The unexpected benefits of living with original art—and how it shifts more than just your space

Have you ever walked into a space and felt something shift inside you? That’s the power of original art and in this episode, Lori Gouhin explains why it’s not just for galleries, design magazines, luxury homes  or “art people.” It’s for you.

Whether your home is a cozy farmhouse or a city apartment, Lori invites you to reimagine what it means to live with intention, beauty, and emotional resonance. With heartfelt storytelling and practical encouragement, she helps you reconnect with your space through the presence of meaningful, original art.

If you’ve ever felt like your home was missing “something,” this episode might be exactly what your heart and walls have been waiting for.

Episode Highlights:

● Why original art isn’t just a luxury item, it’s a powerful, personal investment
 ● How mass-produced décor is playing it safe and what you might be missing
 ● The story of a painting that sparked a ripple effect of connection
 ● Why you don’t need a gallery wall, big budget, or design degree to start collecting
 ● How art can transform not just a space, but your emotional energy and sense of home
 ● Tips for choosing your first piece and trusting your instincts

Your home deserves more than what's trending. It deserves something that speaks to you.

Thank you for sharing your time with me and remember to show up in your life like the masterpiece you are because YOU are the ARTwork!!!

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Have a fabulous day!

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Transcript

Lori Gouhin: [00:00:00] Hello, my friends. I am so glad that you are here with me today, because today I wanna talk about original art, and not just why it matters, but why it belongs in your life, even if you've never thought it has.

And I wanna start by telling you about my friend Patrice. She lives in a tiny farmhouse. It's a stone farmhouse in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It's nothing fancy or grand. In fact, it's really quite small. But in my mind it's amazing and [00:01:00] it sits on five beautiful acres and it's one of the most creative homes that I've ever been in.

She's also a jewelry designer and not just designs the jewelry, but creates the jewelry, beautiful jewelry. And she's also an antiques dealer which means her home is filled and I do mean filled. Every nook and cranny with original art, unique things, beautiful antiques. It's just incredible. Nothing in there is mass produced.

Nothing is trendy. It's just items with soul and objects that hold stories. And every time I visited, I did not wanna leave. I just wanted to explore all around. And it wasn't that, it was just eclectic and interestingly beautiful, it was that it was deeply personal. Everything in her home reflected her curiosity, her creativity, her history.

And at the time I was in my early to mid twenties and I [00:02:00] worked for her. She had an antique shop where she sold her jewelry as well and some original works I quite literally found myself craving time in her home and I would invite myself over because it not only activated my imagination, it really not to be dramatic, but it filled my soul and it reminded me that art and beauty I.

Are not extras. They're just part of what helps us feel grounded and inspired and really awake in our own lives. And I've been thinking about recently how many people never get to experience that in their own home and not because they don't want to. But I think because somewhere along the line they convinced themselves that original art was maybe for someone else, for rich people, or for people with fancy homes, for people who know the quote unquote right kind of art to buy.

And so today I wanna talk about how that could not be further from the truth because you [00:03:00] do not need a gallery wall or a huge space or a background in art to own something original. You just need a willingness to see your home. Stand yourself as worthy of it. And so let's talk about this. Why do so many people believe that original art isn't for them?

Because I've heard every version of it. I'm not really an art person. I wouldn't even know where to start. Original art feels out of my league. It's probably too expensive. My home is simple. I don't need anything fancy. And honestly, I get why those thoughts show up because again, somewhere along the line we were given this idea that original art is only for a certain type of person.

Someone with a specific kind of home or maybe a curated aesthetic. Maybe someone who's rich with a trust fund. And if you didn't check those boxes, it was easy to assume that our original art was not for you. And I think it's funny [00:04:00] because we don't apply that same logic to say something like music. You don't need to be trained in music to enjoy a good song.

You don't need to understand the history of jazz or classical to feel something when you hear it. And I think maybe the same thing kind of even goes for food. You don't need to be a chef to buy quality ingredients or to know when something tastes amazing or is of good quality. But with art, we hesitate and we second guess our taste.

