Making Artwork Simple Again: Commercial Art, Planned With Your Furniture

Then someone asks what goes on the walls

The furniture is selected. The finishes are coming together. Then someone asks the question: what are we putting on the walls?

Suddenly your office manager, facilities team or interior designer has another project to run. Find the artwork. Choose sizes and frames. Decide where everything goes. Get it installed, on schedule, without holding up occupancy.

At Commercial Office Interiors, our mission is to simplify the furniture buying process. Artwork should be just as straightforward.

Through our work with Great American Art, we can bring commercial artwork into the same conversation as the furniture. COI shares the layouts and design direction we are already developing. GAA's team curates artwork for the space. You review the recommendations, approve the selections, and move forward with one plan for production, delivery and installation. GAA's art consulting and design support carry no upfront fee.

I recently spoke with Paul Burton, GAA's Vice President of National Business Development, about how this works for our clients. What stood out was how much of the selection work their team absorbs while keeping the client in charge of the decision. As Paul put it: let us do the legwork.

That is the whole idea behind making artwork simple again.

About Great American Art

Great American Art started in 1979 as a local Boston framing shop. Today it builds art programs for workplaces, healthcare facilities, senior living communities and other organizations nationwide.

Its team covers art curation, graphic design, custom production and installation coordination, with access to major image collections and independent artists. GAA also works with local artists and photographers to create artwork that reflects the communities its clients serve.

For COI clients, that means a partner with New England roots and the reach to support projects across several locations.

Why plan artwork alongside your furniture?

Artwork decisions are easier when they start with an understanding of the room.

A reception area's seating arrangement decides where visitors will look. A large conference table changes the scale of the artwork that works nearby. Furniture finishes, wall colors, lighting and company branding all set a direction before a single image is chosen.

When COI is already developing your office interior design and furniture plan, we can hand that context to GAA. Their designers use the layouts we build, together with your mood boards, finish selections, photographs and priorities, to recommend artwork and placement.

That gives your team one place to weigh furniture, artwork, budget and timing together. It also helps you decide which rooms deserve attention first. Reception, the main conference room and an employee lounge, perhaps, with the rest handled later.

How the artwork process works

Five steps, start to finish:

1. Tell us about the space. Start with the project you are already discussing with COI. Say you want to explore artwork, and we will introduce you to GAA's team with the relevant project information. A floor plan, room photographs, furniture selections, a finish palette, a budget and a target date are all useful. If some of that is still in progress, we can identify what is needed next.
2. GAA builds a curated artwork plan. GAA assigns the project to its design team, which reviews the information and asks follow-up questions. The designers recommend artwork based on the people using the space, your design direction, the layout and the budget. Depending on the project, the presentation can include mood boards, suggested images, sizes, materials, framing and a marked floor plan showing proposed locations.
3. You review and refine the selections. GAA presents a manageable collection to react to. You can comment on what you like, request changes, or ask for a different direction entirely. Paul described using shared presentations so the client, COI and the artwork team all look at the same recommendations. If you already have an interior designer, their mood boards and design intent guide the selection.
4. Approve the artwork and the quote. Once the selections are set, COI coordinates the proposal with GAA. You review the artwork, quantities, materials and the shipping and installation scope before authorizing the order. If the package needs adjusting, we can talk through different images, sizes, framing options or room priorities.
5. Coordinate production, delivery and installation. GAA produces the approved artwork and can arrange installation within the approved scope. COI stays involved so artwork timing lines up with furniture delivery and the readiness of the space. On a larger office fit-out that may mean planning deliveries by area or phase. In an occupied office it is usually one focused installation in reception and shared spaces.

The schedule and responsibilities are set for your project rather than quoted from a standard lead time.

No upfront art consulting or design fees

You can see GAA's recommendations without paying an upfront art consulting or design fee. Paul confirmed this during our conversation, and GAA's published FAQs state that customers pay for the selected artwork and the associated shipping and installation.

That gives you a practical way to find out what an artwork package could look like before deciding whether to buy it. Product orders follow the approved proposal and its payment terms, and installation is priced separately.

To be clear about what the offer covers: the design support is what carries no upfront fee. The artwork, shipping and installation are real costs, and they are identified in the proposal you approve.

Artwork chosen with evidence-based design in mind

GAA is an EDAC Advocate Firm, and its team includes EDAC-certified designers. EDAC stands for Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification, a credential administered by The Center for Health Design.

