3 Tips on Buying Art for Your Home
3 Tips on Buying Artwork for Your Home
Behind the Design: SCW Interiors
We are SO excited to be featuring the highly-recognized and incredibly talented designer, Shazalynn Cavin-Winfrey, in this month’s Behind the Design feature! Shazalynn is the owner and lead designer of SCW Interiors. She has been perfecting her lifelong passion for design for over 20 years, building on what she learned at The University of Texas, the Culinary Institute of America, and Parsons School of Design.
Shazalynn has been featured in numerous renowned publications such as House Beautiful & Traditional Home & is known for creating exquisite spaces, drawing inspiration from her clients and their stories. She creates uniquely stunning & detailed interiors that reflect the love and joy of those who live within them by taking into account stories from her clients' travels, the different places they’ve lived, their family heirlooms, and their varied interests. With her great taste comes even better insight, and we're so excited to be sharing some of her words & advice with you today!
“Buy what you love, buy varied sizes of art, & it doesn’t have to be expensive to be great!”
Q&A with Shazalynn Cavin-Winfrey
We had so much fun interviewing Shazalynn & can’t wait to share her expert advice with you when it comes to selecting artwork for your home or finding the perfect unique item for your space!
CZ: Where do you draw inspiration?
SCW: My best projects draw inspiration from my clients and their stories. Those who have traveled, lived in different places, held onto family heirlooms, and have varied interests are those with the best outcomes. I love telling a story through a home and you can see glimpses of the client in every space. Other things that inspire me are obviously nature. The natural surroundings dictate virtually every project because light exposure and the outside dictate many of our selections. Think about the clay earth of Santa Fe, NM, vs. the ocean and hydrangeas of say, Newport, RI.
CZ: I couldn’t agree more how surroundings make such an impact on spaces. What is your favorite part of taking on a new project or starting to design a new space?
SCW: I think my favorite part is usually the installation and seeing the client happy after all the hard work. I love walking into a project where the client has pieces they want to incorporate like artwork. Artwork is often the first piece of a puzzle we lay on the table and build around. Another fun thing I like to do in meeting with a client is looking at their closet and the colors they like to wear or their eye color. If they feel confident in certain colors or look good in certain colors the same applies to their home and I want everyone to feel as good in their rooms as they do in their favorite dress.
CZ: Looks like I need to update my closet then! Where are your favorite places to shop unique items? Where have you scored the best deals?
SCW: The hunt for unique pieces is definitely a favorite part of the process. I love going to hunt for antiques and Roundtop is hands down my favorite place to shop. I have also scored some of the best deals on Etsy. I am a lover of vintage and unusual textiles and Etsy allows me to find unique pieces from all over the world.
CZ: I love Roundtop! What do you look for when selecting art for a space- is there any specific style of work that you gravitate towards?
SCW: Art is one of the most important pieces in a home. I love all types of art textiles, mixed media, drawings, and traditional oils/acrylics. Having a mix of mediums in a home is the most interesting approach for me. It is also great to have a mix of subjects because it would be boring to only collect landscapes. Anything with a bit of whimsy is always appealing to me because a home does not have to be serious to be beautiful.
CZ: What is your best tip or piece of advice for buying art?
SCW: I have three rules in buying art:
Buy what you love.
Buy varied sizes of art.
It doesn’t have to be expensive to be great
CZ: What great advice! Okay - I am dying to know, what do you think your home says about you?
SCW: This makes me laugh…possibly that I am a hoarder? I hope it says that we are fun and welcome you with an open heart just like Willie Wonka. My home tells our story which is layered with things from different periods of our lives. Homes evolve as people grow and hopefully you can see the journey in our home.
CZ: Do you have a favorite piece of artwork in your own home?
SCW: This is a hard question for me because I have so many that are favorites because of the story that is tied to them. If I had to pick one piece it would be a painting by Santiago Pérez. It is a quirky painting depicting a flying ship. At the bow of the ship is an angel that represents my daughter Grace, below the ship is a tiny bird pedaling a bike which is my son, Cavin Reed, pushing us through life in the clouds. And at the helm is a box with a bear in a beehive. My nickname growing up was Pooh from Winnie and the Pooh and my husband is called B. It is a lot of imagery packed into a painting that is special because we are all on a constant search in life for the honey….the sweetest parts of life.
CZ: A lot of our readers are decorating their first homes - do you have any advice for areas to save and splurge as they discover their style?
SCW: I love a high-low mix of pieces. I would say buy well and buy once. I hate to hear people say they will buy something with the intention of replacing it later. Usually, I tell clients to wait until they can get what they really want. Consider using antiques and hand-me-downs or shopping thrift and repainting a piece. There are so many options on the open market now, and I always buy from CB2 or Anthropologie to make the dollar stretch further. Homes should not be static, so always consider if you could move the piece to another room when making a purchase.
CZ: My last question, with the holidays approaching, what’s your go-to cocktail when entertaining guests?
SCW: OH goodness, is it almost the holidays? Yikes. My favorite holiday hack is mulled wine. It is so easy to throw some cinnamon, cardamom seeds, star anise, cloves, orange peel, lemon peel, and a title honey into a pot with red wine and sweet vermouth or brandy. Makes the house smell yummy and such a special holiday treat.
It was such a treat chatting & getting to know you, Shazalynn. Thank you so much for your expert advice! Follow Shazalynn on Instagram here & be sure to check out her website & portfolio here.
Stay tuned for our next guest feature soon!
Until next time,
Know an interior designer that should be featured on ‘Behind the Design’? Please shoot us a message us at hello@cocozentner.com, as we’d love to connect!
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