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Every time I interview someone, the greatest challenge lies in condensing a fascinating conversation into a comprehensible and thoroughly readable piece of text. That is especially the case when you’re interviewing someone as passionate and talented as Ryan Korban.

In particular, it never fails to amaze me how articulate experts like Ryan can be about the finer points of their trade. They always seem to be able to express the little truths, especially in the realm of art, that elude me for years at a time.

When I asked Ryan about his unique approach to designing small spaces, his response really struck a chord–”I think that for a small space the trick with art is to go really big. In small spaces, and I work with them so much, going floor-to-ceiling really creates a lot of drama.”

Creating drama in your home? I always thought that’s what you’re not supposed to do! Of course, as I transcribed the interview I realized what he was talking about. Aesthetically, drama is what tension is musically. It’s another way of saying  provokes emotion, and is a means of making people connect with the design/art/music.

Having achieved an understanding of what Ryan was talking about, I thought immediately of my friend Joseph’s home. He’s the one guy I know who is a master of creating a drama-rich living space that is a study in contrasts.

Joseph owns a home a few blocks from the beach in his hometown on Florida’s east coast. We became friends while living in San Francisco, where he had condensed a few of his most favorite belongings into a small one-bedroom apartment. We each parted ways with the city at about the same time and a year later we reconnected in Florida. I had heard stories about his house back east, but I had no idea what I was in for. The man generally has good taste, but his home is on a whole other level.

The structure itself is a modest, vaguely mid-century one-story Florida stucco home. Inside, though, he has created a cool, refined yet comfortable environment for himself and his friends. His color palate runs from clean whites to beige to earthy browns and golden ochres. From his classic teak hutches to his blond, rich grained tables and chairs, everything blends together, soothing the eyes and mind.

Faded, well-loved black and white photos of family and familiar Florida beach scenes line the walls, lending a timeless feel to the space. It feels like you could walk out the front door and into 1963.

Daniel Grant SURF MOTEL on Zatista.com

But here and there a blast of color will strike your eye. Joseph is an expert surfer and his taste runs towards distinctive boards with vibrant resin tints. A deeper than the sea, brighter than a Blue Jay “fish” might stand beside the couch or be tucked in a nook.

And amongst all the impeccable antiques and subtle nuances you’re sure to find glaring pieces of kitsch that get to real heart of Joseph’s style. In his mind, every man should have one old, bad schooner painting. That and a well-worn pair of pointy-toed boots.

As Ryan Korban says, it’s about creating drama, about toeing the line but daring to step off of it, and about rocking your own true style with panache.

If you love reading design magazines like I do, you’ve probably noticed that it seems like some people have a very strong sense of style and know just how to make dramatically sized artwork work in their home. If you don’t have your art legs just yet, or if you’re still honing your sense of style, I’ll give you some pointers plus a very basic formula for sizing art to get you started.

Generally speaking, we don’t want a piece of art to be so big it takes over a room nor do we want small pieces to get lost on a large wall. We want our art to really work in its space. So how do we find a happy medium and figure out the right size art for our wall?

Usually we hang art in two places: blank walls or walls with furniture. If you’re hanging art on a blank wall, you don’t need to measure anything – just think broadly about how the size of the artwork relates to everything else in the room. Do you have a room where big art is competing with big furniture? Do you have a busy room with a lot of furniture where your small photographs just seem to disappear? Or, do you have a spacious room that can afford to be anchored by a big piece of artwork? Before banging any nails, hold up different sizes of art on your blank wall and look for a balance between the art and the other elements in the room.

For the trickier business of hanging art on walls shared with furniture, get out your measuring tape and let’s talk fractions. There is an old rule that art should be 2/3 the size of a wall or the object it relates to. You needn’t follow this rule to a T, but it is a helpful starting place.

For instance, if you are hanging a piece of art (or a grouping of art) over a 48” W sideboard in your dining room, plan for the size of your art (or the overal size of the group of art) to be no smaller than 32” W or up to 48” W, though I suggest not wider than the sideboard itself. Hanging artwork which is smaller than the sideboard can be a bit more dynamic than matching its width perfectly.

If you’re hanging art between two closely positioned windows, don’t hang art that barely fits. Use the 2/3 rule, measure the space, and buy artwork approximately 2/3 of the size of the distance between the windows.

So, indeed it’s true that size matters, but maybe not in the way you were expecting. It’s all about proportion. Art does not have to be big to make an impact. Once you get the hang of thinking about size in these terms, the art will feel like it belongs in its space allowing you to appreciate its inherent elements which grabbed your attention in the first place. You’ll know when it’s working because you’ll walk into a room and either the art will just pop, or the whole room will have a sense of balance that it didn’t have before, and if you’re lucky, both.

Photo: Lisa Pak Design