, brick and dark wood.
- Spooky Cat in Tree is amber and orange, and sits in a warm room with no effort at all.
Pieces that are entirely cold, all cyan and icy blue, are the hardest to place in a warm room. They can be done, with more support.
Step two: make it one, and make it big
Give the piece a wall of its own. Above the sofa, above a sideboard, at the end of a hallway. Go large: a canvas of 24 × 36 inches or more. A big picture reads as a statement. A small one reads as something you haven't found the right place for.
Leave clear wall around it. The contrast between the busy, bright picture and the plain surface it sits on is what makes it look intended.
Step three: echo its colours
This is what ties the piece to the room. Take one or two colours from the picture and repeat them in small amounts elsewhere.
- A cushion in the art's blue or violet.
- A throw, a vase or a candle in the same shade.
- A book spine on the coffee table.
Three small echoes are enough. The room stays warm and neutral overall, and the picture now has relatives in it. Without them, it looks dropped in. With them, it looks as if the room was planned around it. See the 60-30-10 colour rule.
Step four: frame it to suit the room
- Canvas is usually the best format. With no frame and no glass, the picture meets the wall directly, and the fabric texture sits well with linen and wool.
- A black frame on a framed print gives a clean, modern edge that separates the art from a cream wall.
- If you frame it yourself, a natural oak or walnut frame is a good bridge. The warm wood links the neon picture to the furniture.
Step five: add a dark anchor
Neon art nearly always has black in it. A pale room often has none. Add one or two black or charcoal things near the picture, such as a lamp base, a side table, a picture ledge or a dark cushion. They give the dark areas of the art something to relate to, and they ground it.
Step six: light it warmly
Keep your warm white bulbs. A lamp near the art, in the same warm light as the rest of the room, makes the picture belong. Avoid adding coloured LED strips in a room like this. They push it toward a gaming setup, which isn't the aim.
Where in a warm home it works best
- Above the sofa, as the one bold thing in the living room.
- In a study or home office. A room that can have more personality than the rest.
- In a hallway. Nobody lingers, so you can be braver.
- In a powder room. Small rooms can take strong treatment.
Be more cautious in a bedroom, where calm matters most. Choose a quieter piece there.
What to avoid
- Several small neon pieces around the room.
- A neon piece with nothing echoing it.
- Hanging it among a gallery wall of soft, neutral prints. It will make them look dull, and they will make it look loud.
- Art that is too small.
- Cold white lighting.
If you want a gentler step
Not ready for neon? Try a piece that is cool and bold without being bright. Blue Mountain Fog brings blue into a warm room softly. Black Hole, in silver on black, adds drama with no colour to clash.
The short version
One piece, large, with some warmth in it. Its own wall. Three small echoes of its colour. A touch of black nearby. Warm light. That is all it takes for a neon canvas to look at home among linen and oak. Browse the canvas art collection.