We talk ourselves out of it before we even let ourselves experience it. And maybe it's because original art. It doesn't really just sit quietly in the background, so to speak. It asks you to notice it and to connect and to feel. So I would say it's not really passive. And for a lot of people that might feel unfamiliar, especially if they've gotten used to decorating instead of curating their home, maybe [00:05:00] they're copying trends instead of choosing from instinct.

And they might do it because mass produced art is safe. It's. Curated by someone else, and it's everywhere. And you're not asked to choose from your gut or to respond emotionally. You're just asked to match it to your throw pillows or your sofa, and you don't think about it again. And if that's what you want, there is no shame in that.

That's fine. But if you've ever felt like your home is missing something, maybe that sense of warmth or energy or spark, it's probably not new furniture that you need. Because when you bring in. An original piece of art to your home, something made with intention and emotion. It really does change the way a room feels because you stop, you look, you feel something.

It becomes part of your environment in a way that creates energy. And so again, I will say that if your home feels like it's missing something, but you can't quite put your finger on it, [00:06:00] it's not a new pillow or a new paint color. Maybe it's the presence of something made by hand, something you choose because it spoke to you.

That's what original art does, and the best part, you don't need to know art to be moved by it. As I said, you just need to let yourself feel what you feel, because when I say original art brings something into your home, I'm not talking about a visual upgrade. I'm talking about the kind of shift that you actually feel even when you can't quite explain it.

I can walk by one of my paintings. 10 times a day and still notice something new on the 11th time. The texture, the energy, the emotion that's behind it, it all stays alive in a way that mass produced art never will. And I've had people walk into my home and stop in front of a painting, not because they were planning to, or not because they were shopping, but because something pulled them in.

Maybe it was the [00:07:00] colors or the composition, the feeling something caught them off guard and in the best possible way. That's what art does. It interrupts and it stirs something awake inside of you. It makes your environment feel more like you, not just a version of you that followed someone else's style guide.

And I think people forget that we live in a world that seems, to make us feel more and more the same, the same trends, the same colors, the same floor plans, the same curated Instagram rooms, but when you live with something that was made by hand with emotion behind it, something will shift.

It adds soul and it adds depth, and then most importantly, it adds you back into your home. There's something you cannot capture in something that's mass produced. No matter how good the quality is, there's a difference you can feel. When you're in front of something original and a real piece of art, it will carry layers and texture [00:08:00] and depth and presence and you can almost sense the hand that made it a few years ago.

I'll tell you another story. A few years ago, I had someone come into my home for the first time, someone I never met before. He was the brother of a friend of mine, and he had joined us just for an evening, get together, and we were talking and music was playing. It was nothing formal. And he began to walk around my home and started asking me about the art, and he stopped at one particular painting.

And it happened to be, at the time, my favorite piece. It was one of those paintings that it just, I loved it. It felt very personal and I never considered selling it. And he stood in front of it for a while and then he said something like, I want that. How much is it? And I kind of laughed a little bit because it made me uncomfortable.

And then I said, it's not for sale. And he insisted, but I still said, no, it's not for sale. But that moment stuck with me because there was something about how instantly [00:09:00] and instinctively really, that he connected with that painting and he felt something. And so therefore I felt it too. And so a few weeks later, I created a new piece that was similar in composition and color to that painting.

And I sent a photo to him to see if he would be interested in that one. And he said yes, but he also said he still couldn't stop thinking about the other one. And he wanted both. And so eventually, even though it was hard for me to part with, I let it go because when somebody truly connects with your work and when they see it in a way that feels personal, from my perspective, it becomes bigger than the painting.

It becomes part of their story now. And so he bought both of the paintings and has since gone on to buy. Three more paintings. So he has collected five of my original paintings and they're some of my most beautiful work. And here's what's wild. Initially he didn't come over to buy art. He didn't even know I had art in my home.

