Artifacts : Art for art’s sake?

Picture this: you are in your favorite home décor store and your eyes fall on a beautiful art object. It could cost you a fortune but you are sure that it fits well into the style of your home. However, there’s no purpose that the expensive artifact would serve beyond the idea of beauty or aesthetics. How would you justify the purchase? Is it a purchase just for art’s sake, or is there something deeper?
Like a woman accessorizes her clothes with matching jewelry and bags, space needs to be accessorized by objects that fit into the existing style of the home.  An artifact is an object made by a human being, typically one of cultural or historical interest. In today’s world, it seems like the most common accents to any space. The market today is thriving with options that range from high to comparatively low prices. How do you make the right choices? 
Stylize your parodied art
Since it’s the era of replication, you could find doppelgangers of many well-known artworks; some even on the streets. But there is a conspicuous difference in owning “a Monalisa” and “the Monalisa”. Everyone knows that the original painting of Monalisa is at the Louvre Museum, Paris. Thus, it doesn’t make much sense to have a replica of the same framed in your living room. But if you are still a lover and admirer of the Renaissance painting don’t hesitate to own it, but with a twist. It could be embossed on a fabric or maybe transformed into a mosaic painting. It could also work as a table inlay. Famous artworks always work well as accents if they are stylized differently or recreated as signature pieces.
 
Clean and Hassle-free
A transparent glass vase may not be too attractive at the first sight. But a bunch of fresh flowers will dramatize the same. Clean, straight lines are the way to go if you wish for a hassle-free environment. This fits right into commercial spaces or home offices where work has to happen without too many distractions. An abstractly shaped artifact or a group of many similar textured ones will only create a havoc situation for such an environment. Save them for your “showroom” rooms. 
Cheap is not too cheap
Picking up home décor from the flea market may not suit all.  But you could experiment, and give it your own little touch, by indulging in some DIY (do it yourself) tricks.  Clay pots can be painted in neon colours, antique frames can be detached from the pictures to be hung solo, etc.  A cheap buy will not really hurt you, instead might just add that much-needed glamour to your home.
Beauty in Utility
It is not necessary to completely do away with function while choosing an artifact. You could incorporate functionality by considering clocks or mirrors as art objects. Antique mirrors or stylized mirrors are perfect wall art above a console table or against a textured wall. While selecting clocks, pick the one that accentuates your décor. They also work as wall art or stand alone pieces of artwork or even as table décor. Fancy storage boxes, wooden chests or artsy tableware are other ways to go utilitarian with art.
Money is never enough for finery
Souvenirs from countries like Turkey (renowned for its ceramic work) is an expensive but a good idea. It’s never easy to make decisions such as the above because finery doesn’t come cheap. But when it’s a buy you make once in a while, it is a fantastic investment. Exotic purchases are a personal choice but make sure that the purchase is such that the excitement lasts for an eternity.
In conclusion, let’s say art is irrational so are the choices we make to display them. Artifacts can function as more than just art pieces. It depends on the choices we make and methods adopted to display them. But like in most cases, there are no right or wrong. It is all about making the choices wisely.