Paul explained that their designers know how to apply evidence-based design principles to artwork, particularly in healthcare settings. In practice, that means using research and an understanding of the people in a space to inform the choices.

The questions go past color. Who will see this artwork? What will they be doing while they see it? What atmosphere are we trying to create? Are there imagery, material or mounting considerations specific to this setting?

A hospital waiting area, a memory care community and a corporate reception area each call for a different conversation. GAA brings specialist knowledge to those choices.

Two things worth stating plainly. The accreditation describes GAA's organization and its certified staff, not COI and not every GAA employee. And evidence-informed selection is a better way to choose artwork, not a promise of a clinical result.

Commercial artwork for different industries

The process stays the same while the artwork responds to the setting. Directions we can explore together:

• ›Corporate offices, financial services and law firms. Brand identity, client-facing rooms, employee spaces, and a direction that holds up across several offices.
• ›Healthcare and dental practices. Waiting areas, patient-facing spaces and staff rooms, with imagery and materials chosen around the care setting.
• ›Behavioral health and recovery settings. The intended atmosphere, the appropriateness of the imagery, and material and mounting requirements reviewed with the facility team for that specific unit.
• ›Senior living. Familiar subjects, local connections, and different approaches for independent living, assisted living and memory care.
• ›Schools, colleges and universities. School identity, regional history, learning themes, and artwork for administrative areas and shared spaces.
• ›Government and public facilities. Community history, public service, archival imagery and the purchasing requirements that come with it.
• ›Hospitality and guest spaces. A sense of place and one visual direction across lobbies, lounges and gathering areas.

COI connects the artwork discussion to the furniture and space-planning work already underway.

More options than a framed print

GAA works across a range of artwork materials and formats, including framed prints, canvas, acrylic, aluminum, PVC, wallcoverings, and window or ceiling films.

There are also acoustic artwork panels that combine imagery with sound absorption. Where acoustic treatment is already part of the room's needs, those can be considered alongside the furniture and the other finishes. Sound absorbing is the accurate description. Panels are not soundproofing, and no rating should be quoted without product-specific evidence.

Material and mounting requirements get a project-specific review. That matters most in behavioral health and other settings with particular safety criteria, where the facility team has to sign off on the exact product and installation method rather than a general product claim.

During our call, Paul also described options for local photography, custom commissions and working company branding into the artwork. On a New Hampshire or Massachusetts project, that could mean regional landscapes, community landmarks, or imagery tied to your own history.

Share the direction you have in mind. The design team can help identify the right image, format and scale.

A repeatable approach for growing organizations

Opening another office or refreshing several locations creates a familiar problem: keep the organization recognizable while giving each space its own identity.

GAA's corporate artwork programs can support approved art selections across multiple sites. In our conversation, Paul described carrying a consistent direction into additional locations while still allowing for regional differences.

That sits naturally alongside furniture standards. COI can coordinate the furniture direction while GAA develops an artwork approach that adapts as the organization grows.

Government purchasing through GAA

Eligible government buyers can explore purchasing through Great American Art's GSA Multiple Award Schedule contract, listed under The Great American Picture Company, Inc., contract 47QSMS15D0002. The current record is available in GSA eLibrary, and the service page links straight to it.

COI can work with GAA and your procurement team to confirm buyer eligibility, covered products and the right ordering process for your project. COI does not hold this contract, and eligibility is worth confirming for each purchase rather than assumed.

Common questions about getting started

Can we do artwork without buying new furniture? Yes. An artwork project can start with an existing space, a small refresh, or a few selected rooms. Share photographs and any available plans so we can set the direction.

Do we need a complete floor plan? A plan helps, particularly on a larger project. If you do not have one, start with photographs and a description of the areas you want to address. COI and GAA can identify what else is needed.

How long will it take? Timing depends on the scope, how quickly selections are approved, production requirements and installation needs. Give us your target date at the start so the schedule can be built alongside your furniture or renovation timeline.

Who picks the artwork in the end? You do. GAA does the research, curation and legwork. Your team approves what goes on the wall.

Let us make artwork simple again

You already have enough decisions to make when planning a workplace. Artwork can be part of the same supported process instead of a separate project nobody has time for.

COI connects the space plan, the furniture and the project priorities. GAA's design team does the artwork research and curation. You review a clear set of recommendations and decide what belongs in your space.

For organizations in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and for qualified projects in other locations, we can bring those pieces together, from the first layout to the artwork on the wall.

Have a floor plan, a furniture project underway, or a few spaces that need attention? Tell us what you are planning.