Decorating California Homes with Landscape Photography

Mountains, Rivers, Lakes and Coastlines For Your Home Decor

California Living. What interior design images come to mind when you read that phrase?

California decorating is best known for mixing coastal chic and comfort to create casual elegance … you walk into a living room that is relaxing and welcoming …it is both stylish and social. You want to kick off your shoes and sit a while.

The Influence of the Outdoors and the Pacific Coast on California Style Homes

California style also is known for blending outdoor and indoor spaces. This is due in part to California’s mild climate which allows you to keep windows and doors open so that these areas can blend together. For example, San Francisco’s annual average high temperature in September is 67° F and the average low is 54° F with one day of precipitation.

The California coast also plays an important role in California interior decorating. California, which is the 3rd largest state, has an 840-mile-long general coastline. The California style often reflects the influence of living next to the Pacific Ocean. Countless bands (Beach Boys), movies, and TV Shows (Bay Watch) have helped to create the image of California beach life.

Besides the influence of the outdoors, California décor will use tiles and other accessories that have a Spanish or Mexican flair to them. You will find garden classics such as terracotta pots with their neutral tones. The other important aspect of decorating is the use of natural light –with open floor plans and large windows that create a breezy, airy feeling.

"California Coast" - A Limited Edition print of 100 of the Big Sur Coast - Click on Photo to Purchase

Sunny California Style: Choosing Wall Art Landscape Photography

What makes the perfect fine art landscape photograph for a California home? As a fine art collector, it is important to know how to purchase and display a collection of picturesque California landscape photos that will add beauty to your home or office.

You may choose a fine art print because of a connection to a location or scene. Perhaps you have driven along Big Sur coast and would to capture the feel of the ocean and the shoreline… to display a fine art print that reminds you of the beauty of that coastline where the shore meets the waters of the Pacific.

Or, you may instead choose to emphasize the colors in a fine art photograph. If your California family room is decorated in hues of blues and greens… outside sky and grass colors… then you may want a fine art photograph that is clean and simple and ties your color scheme together. One that brings to mind sunlight days with surfers checking out the waves.

"Escape Flight" - A Limited Edition print of 100 of huge waves at Monterey during a winter storm - Click on Photo to Purchase

Abstract Art and California Style

Certainly, many California-style homes are designed with a modernistic décor which often uses neutral tones with crisp white walls. You want to maintain the allure and depth of this simple color palette and an abstract art photograph could be the final piece to tie your room together.

What is important are the colors and design patterns seen in the fine art prints. Interestingly enough, a photographer can create a fine art print of nature by adjusting camera speed and distance from the object. The two nature photographs below would make a focal point over a sofa that, depending on the color palette in the room, would be pleasing to the eye and fit perfectly in a modern and clean California-style home.

"California Cool" - A Limited Edition print of 100 of a long exposure abstract from the Big Sur Coast - Click on Photo to Purchase

What about San Francisco Fine Art Photography?

You can not talk about California photography without mentioning San Francisco and its impact on our cultural and arts world. Whether is it recognized in music (I Left my Heart in San Francisco) or brings to mind images of Alcatraz as seen in the movie, “The Rock” … San Francisco embodies California. Its Golden Gate Bridge is the most iconic site in the San Francisco area. A stunning photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge at night would certainly be an appropriate choice when displaying California Fine Art photography.

"Spanning The Night" - A Limited Edition print of 100 of a spectacular clear evening at the Golden Gate Bridge - Click on Photo to Purchase

Creating California Style using Yosemite Fine Art Photography

Besides the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the most photographed places in California is Yosemite National Park which was established as a national park in 1890. It is 140 miles east of San Francisco. Imagine a family room in your California home where a fine art print of El Capitan or Half Dome was displayed as a focal point in your room. Those iconic landscapes say loudly and clearly - “Here is California at its finest”.

"Rock and River" - A Limited Edition print of 100 of an early morning reflection of El Capitan in the Merced River - Click on Photo to Purchase

The Emotional Value of Investing in California Fine Art Photography

The real and long-lasting value of investing in beautiful artwork for your California home is the value it adds to your day-to-day life…to your home or office environment. You want to create a feeling … a sense of belonging… but one that pulls all the rooms together… not just a mixture of disjointed pieces of furniture.

Fine art photography is important as it ties your decorating together. The photographs hanging on your wall can give you momentary joy and peace. That is no small thing.

Your home is your sanctuary … where you go to recharge – to prepare to face the world again. If you want a home where the décor is light and airy; where you feel comfortable; where indoors and outdoors merge with each other… perhaps you need to consider if your tastes tend towards the California style of decorating.

Please view the various photographs in my California Coast and Big Sur Gallery and in my California Mountains and Waters Gallery …. I am certain you will find one that would be an important emotional investment and could bring a touch of California style to your day-to-day life.

"The Owens River" - A Limited Edition print of 100 of snow-capped mountains over the Owens River - Click on Photo to Purchase

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