And he wasn't in the market for original art, [00:10:00] but he felt something and he followed through on it. And so you don't need a reason or a plan to buy your first piece of original art, Sometimes it can be as simple as standing in front of something and thinking, this belongs to me. And once that happens, it shifts your whole relationship to your home because now you're not just filling a wall, you're creating a home that speaks back to you. And one of the biggest myths I think people carry about original art.

Is that it's some kind of luxury item, something again, that's reserved for people with a designer home or a big budget. And if you don't see yourself that way, then you assume

 art isn't a responsible or a reasonable choice for you. But here's what I wanna offer you. Maybe the way we've been taught to value things is off. Because we live in a culture where people think nothing of spending hundreds or thousands on a new tv, a phone, some other gadget, [00:11:00] or maybe another outfit that they're wear only once or twice.

But spending that same amount on a piece of art that feels indulgent, it feels like too much. But remember, original art does not get outdated or wear out. It doesn't sit in a drawer or a closet. It becomes part of your home. Something you see often and something that subtly shapes the energy of how your home feels to you and how it feels to others.

And in my opinion, that's not luxury. That's value. Original art, I would say it asks you to choose with intention, and that alone makes it different from so much of what we consume because you're not impulse buying, you're connecting and you're curating your environment from the inside out. And you're saying, this speaks to me.

This reflects something I want to live with. And here's something else I've noticed. People who buy original art for the first time [00:12:00] often say they can't believe that they waited so long. And not just because it's trendy or impressive, but because it makes their home feel more like home, not just decorated.

And I believe that when you choose to live with beauty, that means something to you. When you invite things in that reflect your story, I believe it has a ripple effect. It shifts how you move through your day and it influences how you see yourself, and it creates a space that supports you emotionally, not just visually.

I used to have this painting, a painting that I really didn't even like that much, and I had it hanging in my bedroom for quite some time, and as time went on. It was the first thing I saw when I woke up, and I grew to love that painting. It had a lot of meaning and I saw something different in it every day.

And it inspired me when I woke up. It has since sold and I miss it. But, it, that's just the kind of ripple effect it can have when you see something beautiful, [00:13:00] something that has meaning to you upon waking or when you first walk out into your living space in the morning, and that, to me, that's worth investing in.

I understand that if you've never bought an original art piece before, that it can feel intimidating and that people worry about, again, choosing the right piece or whether it will match their space or if they even have the kind of home that makes sense for it. But honestly, there are no rules. You do not need to have a gallery wall or a huge wall or a perfectly styled room.

And my God, you do not need to know art history or anything like that. You just need to notice when something catches your attention. When it makes you pause and when you keep coming back to it, even if you're not sure why, that's usually a good sign that a piece is meant for you. So start small if that feels easier.

A smaller piece, something personal, maybe a color palette that feels like you or [00:14:00] something textured that you wanna reach out and touch, and then you can build from there because. Art also isn't something you complete, it's something you collect over time with intention. If you ever feel unsure, just ask questions.

Reach out to the artist. Most of us love sharing the story behind our pieces or what inspired it.

Sometimes just hearing the background is what will make someone say yes, that's the one for me. And if there's a painting of mind that you've been drawn to, or if you've never considered art until now, but this episode is making you think differently, then message me. I am so happy to help you figure out what might work in your home or even suggest a few pieces that speak to what you're looking for.

Because at the end of the day, this is not about selling a product. It's about creating connection between you and something real, something made by hand. Something that doesn't just fill the space, but adds [00:15:00] meaning to it. And so to wrap it up, I hope this episode made you think differently about original art.

I think many have been taught to treat art like it's optional, almost like an afterthought, like it's the final touch if there's room in the budget or something, 

you buy once everything else is done. But original art is an extra, it's not a decorative detail. It's part of how we bring meaning and creativity and depth into the homes. We live, work, and rest in. When you choose a piece of original art, you're choosing to trust your own taste and let your home reflect who you actually are, not just what's trending.

And maybe more than anything, you're choosing to create an environment that speaks to you. If no one else gets it, and that my friends is living with intention. [00:16:00]