We learned years ago that art work – either paintings or photos – could make a huge difference in the look and feel of a yacht interior, including expanding the visual space. An added benefit is that it is easy to change what is on the bulkheads, giving you a fresh appearance from time to time. The photo above is of the salon in the 78 foot ketch Beowulf. This is a large space, but adding art to the forward bulkhead makes it feel even bigger, in addition to the pleasure of looking at the paintings.

This may seem strange, but when we are working on interior layout how the furniture works with art is a key design consideration.

This subject was brought to mind by photos received this week from New Zealand which are an inventory of the potential locations for art work. The blue tape outlines a rough idea of where you might want to place art. There are a lot of potential locations and we have prepared these so our clients can begin to plan for their needs.

The photo above is the bulkhead at the head of the bunk in the Owner’s suite. Allowing for mattress and pillows the taped area is 1580 wide x 1050 high (to convert to inches divide by 25.4)

For a rough comparison, here is a similar bulkhead on the FPB 83 Wind Horse . In the olden days we screwed through the picture frames for fastening. But over the last 20 years we have gone to a combination of conventional wire and hanger hooks to support the weight, coupled with 3M double sided foam tape to hold the frame in position when the boat is moving. Where framed art has a protective cover, non-glare plastic is used in lieu of glass.

A process that has worked well for us has been to photograph potential pieces of art, and then print them out full size. It is easy to get a feel for what might go where by taping these onto the bulkheads. Often it is not possible to come up with a full collection, there are just too many choices. In this case if you have some favorite photos it often makes sense to have these mounted on black foam board and then installed using the 3M foam tape.

Selecting what goes on the bulkheads is an enjoyable process, but it does take time. As you will see, there can be a lot of wall surface to cover. The blank light colored bulkheads throughout the rest of this blog are all on the first FPB 64. To give you an idea of the scope of this art choosing project we are going to show you all the surfaces. You have already seen the head of the master bunk, the photo above is at the foot of the bunk, on the aft head bulkhead. This area is 1050 wide x 1170 high.

Although the maximum possible art size is shown, the usual approach is to use something smaller, or in some cases several different smaller pieces.

This is the starboard side forward in the Owner’s suite, looking at the watertight bulkhead, roughly 950 high by 800 wide.

This is the forward bulkhead in the port side aft guest cabin, 820 wide x 870 high.

And the foot of the bunk, 1090 wide x 800 high. The area towards centerline to the left in the photo outside of the tape will have a full height mirror.

The forward bulkhead of the aft head is hard to photograph. Because of the closeness of the viewer to this surface small pieces of art or photos are probably the best choice. The taped area is 635 wide x 880 high (matching height of aft bulkhead).

This is the port side of the head, starboard side of the port side guest cabin, and 775 wide x 865 high.

The camera is at the foot of the stairs leading up to the great room pointing aft and looking at the starboard bulkhead of the aft head.

Same space, but this time with the camera squared up. The tape is 320 wide x 625 high.

The crew cabin has three locations for art. The first is the aft bulkhead. This is 780 wide x 640 wide.

Next comes the port side bulkhead at 775 wide x 865 high as shown here.

And finally the forward bulkhead of the aft starboard side cabin. The back of the electrical panel will, of course, have a cover. Art work area on this bulkhead with panel back is 325 wide x 740 high.

Not shown is the forward face of the wet locker at the aft end of the great room. This is 525 wide by 880 high.

Towards the end of March we should be able to show you FPB 64 #1 with some of its art installed. You will be amazed at the difference this makes.