10 Ways To Incorporate Surrealist Art In Your Home

If you want to add creative accents to your home, then adding artwork is a great way to spice up the space. Depending on personal taste and the overall aesthetic you want to achieve in your home, this might mean trendy wall art or timeless pieces. Indeed, you could opt for classic Renaissance art or colorful pop art. There's also art nouveau, impressionism, and, of course, surrealist art.

But what is surrealist art? Avant-garde poet Guillaume Apollinaire came up with the term "surrealism." In the art world, it defines pieces that goes beyond the limits of reality, per the Tate. Think along the lines of fantastical creatures, warped worlds, and captivating figures — all things unique, unusual, or unexpected. When it comes to surrealist artists, The Met points to Frida Kahlo, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, and the artist who is perhaps most commonly associated with the movement, Salvador Dalí.

If you're intrigued, then be sure to check out the following 10 ways to incorporate surrealist art into your home.

Surrealist artists often use wild and wonderful creatures in their work, and you can do the same while adding a creative flair to your home. For instance, try popping a chic faux animal head up on your wall.

Surreal art can play with reality and mess with your mind in a fun sort of way. One way artists do this is with the Droste effect, which Surrealism Today notes is technique using images that reappear within themselves. To give your room a real-life Droste effect, try placing an image of the room within the room. This can create a wonderfully trippy aesthetic.

When it comes to the walls in your home, you can think of them as a giant canvas. They're the perfect place to go for something big, like an intricate surrealist illusion. While you could actually reshape your walls, painting them to create a 3D illusion can provide an equally interesting look.

Surrealist images can appear in more than just prints that you put on your wall. The figures, forms, and wonky details can also be printed or woven into fabric and turned into artsy yet comfy pillows.

You can also take advantage of artistic designs on fabric in other stylish ways. For instance, plenty of blankets and quilts incorporate creative images that lean to the surreal side.

Among Salvador Dalí's surrealist creations were his 1938 "Lobster Telephone" and his "Lips Sofa," which was inspired by legendary starlet Mae West. Embrace both of those ideas and combine them together by adding a lip-shaped phone to your décor. It can still be a cute accent even if you don't have an actual landline.

Sculpture is a versatile medium that can be used to achieve any artistic style. It is a fabulous way for surrealist artists to play with form — for example, leaving the head off of the famous "Venus de Milo" in order to create a vase.

Murals are perfect medium for larger or more complicated images of whatever you can dream up, making them great for surrealist art. For a surrealist mural, try designs that are bold, strange, or whimsical, such as scenes of fantastical lands or imaginings of outer space. 

You surely want your furniture to be functional and comfortable. At the same time, the couches, tables, and shelves that you choose can be super stylish. In this case, you can opt for unusual items of furniture — such as square sofas — that lend to the surreal aesthetic.

If you're a die-hard surrealist fan who wants an art-gallery-like look in your home, then you can opt to play with perspective. For instance, instead of placing furniture in typical spots, you can try using a rugs on the walls or pictures on the floor for an over-the-top surreal look.